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  Discussion on Time frame for Ultrasound
Author Message
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 3:00 am:

Dr O, I just got the good news that one of my mares scanned in foal. Last time around (two years ago) she went in foal with twins and one was pinched - that time I was advised to get her rescanned at 30 days and 40 days which I did.

This time there's just one (we hope). Am I safe enough to just get her rescanned at 40 days or is there a reason (apart from trying to get her covered again if she has lost it, though it would be a bit late...) why you would rescan at 30 days as well if there are no twins?

Thanks as always for your advice.

Imogen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 7:51 am:

No, other than the type suggestions you give, there is no pressing medical reason for the two scans. Of course the more it is done the more likely that you might pick up on something missed or not obvious earlier. I just recheck one time between day 30 and day 40 to be sure we don't have early embryonic loss.
DrO
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 9:36 am:

Thanks for that, Dr O. It got more complicated when I collected her from the stud.

She was covered 29 April and 1,3, and 5 May. She was scanned 23 May by the scanning man who said that the embryo looked too large but he didn't think it was twins. So then she was scanned 24 May by a vet who said it wasn't twins but she must have gone in foal on the first covering because of the large size.

I stopped off at my vet's on the way home and explained. He said he would scan her again on day 42 from 29 April. So I just hope it's not twins after all!

I think what we're saying here is that the mare is a bit of a slapper and was just enjoying herself down in Wexford at my expense (but I knew that about her anyway...)

All the best

Imogen
New Member:
Dune

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 5, 2005 - 12:04 am:

Why cant an external ultrasound be done like on humans instead of the internal. I opted against it and am letting nature take its course. kristin}
Member:
Gipetto

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 5, 2005 - 10:52 am:

We scan initially at 14-15 days. We rescan at 30 days to be sure all looks well. If a pregnancy is lost soon after 30 days when the endometrial cups have formed, the mare will not return to season for about 120 days. So I prefer to know at day 30 if the pregnancy looks healthy.

Kristen, I would never "allow nature to take its course." All you need is one set of twins that gets missed to learn that hard lesson. IMHO
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 5, 2005 - 12:39 pm:

Ditto, Mary Lou. I can't imagine breeding a mare and not choosing to ultrasound. We spend so much time, money, effort and plain old emotion in getting a mare in foal that I can't even fathom not scanning. While there are no guarantees in any breeding, a tool like an ultrasound serves to cut down the risks, identifies problems and sometimes saves lives.

Kristin, there are external ultrasound units in use but I don't know of any vets who have them. I believe they can identify early stage pregnancy but I'm not sure how good they are for later stage scans. Dr O, do you have any info on them?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 5, 2005 - 3:35 pm:

The problem with an external ultrasound is the distance the foal is from the skin, it is too far for an ultrasound to pick up.
DrO
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