Hypocalcemia?

[McBunz]

I had this happen to me two years ago... The mare was fine in the morning... When I checked in the evening, the mare was staggering and could

hardly stand up..She was shaking as well.. Called the vet out.. and told her the only time I had ever seen anything like this was with

a goat with triplets that had gone extremely low in calcium. The vet drew blood but said she figured the foal was pushing on a nerve

and to walk the mare to get the foal to move.. The vet called back and said yes... very very low calcium levels and came out and

IV'd her..The Vet said she had never heard of a horse doing this before she foaled. She was better for a couple days and then looked to me as something was going wrong again.. Took her to the vets and left

her for the weekend as a blizzard was coming through.. Got her home and I think about three days later she started labor at 10 months.

Back to the Vet as I could not get the foal out..head turned back and yes it was dead..

 

[Riverrose28]

I"m sorry to hear of your incident with your mare - I'm sure it was extremely scarey and I hope she makes a full recovery.

I do thank you though for posting because thanks to LB and folks brave enough to discuss these things - it helps the rest of us with alittle bit of education to know what might be if we see these similar symptoms. I had no idea really - this gives me some insight as to causes should I ever come upon a mare with these symptoms.

With the frequent mention of foals and nursing - does one assume that nursing foals dimish the calcium supply in the mare? Is there a prevention by giving the mare something extra while nursing? And I saw mention of foal age ....... that too is associated with the risks?

Sorry for the questions but experiences here can help some of us that might not have ever experienced this in a mare before ~

 

[Riverrose28]

white Tail, my vet told me that the milk production starts to peak at two months but with minis it can happen later. Minis are more prone to this condition. You can try to keep electrolites in the stall and also you can use calcium tablets, but should keep some calcium in past form. This condition comes on suddenly and some times in a mare that has had several foals with out any symptoms shown before. The mare that I spoke of earlier also had an episode while pregnant this time at around five months, at the time the Vet thought it was founder, blood test prooved her wrong.

 

[kaykay]

Just wanted to add my mare is an ASPC/AMHR mare all Shetland bred so also watch your ponies!

 

[Carolyn R]

I would love to hear an update on your girl????