S
StarRidgeAcres
Guest
On March 14, 2011 my mare Butter went into labor. She was in obvious distress, the vet came out, after over 2.5 hours the foal was removed via a fetotonomy. Butter had a very difficult time in the following days and I called the vet four different times and asked him to come out and put her down. That's how much pain I felt she was in and how horrible she was feeling. Each time he came out, examined her and said he'd do it if it was what I wanted, but he felt she was still going to pull through. Fortunately she did and seems completely healed at this point 4 months later.
I've spent a lot of time over the last 4 months replaying the situation over and over in my head, talking to my vet, asking anyone who will listen and just in general sort of obsessing about it. I know dystocias happen. The filly's forehead was what was presenting; nose and front legs pointing downward. We could feel the forehead and one of the ears which is how we knew what position the foal was in.
Now here is the part I just can't resolve in my mind. Why, in a 34" mare that has had multiple foals previously, was there NO ROOM in there to push the foal back and reach the nose and legs to reposition? Four different people tried: myself, my neighbor, the vet and the vet tech. Both the vet and I have fairly tiny hands. When applying pressure to the forehead to trying and move it back a bit, it was like touching a brick wall. The foal would NOT BUDGE an inch. It was so tight in there that even once the decision was made that saving the foal wasn't an option and it was time for the fetotonomy or a c-section, it took the vet another 35 minutes to get (sorry, don't know the name of the instrument) the wire around the foal's head. He just could not get even two fingers along side the foal's head to get the wire in position. It's not a situation where there wasn't enough room to reach an entire arm in to get the front legs, we couldn't even get a couple of fingers, much less a hand or arm in there. The foal would not move backwards at all. Not even an inch.
So I still keep trying to understand why it was so "full" in there. The only thing I can think of is the mare and her weight. I'm wondering if I let her gain too much weight during her pregnancy and if her belly fat was taking up room that would normally be available to the foal. I realize this may be a totally ridiculous thought, but I can't come up with anything else. The filly was not abnormally large. Her head was dainty, she was not a dwarf, her legs weren't overly long (6" cannon) and she was the typical narrow-chested, skinny foal like most are when they first come out. I've had WAY larger foals born to smaller mares.
I would like to know what others think may have caused this and specifically if the mare was overweight. I'm including some photos below. Unfortunately, I do not have one of her right before foaling.
This picture was taken 11/27/2010 - almost 4 months prior to foaling:
This picture was taken on 12/19/2010 - almost 3 months prior to foaling:
This photo was taken 3/23/11 - 9 days after foaling and still in incredible pain and being treated for infection (note discharge down her legs). She laid down probably 23 hours a day at this point. She didn't even move when I would give her her shots. It was horrible to watch, which is why I asked so many times about putting her down:
To me, her belly after foaling just seemed too large, like she was either too fat or she was swollen for some reason
I've spent a lot of time over the last 4 months replaying the situation over and over in my head, talking to my vet, asking anyone who will listen and just in general sort of obsessing about it. I know dystocias happen. The filly's forehead was what was presenting; nose and front legs pointing downward. We could feel the forehead and one of the ears which is how we knew what position the foal was in.
Now here is the part I just can't resolve in my mind. Why, in a 34" mare that has had multiple foals previously, was there NO ROOM in there to push the foal back and reach the nose and legs to reposition? Four different people tried: myself, my neighbor, the vet and the vet tech. Both the vet and I have fairly tiny hands. When applying pressure to the forehead to trying and move it back a bit, it was like touching a brick wall. The foal would NOT BUDGE an inch. It was so tight in there that even once the decision was made that saving the foal wasn't an option and it was time for the fetotonomy or a c-section, it took the vet another 35 minutes to get (sorry, don't know the name of the instrument) the wire around the foal's head. He just could not get even two fingers along side the foal's head to get the wire in position. It's not a situation where there wasn't enough room to reach an entire arm in to get the front legs, we couldn't even get a couple of fingers, much less a hand or arm in there. The foal would not move backwards at all. Not even an inch.
So I still keep trying to understand why it was so "full" in there. The only thing I can think of is the mare and her weight. I'm wondering if I let her gain too much weight during her pregnancy and if her belly fat was taking up room that would normally be available to the foal. I realize this may be a totally ridiculous thought, but I can't come up with anything else. The filly was not abnormally large. Her head was dainty, she was not a dwarf, her legs weren't overly long (6" cannon) and she was the typical narrow-chested, skinny foal like most are when they first come out. I've had WAY larger foals born to smaller mares.
I would like to know what others think may have caused this and specifically if the mare was overweight. I'm including some photos below. Unfortunately, I do not have one of her right before foaling.
This picture was taken 11/27/2010 - almost 4 months prior to foaling:
This picture was taken on 12/19/2010 - almost 3 months prior to foaling:
This photo was taken 3/23/11 - 9 days after foaling and still in incredible pain and being treated for infection (note discharge down her legs). She laid down probably 23 hours a day at this point. She didn't even move when I would give her her shots. It was horrible to watch, which is why I asked so many times about putting her down:
To me, her belly after foaling just seemed too large, like she was either too fat or she was swollen for some reason
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