Why does my vet?

[heart k ranch]

My vet tells me that his hands are too big, or something about the technlogy? I know why he doesn't like to palpate(sp) her but why won't he ultrasound her. Could it be that he doesn't have the equipment to do something that small?

 

[muffntuf]

Most ultra sound equipment and vets hands would perforate the uterus or the vagina of a miniature or pony mare. My vet would not even touch my miniatures mares and was hesitant to do my shetland mares. He did ultra sound my shetland mares, but it was a tight fit. He also borrowed miniature speculum equipment from another vet and culture my miniature mares.

This is not uncommon for vets - if you could find a small female vet with small hands, they can try to palpate a miniature mare.

If you want to ultra sound a miniature mare contact Joyce L at [email protected], she has ultra sound machines that she says works on miniature mares.

 

[heart k ranch]

Most ultra sound equipment and vets hands would perforate the uterus or the vagina of a miniature or pony mare. My vet would not even touch my miniatures mares and was hesitant to do my shetland mares. He did ultra sound my shetland mares, but it was a tight fit. He also borrowed miniature speculum equipment from another vet and culture my miniature mares.

This is not uncommon for vets - if you could find a small female vet with small hands, they can try to palpate a miniature mare.

If you want to ultra sound a miniature mare contact Joyce L at [email protected], she has ultra sound machines that she says works on miniature mares.

Do you buy them or what? I might think about getting one of them

 

[txminipinto]

Ultrasound machines are very expensive ($5K) and up. And there are laws that restrict the sales of the equipment to only licensed medical professionals (of course, there is always a way to get around that!).

Most vets will not rectal a mini or pony because of the risk of a rectal tear resulting in contaminating the abdomen with fecal material. This will cause peritiontis which is a fatal condition in horses. I have had my mares palpated before but here at Texas A&M we have many female interns, residents, and clinicians who are physically capable. It is possible to ultrasound a mini or shetland externally though and have had that done as well (though for detecting twins it's not as reliable).

Your vet has his reasons and it's important for you to respect them. If he feels that he isn't capable of safely palpating or ultrasounding your mare, then I recommend you look for a female vet who can safely perform the procedure. A rectal tear in any horse is an almost guaranteed death sentance.

 

[heart k ranch]

Ultrasound machines are very expensive ($5K) and up. And there are laws that restrict the sales of the equipment to only licensed medical professionals (of course, there is always a way to get around that!).

Most vets will not rectal a mini or pony because of the risk of a rectal tear resulting in contaminating the abdomen with fecal material. This will cause peritiontis which is a fatal condition in horses. I have had my mares palpated before but here at Texas A&M we have many female interns, residents, and clinicians who are physically capable. It is possible to ultrasound a mini or shetland externally though and have had that done as well (though for detecting twins it's not as reliable).

Your vet has his reasons and it's important for you to respect them. If he feels that he isn't capable of safely palpating or ultrasounding your mare, then I recommend you look for a female vet who can safely perform the procedure. A rectal tear in any horse is an almost guaranteed death sentance.

yea, I respect what he says. I found a female vet about a hour away so I might start going to her with the minis

 

[Suzie]

My vet has small hands and still does not like to palpate my mares- we only do it if we suspect a prolapse in the uterus or such. Thankfully, it has only been my bigger mares that required this so far, I know my 26" filly would never get palpated by my vet. Also, he only has a larger horse probe to use and we just don't even do that anymore. Funny as it seems, I think the female vet has bigger hands than my male vet....LOL!

 

[faithfarm]

There is no way I would let a vet, male or female palpate one of my minis. IMO, ultrasound is the only way. There are a couple of companies that sell a machine with a mini probe; they are expensive, about 5k for a used one and 10k for a new one and anyone can by them. The problem with a vet having an ultrasound machine is that they don't use it enough to be very good at reading the display. I have been using one for over 10 years without harming any of my mares but I have heard of a couple of problems with people who are over aggressive. You can tell if a mare is bred in about 14 days and rebred if necessary on the next cycle or you can check a follicle to see if the mare is ovulating. Think about how many missed pregnancies does it take to pay for the machine. A good idea would be for a couple of breeders that live in close to each other share the cost of a machine.

 

[Joanne]

[SIZE=12pt]Several years ago we bought our own ultrasound machine. Our vets did some of our larger miniature horses, but could not do most of them. I have a small hand and can get into most, but not all of the mares. They make extenders that can probe without your hand going into them for the rest of our miniatures.[/SIZE]

There are a number of mini farms that do their own ultrasound and several were most helpful when I started out.

With me it is a Godsend. I could not imagine raising miniatures without one. I know if the foal is breach, if the mare is pregnant, if she is in heat etc.

You are allowed to buy them, but you are not allowed to do them on anyone else's horses and collect a fee. It is basically for your own use. You are also not allowed to take a veterinarians course in how to do them unless you are a vet or vet student.

There is a learning curve and doing them is not for everyone.

 

[whimsical]

My vet uses a small animal (dog/cat) convex ultrasound vaginally on my mares. He also refuses to do it rectally due to the risk of injury and potential liability.

I am not real sure how comfortable I am with him doing it vaginally because of the risk of getting bacteria in. But that is the only way he will do it.

I have also checked into buying an ultrasound and have found used ones for as low as $2500 and of course the sky is the limit on the high end.

But since I only have a few mares it isn't cost effective right now.

 

[muffntuf]

The ultra sound Joyce L sells I don't think is used rectally I would just email her and ask her for more information. I know she has a used one for around $2500 or did a month ago.

 

[wildoak]

If your vet is not comfortable doing ultrasounds, he's wise to tell you. We are fortunate enough to have a wonderful vet here with very small hands. She specializes in reproduction and has probably ultrasounded thousands of mini mares, in addition to the full size mares she does. She is very gentle, very cautious and very accurate in reading the machine. I had her show me how to infuse some mares a couple of years ago, not too difficult but something you certainly have to develop a feel for and go very gently. I have a lot of respect for her talent and experience, and would not want just anyone checking my mares.

Jan

 

[Belinda]

Well I am with everyone else if you Vet does not feel comfortable doing it , go with what he wants, and maybe find one that can do the mini's ..

As for the ultra sound machines they are NOT that hard to come by.. I saw two sell at Auction for little over $2,500 and both had just been re-certified..

Guess I do not understand why some would not want their mares palpated IF the Vet was able to do so. My Vet palpates all mine I have done down to those little under 28" mares , he will also ultra sound if he is not sure about it . He speciality is also Reproduction...

 

[Becky]

Guess I do not understand why some would not want their mares palpated IF the Vet was able to do so. My Vet palpates all mine I have done down to those little under 28" mares , he will also ultra sound if he is not sure about it . He speciality is also Reproduction...

Same here. My vet has palpated and ultrasounded literally thousands of miniature mares in addition to the full size horses he has in his practice. There aren't too many he can't do and he will certainly tell me if he can't. I've had him palpate mares as small as 28". Ultrasound isn't really accurate after so many months of gestation as the foals are down too far in the uterus to see. So generally if I want to know if a mare is pg or not 30 days + after breeding, I just have palpated.

 

[PaintNminis]

My Vet Rigged up a Mini Ultrasound and it works Awesome

They even use it on their Goats and Llamas

 

[ionafarm]

Several years ago we bit the bullet and bought an ultrasound with a miniature probe. It was specially developed for miniature horses and Kay Pate was very involved in its development. It is an extended probe and a hand does not need to be inserted at all. I have been able to do even the smallest mares with no problem. The mares rarely even act like they are aware of the process as it is that uninvasive. These probes are made in Loveland Colorado. I would suggest you have your vets call there and see if they can get this miniature probe to fit their machine. Yes the probe is the most expensive part of the machine, but if they have enough mini clients they will want to do it, or if you want to buy this piece for them to use at your farm.... This probe is not hard to use after you learn a little about the anatomy of the mare and a little guided practice.

 

[JWC sr.]

I agree with the other above posters in that we ultra-sound all of our mares and with the miniature probe it is not a problem. It takes a little practice to become good at it, but that is with anything. We bought our own machine last year and got some good instruction on how to use it properly. Knowing instead of guessing makes a big difference in being able to properly care for our mares before and when it comes time for them to foal.

With that said though if the vet. does not have the equipment and/or want to do it I would sure respect his wishes and find another vet.

 

[FoRebel]

I agree with others.... If your vet isn't comfortable palpating or ultrasounding your mares, then find a female vet and see if she's willing. I know our female vet does both but her hands are are seriously SMALL! I mean she could wear a size 4 ring! She's even leery about doing some of the mares because they are so small and tight.

 

[SkipsMom]

When a miniature mare needs to be US at the clinic where I work Doc puts the US probe inside the hollow blue wand seen here w/ the CIDR insert, http://www.bovine-elite.com/easibreed.asp . This tip came through a veterinary journal and while not as perfect as actually being able to use his hand to manipulate the probe around, it gets the information needed and cause no harm.