Post by stlkigers on Mar 26, 2009 10:52:13 GMT -5
Hey Gang:
Alot of you know Kristi and Randy Billinger....Their mustang mare was accidentally bred and had the foal but in the course of labor had a resulting uterine tear with blood leaking into the abdomen. She's in bad shape and Kristi would like to hear from anyone with any advice....Her email is tornadoalleykigers@yahoo.com. Here's her email about the mare:
Guys I tried to send an e-mail on the way home from the vet hospital but I didn't see it come through so I'm sorry if this is a repeat. When we got to KSU they were ultrasounding Isabella. She has an impaction so they have a tube in her nose to relieve the gas and some food material is coming out of it too. So our first concern of course is the impaction and associated colic. Our second concern is the pain she is suffering from the uterine tear and the blood in her abdomen. The pain from those two events may be what is causing her intestinal tract to shut down and trap the food. When the baby nurses Izzy's uterus contracts and she goes down in quite a bit of pain. It was heartwrenching to watch. So we quickly asked if we can teach the foal to drink from a bucket and just totally remove him from nursing. Isabelle needs as little stress and pain as possible at this time if we are going to pull her through this tough time. The vets said they had actually been thinking the same thing and kind of started it. But when they knew we were on board they brought in a panel and divided Izzy and the baby so he cannot nurse. He is not happy about it but he should be fine. They keep saying he is doing great but he kept straining to poop this afternoon and they ended up giving him banamine so that concerns us a bit. They keep telling us he is okay though so we are just going with that idea. Izzy's ventricle tachycardia seems to be under control but she is on a lot of drugs to help control her heart and other things. Izzy is very weak, she is struggling to get up. I think the pain and drugs are wearing her down. Perhaps getting a break from producing milk will help her some too. We all decided to take her from the stall to try to walk her to see what that would do for her colic. They walked her maybe 15 minutes and she pooped a very little bit of manure! Hip hip hooray it is a start!! Then she started getting very weak so they took her back to her stall where she pooped a little more then went down in pain. She got back to her feet with the help of a vet. They said the act of passing manure was difficult because the tract goes past the uterine tear and the area is still very swollen and filled with blood. I am hopeful that some of you who are hoooked up with other horse groups can help me out here. Can you all find out if anyone else has had a mare with a uterine tear that leaked blood into her abdomen? The vet said again that colic surgery is risky because Izzy is fragile. We don't really want to do surgery if there's a chance that if the pain from the tear and the blood in the abdomen will subside soon. Unfortunately, the vets don't like to see animals suffer so the vet said if Isabella hasn't improved in 48 hours we should consider euthanizing her. NOT!!! If she will hold steady and does not decline that will not be happening. Guys, I'm TERRIFIED we are going to lose her and I'm scared out of my gourd!!! We will do whatever we need to do for Isabella but it's up to her to get well. So like I said earlier today please pray for her and Jr. Dona said she has a good feeling and the young vet (there's two vets) treating her said she has a good feeling. She stayed with Isabella all night and watched her like a hawk after she reacted to the transfusion. Once again (as unfortunate as it is) the mustangs are winning people over left and right. I cannot tell you how many people are impressed with Isabella's behavior - what can I say, her attitude has always been awesome! The folks at KSU keep saying how big the foal is but he didn't look any bigger to me than Winter Hawk but maybe he is and I just don't recall. They said today that he weighs 123 pounds and they said that's a lot for a foal that is only 48 hours old. They estimate he must have been 118 at birth. They asked about the pasture Isabella was running on because they suspect she delivered late due to fescue toxicity. Our hay is pretty clean from fescue but perhaps we didn't pull Isabella of the pasture early enough because we didn't know her due date exactly. Also, she was getting edema so we let her out to run around a little while a couple of days because our pasture looks like a dry lot. I totally regret that decision because if she picked up any fescue that could have contributed to her current problem. If I had it to do over she would just have to stay at the barn. A tough reminder for all of us with fescue about how aweful it can be for pregnant mares. We will never know if this was the case because Isabella didn't exhibit any other signs such as lack of milk. Anyway, it seems like a good time to remind folks about fescue with the endophytes and the effects.Okay, I'm heading to clean up and off to bed. We will rush home from work tomorrow to do chores and off to KSU to see our kids again. Beth is going to get some pictures of the kids in the hospital. Thanks again because all of your notes have really lifted our spirits, it has been a rough day because yesterday our mare wasn't in any danger and today she is fighting for her life. Kristi
Alot of you know Kristi and Randy Billinger....Their mustang mare was accidentally bred and had the foal but in the course of labor had a resulting uterine tear with blood leaking into the abdomen. She's in bad shape and Kristi would like to hear from anyone with any advice....Her email is tornadoalleykigers@yahoo.com. Here's her email about the mare:
Guys I tried to send an e-mail on the way home from the vet hospital but I didn't see it come through so I'm sorry if this is a repeat. When we got to KSU they were ultrasounding Isabella. She has an impaction so they have a tube in her nose to relieve the gas and some food material is coming out of it too. So our first concern of course is the impaction and associated colic. Our second concern is the pain she is suffering from the uterine tear and the blood in her abdomen. The pain from those two events may be what is causing her intestinal tract to shut down and trap the food. When the baby nurses Izzy's uterus contracts and she goes down in quite a bit of pain. It was heartwrenching to watch. So we quickly asked if we can teach the foal to drink from a bucket and just totally remove him from nursing. Isabelle needs as little stress and pain as possible at this time if we are going to pull her through this tough time. The vets said they had actually been thinking the same thing and kind of started it. But when they knew we were on board they brought in a panel and divided Izzy and the baby so he cannot nurse. He is not happy about it but he should be fine. They keep saying he is doing great but he kept straining to poop this afternoon and they ended up giving him banamine so that concerns us a bit. They keep telling us he is okay though so we are just going with that idea. Izzy's ventricle tachycardia seems to be under control but she is on a lot of drugs to help control her heart and other things. Izzy is very weak, she is struggling to get up. I think the pain and drugs are wearing her down. Perhaps getting a break from producing milk will help her some too. We all decided to take her from the stall to try to walk her to see what that would do for her colic. They walked her maybe 15 minutes and she pooped a very little bit of manure! Hip hip hooray it is a start!! Then she started getting very weak so they took her back to her stall where she pooped a little more then went down in pain. She got back to her feet with the help of a vet. They said the act of passing manure was difficult because the tract goes past the uterine tear and the area is still very swollen and filled with blood. I am hopeful that some of you who are hoooked up with other horse groups can help me out here. Can you all find out if anyone else has had a mare with a uterine tear that leaked blood into her abdomen? The vet said again that colic surgery is risky because Izzy is fragile. We don't really want to do surgery if there's a chance that if the pain from the tear and the blood in the abdomen will subside soon. Unfortunately, the vets don't like to see animals suffer so the vet said if Isabella hasn't improved in 48 hours we should consider euthanizing her. NOT!!! If she will hold steady and does not decline that will not be happening. Guys, I'm TERRIFIED we are going to lose her and I'm scared out of my gourd!!! We will do whatever we need to do for Isabella but it's up to her to get well. So like I said earlier today please pray for her and Jr. Dona said she has a good feeling and the young vet (there's two vets) treating her said she has a good feeling. She stayed with Isabella all night and watched her like a hawk after she reacted to the transfusion. Once again (as unfortunate as it is) the mustangs are winning people over left and right. I cannot tell you how many people are impressed with Isabella's behavior - what can I say, her attitude has always been awesome! The folks at KSU keep saying how big the foal is but he didn't look any bigger to me than Winter Hawk but maybe he is and I just don't recall. They said today that he weighs 123 pounds and they said that's a lot for a foal that is only 48 hours old. They estimate he must have been 118 at birth. They asked about the pasture Isabella was running on because they suspect she delivered late due to fescue toxicity. Our hay is pretty clean from fescue but perhaps we didn't pull Isabella of the pasture early enough because we didn't know her due date exactly. Also, she was getting edema so we let her out to run around a little while a couple of days because our pasture looks like a dry lot. I totally regret that decision because if she picked up any fescue that could have contributed to her current problem. If I had it to do over she would just have to stay at the barn. A tough reminder for all of us with fescue about how aweful it can be for pregnant mares. We will never know if this was the case because Isabella didn't exhibit any other signs such as lack of milk. Anyway, it seems like a good time to remind folks about fescue with the endophytes and the effects.Okay, I'm heading to clean up and off to bed. We will rush home from work tomorrow to do chores and off to KSU to see our kids again. Beth is going to get some pictures of the kids in the hospital. Thanks again because all of your notes have really lifted our spirits, it has been a rough day because yesterday our mare wasn't in any danger and today she is fighting for her life. Kristi
