wcr
Well-Known Member
I thought I would post this as a learning experience for those that haven't gone through this before.
Monday I went out to feed and one of my pregnant, food hound mares wouldn't come up to eat. She wasn't due for at least a month, no bag development and my breeding dates said it wasn't time. Brought her up to the barn to keep an eye on her and she was drinking and urinating well but not eating. Went to work Tuesday and came home and saw 3 small piles of stool but very dry. No evidence of colic or discomfort, just depressed affect. Had a sneaking feeling she was losing her foal which she did that night. Dead foal still in the bag but everything looked normal, no signs of infection or placental issues. Lots of stool out with foaling.
She brightened up but still a bit depressed but not eating. Never showed any signs of being sick, no temp. Put her out in the front pasture for grass where we could watch her. She ate a little and just wandered around. Not normal for this mare. It started to rain so put her back in barn and gave her a treat, which she readily took but let it fall out of her mouth. She has had hay and grain in front of her all week with no interest. I figured after she got the foal out she should be getting back to normal but still wasn't eating and a day with no stool. But then again, she hasn't eaten for 4 days, nothing much in the gut to come out, no signs of sickness, no signs of colic. The not eating was the red flag for me that it was time to go to the vet because it would put her into hyperlipemia.
The vet was as stumped as I was about why this mare aborted and why she wasn't eating. No signs of being sick and everything looked normal. Her liver enzymes were just starting to go out of the normal ranges as I thought they would. she is in the hospital overnight for tube feedings and will come home today. She was started on IV fluids along with tube feedings of Ensure/electrolytes mixture to get the calories into her to shut down the fat metabolism.
The mare will be fine and I have been down this road before and knew what I was looking for and when to act. It is just a small bump in the road and not a major catastrophy but I posted so others could learn from my experience. Hope this helps someone else.
Monday I went out to feed and one of my pregnant, food hound mares wouldn't come up to eat. She wasn't due for at least a month, no bag development and my breeding dates said it wasn't time. Brought her up to the barn to keep an eye on her and she was drinking and urinating well but not eating. Went to work Tuesday and came home and saw 3 small piles of stool but very dry. No evidence of colic or discomfort, just depressed affect. Had a sneaking feeling she was losing her foal which she did that night. Dead foal still in the bag but everything looked normal, no signs of infection or placental issues. Lots of stool out with foaling.
She brightened up but still a bit depressed but not eating. Never showed any signs of being sick, no temp. Put her out in the front pasture for grass where we could watch her. She ate a little and just wandered around. Not normal for this mare. It started to rain so put her back in barn and gave her a treat, which she readily took but let it fall out of her mouth. She has had hay and grain in front of her all week with no interest. I figured after she got the foal out she should be getting back to normal but still wasn't eating and a day with no stool. But then again, she hasn't eaten for 4 days, nothing much in the gut to come out, no signs of sickness, no signs of colic. The not eating was the red flag for me that it was time to go to the vet because it would put her into hyperlipemia.
The vet was as stumped as I was about why this mare aborted and why she wasn't eating. No signs of being sick and everything looked normal. Her liver enzymes were just starting to go out of the normal ranges as I thought they would. she is in the hospital overnight for tube feedings and will come home today. She was started on IV fluids along with tube feedings of Ensure/electrolytes mixture to get the calories into her to shut down the fat metabolism.
The mare will be fine and I have been down this road before and knew what I was looking for and when to act. It is just a small bump in the road and not a major catastrophy but I posted so others could learn from my experience. Hope this helps someone else.
ray If you need anything please call me.
