Just venting cuz I'm worried

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Reignmaker Miniatures

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My mare had her foal 9 days ago (April 6) and everything seemed to go with out a hitch. She delivered, expelled the afterbirth and cared for her healthy energetic filly just as I would hope. She was wormed within hours of foaling (I worm the mares sometime during that first day with Ivermectin) and passed urine and had a bowel movement within a reasonable time frame. She seemed to be doing fine until the day before yesterday when I noticed she was not interested in her grain. I offered her her grain by hand and she accepted it so I assumed it was because I had given her a new rubber dish and it smelled wrong. Well yesterday morning it didn't look like she had eaten any of her hay so I fed her fresh stuff outside where I could see her (she prefers outside so I hoped she'd decide to eat there) and I watched her all day but she didn't eat a thing. I took her out in the afternoon and she was very interested in the tiny shoots of grass that have sprouted (we still have lots of snow here) so I let her nibble but she still had no interest in her hay even when I offered the much loved chaff from the alfalfa. Now she has gotten lethargic, walked away from baby and into her stall while baby is outside playing and sleeping and out of sight (this is a mare that threatened to stomp a kitten for checking out her foal a couple of days ago) She was drinking yesterday but today seems uninterested in that either. She still (for the moment at least) has milk and allows baby to nurse but without drinking and eating that won't last either. Her vitals are all fairly normal altho vet tech says her breathing is a bit fast (marginally) I couldn't get in to see the vet until 4:30 this afternoon (It was 11:30 when I called) since all the vets will be out until then (then I get to pay an emergency fee since it is closing time
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) Don't really care tho I just hope this vet knows something about minis since the other one is of debatable use and this is a new addition to the clinic. Anyway I just needed to get this out to clear my thoughts. I am quite worried it may be hyperlipidemia and the vet will be too uneducated in minis to be any real help.
 
It sure appears something has come over her as what she is doing isn't normal. She should be eating and taking more of an interest in her foal. You are wise to see a Vet as she could have medical needs beyond your control. Please let us know what you find out and will keep fingers crossed for you.

Joyce
 
I sure hope everything works out for you. I don't know what could've come over her. Hopefully someone more educated can help you out.
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Give her whatever she wants to eat........the new grass shoots - whatever. You might even give her a taste of molasses or karo syrup - but tell the vet you did it. She may be developing hyperlipemia, or something similar. It's good that you have the vet looking at her this afternoon. Keep us posted.
 
Myself, I approach it as if it's just a small horse.

Please don't lose confidence in vets. They can run bloodwork and tell you what's going on with her (if anything)...

I hope she starts eating and acting more normal, soon.

I would push the vet to run some tests just because hyperlipidemia is a real threat from what I've read/heard, and going off the feed is one sign of it.

Will she eat treats like apple? Grated carrot sprinkled into her grain...beet pulp?

I am sure you've tried everything, just remember she IS just a small horse, and horse physiology still applies, while minis ARE unique in some ways, a horse is a horse!

Liz
 
I have offered her everything I could think of that she normally loves, including apple peices and a pellet that is called Hi fat that is loaded with mollasses and she sniffed and lipped it but never took it in her mouth. She just flat out refuses to eat and the grass here is only tiny shoots close to walls (we still have about a foot of snow) so she doesn't get much. I'm happy to let her eat it tho but this morning she just nibbled for a bit then went back to her pen and eventually her stall. Don't worry Nootka I haven't lost faith with vets in general just the one that has been dealing with horses here. We have only 2 vets here that will even look at a horse and the old one is by my experience and that of others sometimes worse than no vet (yes she can run tests but my decipher the results incorrectly) I am hopeful that the new vet is a bit more on the ball is all. They still know more than I do and have access to a lot more diagnostic equipment etc. I'll update you when I know more.
 
Im so sorry you are going through this and hope for a good update when you know.
 
Good Afternoon,

Have you taken her temp? What about her milk bag is it hard and hot to the touch? Have you looked at her gums, are they pretty and pink or kinda white? These are some of the first things I check on my mares when they appeared ok a few days earlier. She could be developing some kind of infection that needs medical attention. If her temp is over 101 then she definately has something going on.

Karen
 
Prayers for your mare.....I sure hope it is nothing serious. I know that when they don't eat you always know something is not right....Hang in there and I hope the vet can figure it out.
 
Well, I don't envy you the vet situation. That is just too bad.

I hope you get the help for your mare that you deserve.

Take care and know you are in our thoughts....I will hope it's just a passing phase and nothing serious....

Karen has some good advice about other things it could be, things that hadn't occurred to me at the time, either, but may be causing her to be off.

Liz
 
Liz is right.........Karen made some VERY good suggestions.
 
I am NOT a vet, but I posted a few days ago with a similar case. My mare went off her grain, but ate her hay, drank, peed, pooped, no emperature-nursed..her and baby are fine in all other ways...finally came up to the conclusion (with the VET of course) that she seems to have an ulcer. She is a slightly nervous mare and although this is not her first, and not her first with me, she is just being protective and we handle her foal A LOT. we now have her on ulcerguard and are making sure we handle foal middle of the day and not during grain time. Not saying that is your case but just wanted to share my recent experience. I hope she is better as I know exactly how worried you are for both of them!!
 
I am NOT a vet, but I posted a few days ago with a similar case. My mare went off her grain, but ate her hay, drank, peed, pooped, no emperature-nursed..her and baby are fine in all other ways...finally came up to the conclusion (with the VET of course) that she seems to have an ulcer. She is a slightly nervous mare and although this is not her first, and not her first with me, she is just being protective and we handle her foal A LOT. we now have her on ulcerguard and are making sure we handle foal middle of the day and not during grain time. Not saying that is your case but just wanted to share my recent experience. I hope she is better as I know exactly how worried you are for both of them!!
An ulcer was my thought. Don't know how many foals your mare has had, but it is still a stressful time and may have been enough to set off ulcers.

Hope your vet has answers for you and that your mare recovers quickly.
 
OK I'm back from the vet. Thanks everyone that posted in the meantime. Karen, yes I check all that before calling the vet so I can give them a base to decide how serious it is. She had pink gums, no fever (38.2C) no elevated pulse or respiration rate. NO gut sounds. I did give her some 911 which is a paste made for soothing stomach issues in horses (meant to be given just before a vet is called not instead of) and about 40cc's of oil. She had not passed any feces in 24 hours that I could see and since I wormed her after the foal was born I did have some concerns that she had been heavily infested (not likely given a regular worming schedule but first thing I thought about) She passed an oily stool while I waited to take her to the vet and another on the trailer ride in so thats a good thing. Vet agreed all vitals looked fine but clearly she was not OK so we went ahead with the blood work which indicated she had elevated liver enzymes. Which was my worst fear. She and her foal are at the vet at least overnight. Mare is receiving IV fluids and steroids to reduce liver inflammation. At this point the vet was 'guardedly optimistic' and expects to know more in 24hours.
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Thanks Mona. I'm feeling pretty lousy about this since it is up to me to look out for these horses and I feel like I let her down. Now I can only hope that we started treatment soon enough and are lucky enough to be able to help her. I spoke to the vet clinic staff this morning and she is marginally better today (no doubt because the IV has her better hydrated) but still not eating. I hope to know more later in the afternoon.
 

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