Pre pubic tendon rupture in late term mare

[foothillsequine]

Does anyone at all have any experience with this?? I have a wonderful mare (maiden) in foal to a great stud at 313 days today. This morning she had this huge swelling on her left lateral side just in front of her udder about the size of a huge grapefruit (which was not there last night-and she did not sustain an injury). She was very uncomfortable and unable to walk. Suffice it to say I immediately called the vet and gave her some IV banamine to decrease her discomfort. 3 vets later, we have the diagnosis. At this time, we are hoping she can hang on and deliver with assistance, but the prognosis is not good at all. If anyone out there has any words of wisdom, I would sure appreciate it. It has been a very lousy day for us.

[Jessi P]

So sorry to hear this - no experience but here are a few links for you. They mention support slings, fwiw.

http://www.equine-reproduction.com/arti ... ture.shtml

http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/data/coursem ... nopics.pdf

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10 ... .232.2.257 "Foal survival was significantly better in the conservative management group, compared with those managed by interventional management, and was also better without hydrops."

http://books.google.com/books?id=p7b2tR ... &q&f=false

All the best of luck to you and your mare - I will be sending good healing thoughts and prayers. God bless.

[foothillsequine]

Thanks so much Jessi. Great links, (I had already read them), the book though was new, and provided good information. At this point we are resigned to losing both of them, however we are treating conservatively with NSAIDS, and an abdominal sling we made. She seems more comfortable this morning. I just can't wrap my head around why this happened. She is (was) in great shape, a maiden, youngish (11), and ran for 7 years on the track. She did double ovulate when bred, but was kept at the stud farm to rule out twins and checked and double checked for twins over a period of time. The only thing I can think of is she is carrying twins and they were missed, or it is a horrendously huge foal. Although honestly, she doesn't look like she is carrying any differently than our other mares. I guess we should line up a nurse mare just in case, but I just don't know.....

[LB]

I don't have any advice, just lots of sympathy. Best of luck with a difficult situation. I hope your mare is able to hold on and deliver her foal naturally.

[Jessi P]

It does sound very out of the normal for your mare to be the victim of a pre-pubic tear. From my reading it sounds as tho the usual suspects are draft type and older mares, not a young healthy Tb mare. Maybe your suspicions are right and perhaps they did miss twins. I know speculating about it doesn't make it any easier. Sending lots of good thoughts.

[foothillsequine]

Thanks so much Jessi and LB. We are taking it day by day. Today she is walking well in her stall, (yesterday she couldn't/wouldn't walk at all) eating like a pig (but she is not happy with her diet--low bulk), as everything is thoroughly wetted down before giving it to her. We are trying to avoid a colic situation. Baby is still alive and kicking like a fool. Everytime he/she does that, mare jumps. I imagine it must be very painful. However she is on heavy doses of NSAIDS, so I think that helps her. All the research I have done, does not bode well for a good outcome, so are preparing ourselves for that.

Thanks again for your thoughts and wishes, I appreciate them, and so does my mare.

[griff]

I had a mare come down with Botulism in her ninth month and then founder and she is still carring a live foal that is due mid May..

I vaccinate for botulism every year in the last 30 days of gestation and thought a botulism vaccine was pretty good protection but she contracted it anyway.. Maybe the vaccine gave her some immunity and that is why we still have both mare and foal. She was given all her annual booster vaccines, including botulism last Sunday.

If this foal survives I'm going to name it Tuff Stuff. This assumes the Jockey Club will allow that name.

griff

[doublete]

Sadly I just lost my maiden mare who was age10 or 11. She was overdue, and while being a big mare, the foal was also huge. She went into labor, the front legs came out thru the rectum and when the vet pushed the the legs back in, and pulled the baby out (which was dead and had a congenital defect), he left medication for the mare. Said to wait a few weeks and then take her to be sewn up to repair the tear, but she would never be bred again. Within hours she was dead, and the vets decided it was a ruptured artery which would have come into play no matter how the birth had gone.

Very sad. Best of luck.

[foothillsequine]

I like the name Griff and can't see why the JC would not allow it unless it is taken. I hope all goes well with your foal. Wow, doublete, I'm sorry to hear that. This seems to be a bad year for foaling. It is so hard when you go through the entire pregnancies to have something go wrong at the end of it all. Warm wishes and prayers to you both.

[Jessi P]

Wow, Doublete - so sorry to hear that.

FHE, how is our mare doing today?

[foothillsequine]

Hi Jessi,

Well, I am confused to say the least. She is moving around very well, eating well, and seems very comfortable (mind you she is on powerful doses of NSAIDS). We have an abdominal sling on her that we made which helps her quite a bit. However, she is not showing the trademark signs of a prepubic tendon rupture in her posture. The swelling remains on one side, in front of her udder, and extending up toward her chest, but she does not have the funky stance or tail head extrusion that you would expect to see with a rupture, and her udder is midline. So I'm thinking (I really shouldn't do that) that perhaps it is only a partial rupture, that has not extended to the other side. Or a hernia. Either way, it's not good, but baby is still alive, and if she can hang on long enough to deliver before the tendon totally blows, or her abdominal contents incarcerate, perhaps we can save him/her. That is assuming baby is healthy. She is 315 days today.

[madelyn]

It could just be edema, which in my experience is quite common in maiden mares. It could also be a closed sarcoid, however that would not change shape or size overnight. I have a mare who got a huge sarcoid in front of her udder one year - I used bloodroot cream on it, killed it, and today there is no sign it was ever there.

[foothillsequine]

Hi Madelyn,
I would love for it to be just edema. That would be the answer to my prayers! There is no question it is edema as it pits to about 3-4 plus, but the large grapefruit size extrusion is still there, with the edema extending forward toward her chest. I hope you are right and the vets misdiagnosed her. You never know, docs have been wrong before! Actually, I would really like them to be wrong on this one. I won't even sue!

[Jessi P]

I am crossing everything crossable that she gets that foal safely delivered for you. Please keep us updated as you can - we are fighting and praying right along with you. Wouldn't it indeed be wonderful if its only a partial tear? Regardless, praying for a healthy foal.

[Jenny]

I was reading the article provided. Just want to ask if your vet has given the mare the Dexamethasone suggested at <315 just in case she needs to be induced to try to save the foal? What is the vet saying the options are at this point? Very sad situation for you and choices are hard to make when emotions run high. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Hoping for a good outcome. Keep us posted.