Pedigree Query

I have an older stakes producing mare that is pooling urine in the vagina and the cervix that is tilted so that it is bathed in urine. The vet says he could do surgery to divert urine away from the cervix and the mare might have a 10% chance of carrying a foal to term. His opinion it is not worth the expense and he would pension the mare.

Has anyone else dealt with this problem and any other remedies?


Thanks

Rick

Why won't a Caslik work?

Rick,
I had an old Stakes producer that had the same problem, as she aged and her conformation altered the problem worsened and I sent her for surgery. In her case it made no difference and I had to retire her. If you do decide to try the surgery I hope it works out for you.

We performed this surgery (about $1200 Cdn) on an 11 yr old mare. After the surgery she caught with 2 covers and successfully had a foal .
We then sold her to a sport horse breeder and she has been a reliable producer using AI for her new owners.(2 more foals in 3 years) However her "tipped" confirmation gets worse each year ......the surgery bought her time before the inevitable happens and she is no longer able to be a broodmare.

Yes, I had lots of them. Take your vets advice. I would only do the surgery on a younger mare that has no adhesions (or few) in the endometrial lining of the uterus. An old mare that has been pooling is almost guaranteed to be infected and her uterus shot. Obama needs your money to throw away, instead of throwing it away on this mare.

I thought a Caslicks procedure fixed this too.

Tiz wrote:I thought a Caslicks procedure fixed this too.

A caslicks has no effect on urine pooling. Two different areas.


Where the mare pools urine is just in front of the cervix - quite a way from the vulva.

Excellent CNG!!!

Now, THAT would make an interesting avatar.....

So it leaks from the bladder, before it makes it to the vulva?

Another thing, I would have never guessed a horse's bladder was that small. It must have amazing expanding abilities.

Tiz wrote:So it leaks from the bladder, before it makes it to the vulva?

Another thing, I would have never guessed a horse's bladder was that small. It must have amazing expanding abilities.

Yes. The vaginal floor will sometimes form a "pool" near the wall where the cervix is. The cervix is usually located in the center of the wall like a bullseye center. During estrus the cervix opens and becomes flacid, near ovulation the cervix will move down toward the vaginal floor and that is when the urine seeps into the uterus causing all kinds of problems. In addition to being spermicidal the urine causes infections, inflamation and scar tissue. Pooling can be caused by a rough time foaling, heredity or old age.

The reproductive tract from the cadaver does shrink up, in the mare everything is elastic and spread out.

Interesting! I assume this is something that is relatively easy to diagnose?

I agree with cng on this one. In my experience the urethral tunneling surgery is rarely successful. The times that I have seen it done a couple of things have happened:

- A couple of mares that I have dealt with stopped pooling urine and began taking in air instead (with caslicks), one of these resulted in pyometra and both mares are now pensioned.

- Before and after the surgery the mare needs to have pretty loose stool as to not rip out the fresh sutures when she has a bowel movement. The vet that I worked for takes mares off of grain and puts them on limited alfalfa and grass, then they usually lose a lot of weight and you are fighting to not only have heal from the surgery but also gain enough weight to be suitable to breed. Being thin compounds the problem of poor conformation by tipping the vulva inward even more than it would be.

I have only been around maybe half a dozen mares who were having this surgery; they have ranged in age from 8 to 19. To me it is a money losing procedure. The vet that I worked for is a great repro vet who is a good surgeon as well and he hates doing this procedure. It puts him in a terrible mood from the time the mare is dropped off until he knows whether or not he was successful. If I were going to consider having it done I would definitely do it well before breeding season or do it now and give the mare until next season. I hope that if you have the surgery on your mare it goes well, just wanted to add my experiences to the mix.

Lindsay

madelyn wrote:Interesting! I assume this is something that is relatively easy to diagnose?

All it takes is a speculum and a pen light or an OB sleeve.