S
StarRidgeAcres
Guest
Update: Warning, it may be too graphic for some.
I'm sorry for the cryptic post. All I had time for was to ask for prayers and I do so appreciate them.
Butter went under camera last night, although I thought she had 15 or more days to go based on her size, position of the baby (still laying side to side), very small udder and a bit of softening in the rear.
I looked at her each hour during the night the she never showed one sign of labor or discomfort. At 7am she was lounging peacefully. I showered and got dressed for work. At 8am the placenta had detached and she was in full labor. I knew the baby was already gone with that much of the sac hanging out, water broken. I felt and only could find the forehead and ears. No feet, nose pointing downward. I thought of Dr Matthews words and stopped to call my vet and then my neighbor. Neighbor was here in 2 mins, vet took about 30. Of course we're having a snow and ice storm going on.
There was just no room in there to get the nose tipped up. Couldn't get the baby pushed back in far enough to move her around. The vet worked for two hours, Butter was going into shock and was in terrible pain. The vet decided a fetotomy was necessary, but that wasn't easy either. That took another 35 minutes. Once the head was removed, the feet were easy to reach and the rest of the foal was delivered.
Butter's uterus doesn't appear to be torn which is amazing considering how many hands were in there, and all the equipment. She has some tears on her vulva area and she's incredibly swollen. She was flushed, infused with antibiotics, tetanus, tetanus antitoxin and banamine.
I wonder if I should have let her go. I've only had one other horse scream in pain like that and it's a sound I said then I never wanted to hear again. That was an abortion at about 7 months that the mare just couldn't pass.
The foal was fully developed. It was a palomino filly with a blaze and socks on the back. It was "just" (if there is anything as just) a dystocia. It's my first bad one. Only had one other due to a deformed front leg but I was able to get the baby out myself.
I can't believe I lost this baby. I waited 3 years, tried two different mares and then had emotionally accepted it wasn't going to happen when she came home in August "open." I knew, I just knew that if I allowed myself to get into baby mode I would get my hopes up and something like this would happen. I knew it all along. I didn't often verbalize it because I thought I'd just make it worse, but I knew this baby would never happen.
Butter is still shocky. The vet will come back tonight after work to check on her. There is a risk of major infection obviously, plus I've just learned over the years that often tough dytocias like this result in the mare eventually failing.
Thanks for your prayers. The baby is gone, but Butter could still use them.
Update from 3/14:
Thank you all so very much for the prayers and support for Butter. She has been through heck today and her body and demeanor show it. I really, really believed she wouldn't make it past this morning. She had struggled for so long and so hard. There were three of us holding her still in addition to the vet doing his job. At one point while she was down and had her head against the wall and so much was going on around her and in her, it just looked to me like her eyes had gone out. Like she had left us. I started to say something but before I could she moved and I knew she was still with us.
Tonight she is obviously very sore and tired, but has regained some strength and seems no longer shocky - she's not trembling anymore and seems to focus her eyes, etc. She's not interested in her grain but she is drinking and somewhat nibbling her hay. Mostly she's just laying down.
Something I learned today is that stress can lead to lamanitis. I knew grass or feed could lead to it, but I didn't know about stress. One of the things I'm supposed to watch for is tenderness in her feet or her shifting her weight and I think she is shifting her weight more than normal. I've been watching her on camera, but it's hard to say if it's from the unreal amount of stress and tension that was put on her whole body today or specific to possible laminitis. The vet will be back again tomorrow afternoon to flush her again and look at her feet.
She's on banamine, sulfa, the antibiotic in the flush (can't think of the name off the top of my head, but it sure was expensive) and probios. If folks have suggestions as to other treatments or things I should be doing for her please feel free to say something. If I learned anything today it's that I have a lot to learn.
And I saw things today that I hoped I'd never see in my entire life.
It almost seems unreal that there was nothing that could be done. No matter how fast I acted or who I called, the baby wasn't going to come out as is. For those that may be wondering Butter is just shy of 34" and has had many foals successfully prior to this horrible experience. The stallion was Glenns General Patton whom I believe is approx 29". The baby was fine boned, but tall and most certainly full-term. And her head was tucked so tightly pointing straight down, there just was no room in there to push her back far enough to tip the nose up.
So sad. Thank you all again. I hope Butter makes it.
Update from 3/15:
I can not say thank you enough for all the prayers and support and kind thoughts. All the comments here, the emails, PMs and FB messages - they've all added up to lots of positive energy to help Butter heal. I really believe that. The vet just left and I had mentioned to him all the concern and support for Butter and he said he believes it because some other force is certainly aiding her in her recovery. He said he really had no explanation for how well she was doing today. He was SO happy, but at the same time just kept shaking his head in wonder at how quickly her uterus shrank back, how very little inflamation remains, her temp and pulse are normal, she shows no signs of colic or lamanitis at this point. She is eating both her hay and grain and is wanting the heck out of that stall!
He flushed her again today including more antibiotic, she's still to have banamine 2x per day through tomorrow, probios 1x per day for 5 more days, and uniprim for 5 more days. She is to remain stalled until at least tomorrow afternoon after her last flushing. And one more ice pack on her vaginal area tonight but most of the swelling has really gone down.
I personally am taking a more cautious approach to her healing as I know things can change for the worse very quickly when a mare has had such a tough foaling, but the vet was thrilled and very optimistic.
What the future holds for Butter is unknown, but I feel more hopeful about it than I did yesterday morning, that's for sure. Her last foal was 4 years ago and I think this one should be her last. She's 20 this year and although the vet said she looks conformationally (referring to her reproductive parts) to be much younger, I think she may be just fine with retiring. I don't plan on owning a stallion any time soon, so just hanging out and eating my feed and hay may suit her just fine!
A dear forum friend commented to me today how her barn was starting to overflow with her "oldies" and I totally understood that. With the exception of Raven and Butter and Pete, I sold my best horses (Spirit in particular) thinking they had the best chances of finding great homes where they would be appreciated and used for their potential. The older or infirm ones just need to stay because that is what my heart says is best for them. I guess now Butter can join that elite group of loafers!
Thank you all again. It's an experience I wish I never had because I certainly hope to NEVER repeat it. There are just some things you wish you'd never seen or heard but life is like that. Along with all the good times with my minis comes some dark times too.
Butter says thank you also!
Update from 3/16, 1:40pm:
Butter had a bit of a rough night. Not more than an hour after the vet left yesterday with his pleasure at how well she was doing, she started showing signs of colic. Not severe, but rolling some, stretching, yawning, pawing, then repeat. She also had more discharge and more blood than she had prior to the flushing, but vet said that was normal since he'd just flushed her. She had only pooped once yesterday and it wasn't the single balls, it was a bunch of single balls all bunched together in a glob. (Isn't is amazing how obsessed we are with poop when we have horses?)
The day of her trauma she drank a lot of water, but yesterday she didn't drink hardly any. That combined with the "solid" poop lead us both to believe she needed more hydration. Although her color was good when the vet was there and her gut sounds were good also. It was about normal time for her evening banamine, so with the vet's approval I gave her her dose and then we started walking and grazing on the fresh grass which is VERY wet right now due to the large amounts of rain. We walked, grazed, walked, grazed for a couple of hours. Still mild discomfort. So the vet came out last night and tubed her with a moderate amount of oil. More walking and grazing and by about 11pm she seemed to be more comfortable. She had also pooped several more times.
This morning she had drank a bit of water but not as much as I'd like so I let her graze on the wet grass for an hour before work. I've been watching her on camera and she's not rolling at all today, but she is laying down more than normal, but maybe normal considering what her body has been through.
Also, I thought to the touch (you know the area right under her tail) that she had a slight fever last night between the vet's visits (have misplaced my thermometer so will pick up one today) but the vet registered between 98 and 99 both visits. Maybe I was just cold; who knows.
The vet comes back tonight at 8pm for another flushing. Hopefully things will look good to him. I'm still being cautious and not getting my hopes too high because of what I've seen/heard in the past.
Thank you all again. I do believe it makes a difference.
Update from 3/18:
I think this will be the final update, at least for a while. I'm hoping that's a good thing.
Butter had her last flush on 3/16 in evening. Both her uterus and cervix seemed normal (lack of swelling, no signs of tears) and her vaginal area is healing really well. She's shows no more signs of colic and no lamanitis so far. She's eating and drinking, but still somewhat "calm." I don't really know how else to describe it, but she's not as animated as she normally would be and maybe that's explained simply by the degree of trauma she's been through physically and emotionally. Temp and respiration have remained normal. And finally last night she took some Cheerios from me and I think that's a good sign.
She's living in part of the backyard for now because the vet wanted her grazing and walking and doing the normal horse stuff. Plus it keeps her out of the stall that undoubtedly smells like her baby still. He said that normal head-down, walking, grazing combination was the best for keeping her insides moving and promoting healing, including mentally.
I can not say thank you enough for all the prayers and support. I TRULY believe it is was has made the difference.
I can't believe the amount of emails and PMs and posts and all were so supportive and pulling for Butter. So, thank you again!
I'm sorry for the cryptic post. All I had time for was to ask for prayers and I do so appreciate them.
Butter went under camera last night, although I thought she had 15 or more days to go based on her size, position of the baby (still laying side to side), very small udder and a bit of softening in the rear.
I looked at her each hour during the night the she never showed one sign of labor or discomfort. At 7am she was lounging peacefully. I showered and got dressed for work. At 8am the placenta had detached and she was in full labor. I knew the baby was already gone with that much of the sac hanging out, water broken. I felt and only could find the forehead and ears. No feet, nose pointing downward. I thought of Dr Matthews words and stopped to call my vet and then my neighbor. Neighbor was here in 2 mins, vet took about 30. Of course we're having a snow and ice storm going on.
There was just no room in there to get the nose tipped up. Couldn't get the baby pushed back in far enough to move her around. The vet worked for two hours, Butter was going into shock and was in terrible pain. The vet decided a fetotomy was necessary, but that wasn't easy either. That took another 35 minutes. Once the head was removed, the feet were easy to reach and the rest of the foal was delivered.
Butter's uterus doesn't appear to be torn which is amazing considering how many hands were in there, and all the equipment. She has some tears on her vulva area and she's incredibly swollen. She was flushed, infused with antibiotics, tetanus, tetanus antitoxin and banamine.
I wonder if I should have let her go. I've only had one other horse scream in pain like that and it's a sound I said then I never wanted to hear again. That was an abortion at about 7 months that the mare just couldn't pass.
The foal was fully developed. It was a palomino filly with a blaze and socks on the back. It was "just" (if there is anything as just) a dystocia. It's my first bad one. Only had one other due to a deformed front leg but I was able to get the baby out myself.
I can't believe I lost this baby. I waited 3 years, tried two different mares and then had emotionally accepted it wasn't going to happen when she came home in August "open." I knew, I just knew that if I allowed myself to get into baby mode I would get my hopes up and something like this would happen. I knew it all along. I didn't often verbalize it because I thought I'd just make it worse, but I knew this baby would never happen.
Butter is still shocky. The vet will come back tonight after work to check on her. There is a risk of major infection obviously, plus I've just learned over the years that often tough dytocias like this result in the mare eventually failing.
Thanks for your prayers. The baby is gone, but Butter could still use them.
Update from 3/14:
Thank you all so very much for the prayers and support for Butter. She has been through heck today and her body and demeanor show it. I really, really believed she wouldn't make it past this morning. She had struggled for so long and so hard. There were three of us holding her still in addition to the vet doing his job. At one point while she was down and had her head against the wall and so much was going on around her and in her, it just looked to me like her eyes had gone out. Like she had left us. I started to say something but before I could she moved and I knew she was still with us.
Tonight she is obviously very sore and tired, but has regained some strength and seems no longer shocky - she's not trembling anymore and seems to focus her eyes, etc. She's not interested in her grain but she is drinking and somewhat nibbling her hay. Mostly she's just laying down.
Something I learned today is that stress can lead to lamanitis. I knew grass or feed could lead to it, but I didn't know about stress. One of the things I'm supposed to watch for is tenderness in her feet or her shifting her weight and I think she is shifting her weight more than normal. I've been watching her on camera, but it's hard to say if it's from the unreal amount of stress and tension that was put on her whole body today or specific to possible laminitis. The vet will be back again tomorrow afternoon to flush her again and look at her feet.
She's on banamine, sulfa, the antibiotic in the flush (can't think of the name off the top of my head, but it sure was expensive) and probios. If folks have suggestions as to other treatments or things I should be doing for her please feel free to say something. If I learned anything today it's that I have a lot to learn.
And I saw things today that I hoped I'd never see in my entire life.
It almost seems unreal that there was nothing that could be done. No matter how fast I acted or who I called, the baby wasn't going to come out as is. For those that may be wondering Butter is just shy of 34" and has had many foals successfully prior to this horrible experience. The stallion was Glenns General Patton whom I believe is approx 29". The baby was fine boned, but tall and most certainly full-term. And her head was tucked so tightly pointing straight down, there just was no room in there to push her back far enough to tip the nose up.
So sad. Thank you all again. I hope Butter makes it.
Update from 3/15:
I can not say thank you enough for all the prayers and support and kind thoughts. All the comments here, the emails, PMs and FB messages - they've all added up to lots of positive energy to help Butter heal. I really believe that. The vet just left and I had mentioned to him all the concern and support for Butter and he said he believes it because some other force is certainly aiding her in her recovery. He said he really had no explanation for how well she was doing today. He was SO happy, but at the same time just kept shaking his head in wonder at how quickly her uterus shrank back, how very little inflamation remains, her temp and pulse are normal, she shows no signs of colic or lamanitis at this point. She is eating both her hay and grain and is wanting the heck out of that stall!
He flushed her again today including more antibiotic, she's still to have banamine 2x per day through tomorrow, probios 1x per day for 5 more days, and uniprim for 5 more days. She is to remain stalled until at least tomorrow afternoon after her last flushing. And one more ice pack on her vaginal area tonight but most of the swelling has really gone down.
I personally am taking a more cautious approach to her healing as I know things can change for the worse very quickly when a mare has had such a tough foaling, but the vet was thrilled and very optimistic.
What the future holds for Butter is unknown, but I feel more hopeful about it than I did yesterday morning, that's for sure. Her last foal was 4 years ago and I think this one should be her last. She's 20 this year and although the vet said she looks conformationally (referring to her reproductive parts) to be much younger, I think she may be just fine with retiring. I don't plan on owning a stallion any time soon, so just hanging out and eating my feed and hay may suit her just fine!
A dear forum friend commented to me today how her barn was starting to overflow with her "oldies" and I totally understood that. With the exception of Raven and Butter and Pete, I sold my best horses (Spirit in particular) thinking they had the best chances of finding great homes where they would be appreciated and used for their potential. The older or infirm ones just need to stay because that is what my heart says is best for them. I guess now Butter can join that elite group of loafers!
Thank you all again. It's an experience I wish I never had because I certainly hope to NEVER repeat it. There are just some things you wish you'd never seen or heard but life is like that. Along with all the good times with my minis comes some dark times too.
Butter says thank you also!
Update from 3/16, 1:40pm:
Butter had a bit of a rough night. Not more than an hour after the vet left yesterday with his pleasure at how well she was doing, she started showing signs of colic. Not severe, but rolling some, stretching, yawning, pawing, then repeat. She also had more discharge and more blood than she had prior to the flushing, but vet said that was normal since he'd just flushed her. She had only pooped once yesterday and it wasn't the single balls, it was a bunch of single balls all bunched together in a glob. (Isn't is amazing how obsessed we are with poop when we have horses?)
This morning she had drank a bit of water but not as much as I'd like so I let her graze on the wet grass for an hour before work. I've been watching her on camera and she's not rolling at all today, but she is laying down more than normal, but maybe normal considering what her body has been through.
Also, I thought to the touch (you know the area right under her tail) that she had a slight fever last night between the vet's visits (have misplaced my thermometer so will pick up one today) but the vet registered between 98 and 99 both visits. Maybe I was just cold; who knows.
The vet comes back tonight at 8pm for another flushing. Hopefully things will look good to him. I'm still being cautious and not getting my hopes too high because of what I've seen/heard in the past.
Thank you all again. I do believe it makes a difference.
Update from 3/18:
I think this will be the final update, at least for a while. I'm hoping that's a good thing.
Butter had her last flush on 3/16 in evening. Both her uterus and cervix seemed normal (lack of swelling, no signs of tears) and her vaginal area is healing really well. She's shows no more signs of colic and no lamanitis so far. She's eating and drinking, but still somewhat "calm." I don't really know how else to describe it, but she's not as animated as she normally would be and maybe that's explained simply by the degree of trauma she's been through physically and emotionally. Temp and respiration have remained normal. And finally last night she took some Cheerios from me and I think that's a good sign.
She's living in part of the backyard for now because the vet wanted her grazing and walking and doing the normal horse stuff. Plus it keeps her out of the stall that undoubtedly smells like her baby still. He said that normal head-down, walking, grazing combination was the best for keeping her insides moving and promoting healing, including mentally.
I can not say thank you enough for all the prayers and support. I TRULY believe it is was has made the difference.
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ray
