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  Discussion on Interrupted delivery
Author Message

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2001 - 9:24 pm:

My sister in Idaho has a pregnant mare that is about a week overdue. She has foaled once before and is 7 years old. She and her husband are basically clueless about foaling and everything that goes along with it. I have sent her foaling articles and given her as much of my past experience as possible to help out. They came home the other night and the mare was down and had a "whitish bubble" protruding about an inch and a half from her vulva. They havent put her in a stall, she is out in a corral. Whenever they pull in their driveway, the dogs run out and stir up the horses and sheep, my sister thought it was cute that the dogs were "protecting them" from the livestock. When they pulled in and saw her down, the dogs ran out and got her up. My sister called me 2 1/2 hours after that and told me the mare was in labor, what they had seen, and that she was kicking up at her belly and pawing and appeared to be in labor. Shortly after that, she called again and said the mare was standing there sleeping and appeared to be just normal??? I realize that mares can stop impending birth up to a point, but I never dreamed it could be after something was protruding from the vulva. She said there were no signs that the water broke that she could see. I told her I thought it was possible that she stopped the delivery and that everything might be ok, but that I would definately call the vet and tell him what happened and see what he thinks. The next day she told me they called the vet, but I found out today that they didnt tell him she was down with a protrusion and that the dogs got her up and that she was in labor for almost 3 hours. He just told the vet what she was currently doing, which was dripping milk, and that they had felt the baby move. The mare has been eating and acting normally, but she was kind of dragging her hind leg, their vet told them the baby was probably pushing on a nerve, which could very well be the case. I told her today that she needs to tell the vet the whole story. Any information or hints that you could give would be most helpful. Today is May 7th, she was down the evening of May 5th. Thanks! Lauri

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2001 - 1:15 pm:

It is now May 11th and the mare still hasnt foaled. My sister says she sees vigorous movement from the foal....Does this sound normal?
Lauri

Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2001 - 11:17 am:

If they saw something protruding from the vulva, I agree with you, they need the vet out to examine the mare, it may indicate the cervix is open and the placental star has ruptured or worse the placenta has detached so the foal is in danger of loosing his oxygen supply while in utero.
DrO

Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2001 - 8:19 pm:

Dr O
Thanks for getting back to me. It has been 8 days now and still nothing. They see the baby moving every day. In your experience, how long does it normally take a mare to go back into labor if she stops it? I just assumed it would be within a day or two. What are the chances the cervix is open since they have been seeing movement for over a week? They said her appetite is normal and she acts normal....
Thanks
Lauri
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