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  Discussion on Prolonged gestation-mare dies
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Posted on Monday, Jul 3, 2000 - 7:15 pm:

Dr O


This past weekend we suffered the loss of one of our beloved 9yr old appaloosa broodmares. She was 15 days overdue with her 3rd foal. I was anxious and had consulted with my vet. As an obstetrical nurse by trade I do not believe that mother or baby benifits with a prolonged gestation. I have read and do understand that it is unclear why these mares go overdue. I held a vigilant watch over this mare, setting my alarm hourly throughout the nights for at least a week prior to her foaling . Sat July 1, 430 am she was quietly eating her hay, her milk had changed from the bluish skim milk to more homogized looking milk approximately 36 hours earlier. When my alarm went off at 530 am she was lying down but not flat out, she glanced at her backend then as she got to her feet I noticed the amniotic sac protuding slightly, I woke my husband and daughter and ran outside to her. We raised her from a foal so she trusted us to be there. When I arrived at her side she lay down flat and started pushing. I stood back quietly watching her. After two or three cycles of contractions (approx: 5-8 min) I was concerned because there was no sign of a foal, and the sac was not advancing. I also was not happy with her rectum dilating so wide with her pushing, I scrubbed quickly with hibitane and sent my daughter for the phone, I called and left and emergency message for my vet , during this time she was quietly resting between her next contraction, she rolled 2 or 3 times, then before I knew what to do she pushed and her entire large intestine prolapsed onto the ground behind her. I knew then I would lose this mare. I quickly reached inside and tried to find where the foal was, at this point the vet was on the other end of the phone. I located the nostril of the foal and then reached up high and found a hoof, I pulled it down and then I located the other foot way down low, I pulled it up and then my husband grabbed one leg and I the other, we were finally able, with the help of the mare still pushing to pull out a LIVE beautiful stud colt. The vet was on her way but we lived 45 min away. We milked her and let her visit with her foal, I gave her an IV injection for pain but we had to have a neighbour euthanize her before the vet arrived. I know she suffered a fatal injury and that there was no hope for survival but I don't understand what happened and part of me thinks I should have done more for her. I shouldn't have hesitated as I think that the foals upper foot was pushing on her bowl. Since her death I have immersed myself in the round the clock care of her son. He required a plasma transfusion yesterday as the 7 cups of mares milk he recieved was insufficient to boost his antibodies and his temp had gone up to 38.9
Since birth he has been otherwise vigorous. He weighed in at 60kg (134 lbs) He has a shortened tendon on his front leg and I am currently trying range of motion exercises for a few days before going to more aggressive measures. I am giving him IV Trivetrin (Trimethoprim & Sulfadoxine) 3.75 CC daily.
I have rambled long enough , I guess what I'd like to know is...
-have you seen or heard of a rectal prolapse before?
-was there anything more I could have done for my mare to prevent this?
-what advise do you have on raising orphan foals.
-what could I do to help stretch the tendon further ? He stand on his tiptoe, but when you push gently on his knee, he will stand correctly .

Thank-you for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerly
Terry Moe
Emerald Appaloosa's
Horsefly, B.C. Canada

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2000 - 12:30 pm:

Hello Terry,
I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal and the death of your mare but would like to offer congratulations on you keeping your head and ending up with a prize, my hats off. Taking your questions in order:
-yes rectal prolapse is reported as a complication of dystocia and not always so severe as to be fatal, it depends on the amount of prolapse.

-no, I know of no way to have predicted the event and it was probably not secondary to the prolonged gestation. It sounds like the flexural deformity may have prevented the foal from getting his feet into the birth canal.

-See: The Horseman's Advisor: Equine Diseases: Reproductive Diseases: Birthing Problems for information on raising orphans and their are other articles there that I believe would be of interest to you.

-See: The Horseman's Advisor: Equine Diseases: Foal Diseases: Contracted Tendons for information on treating contracted tendons, it has just been being updated this month and I just uploaded it, I think it is a big improvement over the past article with a lot of new information.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2000 - 9:58 pm:

Terry
I just want to say how sorry I am that you lost your mare. I can't imagine how hard it must be for you, especially since you raised her from birth. It is amazing that you were able to deliver the foal.
Just Sunday I had to put down a wonderful mare who fought hard and gave birth to a foal on...Mother's Day. She injured her hind legs 3 months ago trying to "save" my neighbors foal who suffocated at birth....The colt is a beautiful Palomino, just like his Mom.
Another member, Tracey Lomax, posted this poem earlier this year. Poet unknown.

Don't cry for the horses that life has set free,
a million white horses forever to be.
Don't cry for the horse now in God's hand,
as they dance and they prance in a heavenly band.

They were ours as a gift, but never to keep.
As they close their eyes forever to sleep,
their spirits unbound, on a silver wings they fly,
a million white horses against the blue sky.

Look up into heaven, you'll see them above,
the horses we lost, the horses we loved.
Manes and tails flowing, they gallop through time.
They were never yours -they were never mine.

Don't cry for the horses, they'll be back someday.
When our time is gone, they'll show us the way.
Do you hear that soft nicker? Close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses, love the ones that are here.

~barbara

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 5, 2000 - 12:44 pm:

Dr. O

Since writing of the death of my mare Sat am. We have had our share of challenges with her foal.
As I mentioned before, his antibodies were low so he received a plasma infusion Sun. Am. this was after receiving 8 cups of his mother's colostrum and 2 cups of frozen donated mare's colostrum. his levels were 400 vs desired 800 or higher. We were at the vet clinic until 11 pm last night as he needed IV oxytetracycline as his contracted tendon was causing him to buckle over and the vet and I felt he was worsening. While there , swelling was noted to his hock joint as well as they queried a ruptured digital flexor tendon on his front contracted leg. While receiving the oxytetracycline and tap of the rear hock joint was done. The liquid came out a dark yellow. His temp had been normal whenever I took it but it was 38.5 at the clinic. This foal DOES NOT appear listliss, he has a vigorous appetite, he's not showing any signs of pain to the questionable joints. Upon analysis of the joint fluid, there didn't appear to be elevated white cells. So they felt perhaps he has immature joints and was causing trauma and that the color of the fluid was caused by hemolysis of red blood cells. An Xray was taken AP & Lat which showed a possibility of slight immaturity but certainly not remarkable. So his front leg was splinted and he is on total stall rest X 3wks. As I live so far from the clinic. I will be repeating the second dose of IV oxytetracycline myself today. I will rewrap his leg and do some range of motion exercises. Now this is the big question I have for you today. Before we left the clinic they repeated a total protien analysis of him and found that his levels were only 460 (or 4.6) even though receiving the plasma. Why could this be and what should be done, they are talking about repeating his plasma infusion. He is so lively and bright, his vital signs within normal limits with a temp of 38.1 this am. He had a large thyroid gland at birth which appears to be resolving. Do you have any ideas for me, I am so tired and worried for this foal, as I mentioned he was 134lbs at birth and he's definately growing., I would appreciate any further advice you could give me. I worry about the accuracy of this protien test and if it is accurate he could succumb to infection at a later date.

pS: IF YOU READ THIS BARBARA, MY DAUGHTER AND I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND THE LOVELY POEM.

Thank you ,

Terry Moe
Emerald Appaloosas
Horsefly , B.C.
Canada

Posted on Thursday, Jul 6, 2000 - 4:45 am:

You fight to get the protein levels up is a bit odd with normal colostrum and some of the very good commercial modern IgG products (plasma infusion) you ought to be higher than what you are reading. There are several tests for IgG that do vary in their ease and accuracy so it depends on what test they are using, are the components in date, and how well they run the test: with so many variables I cannot comment.

Foals do process the IgG and many feel exogenous IgG is processed faster and I know during septic conditions the IgG seems to be used up very fast.

The joint fluid should be examined for cellularity, a CBD needs to be done to check for infection. Of course large doses Of TC might inhibit or even, if the foal is otherwise in good shape, treat the infection but is not a drug of choice and will actually interfere with the bacteriocidal classes of medication like penicillin and aminoglycosides. So careful balance and thought needs to go into the nerxt step that will depend on the results of the above tests and examination. Until proven otherwise all swollen joints on newborns should be considered infected.

Did you mean a ruptured common digital EXTENSOR tendon? A more common and less serious problem in newborns than flexor rupture.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 6, 2000 - 1:46 pm:

DrO.

Yes , you are correct about the common digital
Extensor tendon.

Since I last wrote, this foal has been diagnosed as a hypothyroid foal. My vet spoke with one of the vets at the university of Saskatoon, Sask.

He did have a large goiter in his neck which appears to be resolving. This vet feels we are dealing with immature joint capsules. I believe she did do a CBC on the joint fluid and she told me the WBC was low .

I am unsure of the Test they run for the protiens levels except that there are 4 round blue dots on a piece of test paper that should all darken , does this make any sense. She filled 2 small pipetts with blood and the test results are done in a few minutes. She seems to think his protien levels will rise slowly. I am concerned about sepsis. His temperature has remained normal.

He continues to have some fluid in these rear hock joints but does not appear sore. His appetite has remained fairly vigorous , I try to feed him hourly (24 hours a day) and he has been taking 500cc no less than 350cc and that's since I changed his nipple as I felt the hole was too big and I worried about aspiration.

When I infused his second dose of IV oxytetracycline last evening I unwrapped his front leg and it was perfectly straight, I was thrilled. He stood on it correctly for approx.
10 minutes then he started to buckle at the fetlock so he was immediately resplinted. My vet says eventually he will stand for longer periods and that this is a slow gradual process, but what a dramatic result to this OT therapy.

In your opinion does the picture I have describe make more sense after a diagnosis of hypothyroidism or is there more I should do.

I have been looking for information on hypothyroidism in foals and I'm sure it's out there I just can't find it. Do any articles come to your mind that I could refer to. I really need to know what some of the causes of hypothyroidism in foals is so if there is anything I can do to ensure this does not happen again I will do it.

Thank you again for your time.

Terry Moe
Horsefly, B.C.

Posted on Friday, Jul 7, 2000 - 5:53 am:

Well once I got into researching your question, I could not stop. Yes Terry, your foal is near a perfect match for the Western Canadian synDrOme of hypothyroidism in foals. I ended up writing a small article on this and the other synDrOme on hypothyroidism in foals, see: The Horseman's Advisor: Equine Diseases: Endocrine Disorders: Hypothyroidism in Foals.
DrO
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