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  Discussion on Yes, another uterine infection question
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Member:
Damron

Posted on Monday, Aug 16, 2004 - 9:40 am:

Dr. O:
Last Thursday our vet confirmed that a mare of ours is not in foal. This mare, which we acquired from Canada in April, is 6 years old and successfully foaled a lovely colt in January 2002. She has not been bred since then.
As a routine precaution, our vet wanted to do a culture. It was positive for B. strep and, following the results of the sensitivity test, our vet flushed her three days in a row with Amikacin (sp?). Vet said we had to wait three weeks to re-culture, which we did. After another week of waiting for the results, we learned the infection had moderated, but was still present (note: The 3 flushes were not done at regular, 24-hour intervals. Is this a factor in success/failure?) This time she was flushed four days in a row with Naxcel (at regular intervals). For reasons not clear to me, we only had to wait 5 days to re-culture. This time the lab came back with a "no result", so neither negative nor positive. Our vet viewed this as a green light for breeding, as did the stud farm from which we were obtaining the semen (frozen, I might add). Prostaglandin was administered timely and she duly cycled. On a 45mm follicle, HCG was administerd. Six hours later, on a 48mm follicle, the first of two doses was inseminated (note: this was the first ever experience of our vet with frozen semen). We checked her twice the next day (8 am and 1 pm) and the follicle was at 51 and holding. At 8 pm that day (31 hours post-HCG), we inseminated the second dose. We checked her again at 8 am the next day and she had ovulated, so we thought the timing had gone very well. However, she is not in foal. The post-thaw motility of this stallion is only 30%, a factoid I had not known until I was examining the paperwork that came with the semen --- shame on me for not knowing this prior. To what extent do you think the issues might be with the mare, and to what extent might they be with the stallion? What would you advise as next steps? Any insight is appreciated, as always.
Loretta
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004 - 7:41 am:

Unfortunately I cannot make such an evaluation from the information you provide. First the finding of bacteria in the uterus is not diagnostic of a uterine infection nor is 30% motility diagnostic of problems with the stallions semen as long as the total numbers and his history of sucess with frozen semen is acceptable. It does sound like the insemination timing has gone well.

Not knowing your resources or goals, neither can I be very helpful with your next steps. Look at this too opposite points:
1) Having a foal by this stallion is your most important goal and time and money are not a factor.
2) I want a foal as soon as possible, I do not care who the stallion is but money is becoming a real problem.
I think you can see your next steps will depend on where you fall between these two statements.
DrO}
Member:
Damron

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004 - 8:59 am:

Dr. O: Please could you let me know what additional information I could provide that would allow you to opine?
Regarding your questions:
We carefully selected this stallion, but there are others who would also be suitable. In this particular case, we are in Year 1 of a two year/one foal contract. We are allowed 5 doses of semen per year, and have used two doses to date. I don't mind having another go, although the resulting foal would be quite late. My questions are:
(1) Assuming we would like to get a 2005 foal, what step you would next take? At this point, money is not yet a deciding factor.
(2) Is "no result" effectively the same, or as good as, a negative result?
Thank you.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Aug 21, 2004 - 12:13 pm:

Loretta I am unsure what they mean by "no result" but if you have read our articles on uterine infections you should know we do not believe culture an accurate diagnostic technique, see Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artifical Insemination » Uterine Culture and Cytology for more.

Looking at the goals and resources you state above: you check the mare to see if everything is all right, check into the stallions reproductive history to see if everything seems kosher, then you keep breeding her till she settles.
DrO
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