Symptoms Of Early Abortion???

[CharmedMinis]

I have a mare who has is confirmed in foal, 60 days gestation. She was just ultrasounded on Friday and everything looked good.

She was fine this morning, went out to feed tonight and she was down and rolling and sweating. She had obviously been down for awhile.

I was thinking heat stroke, so I got her up and took her temp, it was totally normal, 100.3.

There was recent poop, was actually wetter than normal as it was in a few big clumps instead of lots of little apples, but other than that it looked normal.

Her breathing was very heavy and labored and she was holding her tail up.

Called the vet, he said those wouldn't be symptoms if she was aborting a 60 day fetus. Sounds like colic to him.

We treated with Banamine and Immediate Care Electrolyte Paste and took her on a 30 minute very bumpy trailer ride.

Back at home her temp is still normal and she is interested in eating. She did get a drink once back home. She urinated, it looked normal, the inside of her vulva is pretty red, but no discharge.

I don't have any experience with early term abortions/absorbtions. What have your experiences been, symptom wise, with mares that abort early term fetuses???

 

[Sue_C.]

The one time we had a first trimester abortion, the mare suffered quite badly with colic symptoms. She too was given banamine for pain, and several hours later she aborted. I was told afterwards that banamine is not generally administered to pregnant mares...because it caused abortions. I cannot recall why, or even who told me. The Vet at the time, wasn't a very knowledgeable horse Vet, so I do agree, he could have erred.

Even today, I am not sure if the abortion was causing the colic symptoms, or the colic and banamine caused the abortion...hard to say.

I say...keep a close eye on your mare.

 

[Lauralee]

I have to agree with your vet. Sounds like colic to me.

If she were losing a 60 day pregnancy, she would ABSORB it, not abort it. So you wouldn't see anything....she'd just come into heat.

If you are mostly concerned about her losing the foal, tease her with the stallion every other day for a month. If she comes into heat during that time period, then you will know that she absorbed the pregnancy. If she does not come into heat, then it was colic.

Either way, I'm glad she's feeling better! But I agree with the above, and would watch her. She can colic again if she's not completely over it.

 

[Miniv]

I agree with Lauralee. A 60 day old pregnancy loss wouldn't show up as anything. The mare would absorb it without anyone being any the wiser. I suspect the mare was colicking.

MA

PS: I am adding to say that the colic could also cause the mare to absorb....so yes, it is wise to watch and see if she comes back into heat.

 

[Ashley]

Just curious.........if a 60 day old foal is nothing then how can a 105 day foal look like a baby pot bellie pig? Do they really grow that fast?

 

[REO]

Our first ever mini mare acted like she had mild colic when she was at day 75. I called the vet and said our mare was aborting but he said she was not. The next morning she'd lost the foal. It was 3-4" long in a clear sac.

The following year she aborted at day 75 again, same thing.

We didn't know about regumate mares back then.

The 3rd year I was glad because she passed day 75 without aborting, but she HAD, but it was still inside her "going bad". It came out on day 80.

I ended up selling her to a pet home.

But at 75 days, the foal is the size of a kitten about to open it's eyes (tiny)

The vet wanted to keep the aborted foals, but we buried them.

 

[Miniv]

Just curious.........if a 60 day old foal is nothing then how can a 105 day foal look like a baby pot bellie pig?  Do they really grow that fast?

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LOL!

Yes, they can grow pretty fast. You may or may not see a mare lose one at that stage. (I've never heard of that description before, but they do!)

MA

 

[Ashley]

Just curious my mare I own aborted a 3-3.5 month foal 4 years ago. That is how I described it then and still do today.

 

[Ojai Minis]

I had a mare abort at 63 days. She was hand bred so I know the exact dates. The night before she acted colicky. We gave her banamine. When she was examined the vet said colic but I said it looked like she was in labor. She had normal poops, etc, but was acting painful. She looked to be contracting. Well, the next day I found the fetus in her corral. Not sure when she aborted it but it was between 6am & noon. She was totally fine afterwards. The fetus was about 3 inches long.

Liz V.

 

[Minimor]

I was told afterwards that banamine is not generally administered to pregnant mares...because it caused abortions. I cannot recall why, or even who told me. The Vet at the time, wasn't a very knowledgeable horse Vet, so I do agree, he could have erred.
Even today, I am not sure if the abortion was causing the colic symptoms, or the colic and banamine caused the abortion...hard to say.

I say...keep a close eye on your mare.

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According to our vet, banamine is safe for pregnant mares--we have given it, with no problems. I'd suspect that the mare was already aborting which is why the banamine was necessary...not that banamine caused the abortion.

Any early losses we've had, the mares have simply reabsorbed--no colic/abortion. However, I do know someone that's had a mare actually abort--in the one case the mare was came into heat on day 42, stood for the stallion to breed her, and then hours later the owner found the tiny fetus hanging from the mare--no sign of colic at all, and if my friend hadn't found the fetus hanging there like that she would never even have known the mare had been in false heat while being pregnant.

 

[CharmedMinis]

Thanks for all the input you guys

She seems to be just fine this morning, but I will be keeping a very close eye on her.

I've searched her paddock with a fine tooth comb and haven't found anything that resembles a fetus and she hasn't had any discharge so I will keep my fingers crossed.

Forgot to mention, she also had her progesterone levels and thyroid checked last week and they are within normal ranges so no regumate. My vet automatically checks my mares hormone levels when he confirms them in foal.

Thanks again, I will let everyone know if she does end up aborting. And the vet will be here next week so I will probably have him check on the fetus.

 

[HGFarm]

I've never known anyone that had a mare abort that early that had any symptoms. It does sound like colic....

 

[Margo_C-T]

In the years I was regularly breeding miniature horses, there were at least two early abortions, of about 55 days. In both cases, because my horses are in runs which are meticulously cleaned twice daily, I found the fetuses while cleaning up. The mares had exhibited NO signs of distress or discomfort. The fetuses, at that stage, were @ 1-1 1/2 inches in length. When I opened the sac, the fetus was well-formed, except the legs ended in little"points', not yet recognizable as hooves. Personally, I think the term "reabsorb" is not quite correct; perhaps VERY early in a pregnancy, when it is little more than a collection of constantly-dividing cells, this *might*occur, with the 'bundle' being broken down and just sort of 'disappearing' back into the dam's body-but I believe that once there is something recognizable as a developing fetus, it is usually ejected from the dam without being noticed because it is so small and easily 'lost', once outside.

 

[Hosscrazy]

One of my mares just came back into season after approx. 40 days of pregnancy. There were no signs of illness, no discharge, nothing. We do think that she must have absorbed the embryo. We're breeding her again to a different stallion, and will keep our fingers crossed on this one!

 

[Miniv]

Someone here on the Forum has a wonderful page set up showing the different stages of development of a fetus. Does anyone remember who that is???

It was amazing how quickly the fetus actually looked like a recognizable horse.

MA