mare aborting

[indebtedfarms]

I have a mare who is 5 years old and has never had a live foal. She aborts every time at exactly 9 months. She has lost 2 babies now. She gets pregnant very easily. Always takes on the first try. She has a totally normal pregnancy until the 9th month. Then she aborts. THis last year the baby was dead before she aborted. I don't know about the previous year. The stallion has other babies so it is not him. My question is this--should I try the pneumabort shot? Or is there any thing else that will help her carry this baby? She is about 4 months along now. Please give me your advice. She desperately wants to be a momma.

 

[horsesmakeubroke]

Your vet needs to be advising you on this one as there are several reasons for late term abortion. Some can be fixed with drug intervention and some not. But only a vet can perform the necessary blood checks to find out the cause. Wishing you luck.

k

 

[indebtedfarms]

Your vet needs to be advising you on this one as there are several reasons for late term abortion. Some can be fixed with drug intervention and some not. But only a vet can perform the necessary blood checks to find out the cause. Wishing you luck.

k

The problem is my vet wants nothing to do with minis and the next closest one is 3 hours away.

 

[wwminis]

I have a mare who is 5 years old and has never had a live foal. She aborts every time at exactly 9 months. She has lost 2 babies now. She gets pregnant very easily. Always takes on the first try. She has a totally normal pregnancy until the 9th month. Then she aborts. THis last year the baby was dead before she aborted. I don't know about the previous year. The stallion has other babies so it is not him. My question is this--should I try the pneumabort shot? Or is there any thing else that will help her carry this baby? She is about 4 months along now. Please give me your advice. She desperately wants to be a momma.

[SIZE=14pt]I always give pneumabort shots at 5, 7, & 9 months! Can you at least call the vet that is 3 hour away and talk to them for their advice?[/SIZE]

 

[horsesmakeubroke]

O dear! Without blood tests and possible uterine cultures I don't know how you're going to solve this. He should have taken samples from the aborted feotus too! Your vet needs a kick up the backside! I don't know the name of the drugs in the US but we've had success with Regumate in Ireland. But it's only useful where incorrect hormone levels are the cause of abortion.

Maybe this will help. Warning.. nasty pictures.

http://www.equine-reproduction.com/articles/late.htm

 

[HGFarm]

I had a mare that did the same thing- every time. She was leased to me. The third year, she carried to 10 months, but the filly she had was VERY THIN and a preemie, and lived 3 days. We had the vet out and tried to save her, but she was too thin and weak.

I sent the mare back. I could not take that again.

It was not due to infection, illness or anything else we could find. They did do a biopsy to 'grade' her and she did not come back bad, but it was not a great score either. They didnt think it was bad enough to make her keep aborting, but we never did figure it out.

She was sold as a pet.

 

[runamuk]

3 thing's come to mind right away BUT a good repro vet will be needed.

first she may have a damaged/scarred/or incompetent cervix which means her crevix opens due to the weight of the pregnancy

second would be a low grade uterine infection that causes the placenta to seperate early

third a hormone imbalance

the cervix can be checked by a good vet for obvious things such as scarring or blatant malformation.....they can also do a pre breeding culture/biopsy to determine if there is an infection.....and blood tests can be done to check the hormones...................

Not every mare can be bred........I know I owned a barren mare and if spaying had been cheaper it would have been done to get rid of the marish behavior

: She had no determinable cause for not getting pregnant everything checked out as normal and yet she never took .......I lifetime leased her to a riding home at age 12 she is happily cruising the trails :bgrin

 

[Magic]

The problem is my vet wants nothing to do with minis and the next closest one is 3 hours away.

If you want this mare to have a live foal, your only choice is probably to take her to the vet that is three hours away to be checked. I know it's a LONG trip, but what else can you do?

Good luck, I hope that whatever it is can be figured out and resolved, and you have a bouncing baby!

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Three things I'd suggest:

YES give her her pregnant mare rhino shots, every other month starting around month 5.

Start her on Regumate

Have a speculum exam done looking for inflamation of the cervix, possibly indicating an infection. If there are signs, definately continue her on Regumate as well as SMZ's until foaling.

You need the opinion of a good repro vet and a good thorough exam. If that involves shipping, it may be in your best interest to hitch up the trailer. Not an emergency (yet) but you definately want to know what's going.

 

[Minimor]

I agree that you need a vet that is willing to work on a Mini. If you want a foal from this mare you absolutely need to haul her to that vet that is 3 hours away & see what he can tell you.

While I do believe in giving the pneumabort-k shots to pregnant mares, I don't believe that they are going to solve your mare's problems for you.

It would be very, very rare for a mare to have a rhino abortion each and every pregnancy, always at 9 months.

It could be hormonal, in which case Regumate may help, but it could also be some infection or some scarring as someone has already mentioned. You do need a good repro vet if you want to continue trying to get a foal from this mare.

 

[Joyce]

I have heard of people giving Regumate to keep a mare from aborting. I do not give pneumabort shots to my mares just because of aborting. But your Vet should be able to figure out something for you. I know it's disappointing for you and for her also to keep losing her foals that way. I'm not a Vet but this has been my experiences.

 

[Charlotte]

Did she have any vaccinations close to the time of aborting? Vaccine reactions can cause a fever which has the possibility of killing the fetus.

Did the vet run an abortion panel on the mare immediately after the abortion?...blood test for Rhino & Lepto?

Unfortunately, we have had a LOT of experience with just this kind of thing....our problem was primarily related to black walnut trees, BUT we have since found that even the mares we suspect of having an incompetent cervix (from traumatic abortions) respond well to Progesterone....either the daily Regumate or the once weekly injectible. Double the usual dose for that size mare. In some cases I have started the mare on it as soon as they are checked in foal and in other cases I've waited till they were 200 days. I also give several courses of 10 days of SMZs after 200 days to, hopefully, deal with any infection starting due to the cervix not being as tight as it should.

I begin checking all mares for udder development at 200 days gestation as premeture udder development can be a sign of placintitis. Any mare 'bagging up' too early goes on double dose progesterone and SMZs.

Why don't you discuss this with your vet...if he'll talk with you about it. Or find a good reproductive vet and make an appointment to go visit and talk with him.

I know how frustrating and heartbreaking these late term abortions can be. I wish you the very best with your little mare.

Charlotte

 

[Minimor]

I would point out that if you're going to test for a rhino-caused abortion, you must test the aborted fetus or placenta. The virus is shed with the placenta & the mare will test negative. Any rhino infection the mare had will have been much earlier in the pregnancy. By the time the abortion occurs the virus will be found only in the fetus & placenta

 

[minimule]

I had a mare here that was the same way. She had had 2 foals, born at 10 months, both still born. When they bred her the 3rd time, the repro vet suggested putting her on Regumate at 9 months and continue daily until 2 weeks to due date. This time she had a successful, full-term foal. They tested the mare and her hormones were out of whack. The owner opted to not put her on hormone treatment but to continue giving Regumate every pregnancy starting at 9 months. She has had 3 full-term healthy foals to date since starting this.

I would highly recommend taking the 3 hour drive to a vet that is willing to work on minis and have her tested. Loosing a foal can be hard on a mare, especially if it is a continual thing.

 

[Denise]

Before you cause yourself anymore heartache you really need to get that horse to a repro vet. I had a mare that easily got pregnant but couldnt carry past 9 months. Took her to a specialist for a biopsy, found out she had endometrium, IIB. Meaning she can get pregnant but her chances of carrying to term were less than 25%. She now is a pasture pet and babysits the weaners. Her breeding days are over and thats okay with me. Your mare really needs a reproductive specialist to go over her.