Is There a Shot you can Give to Mares to Dry up Milk

[lalecl]

I was at my friends house today and her husband noticed their mare whom they have been trying to keep seperated from her foal so her milk can dry up had a horribly swollen bad on one side. They have been checking her everyday and it seemed to be going down. Then today the left side was rock hard and the size of a basketball. The other side was just fine. I checked and it was hot to the touch.

We called the vet and i had antibiotics at home which i came after for them. Was told she also needed anti inflammatory and if possible to drain that side. She would not let them touch her without kicking at them. Normally she is a very sweet mare. I tried and she let me and what i got out was sickening.

At first it was hard clumps then as we massaged it got softer but was a very dark yellow and thicj like pudding. The teat had two holes. The one was simply milk but the other was horrible.

It was funny but not really because someone can't rem,ember who asked why they just could let the foalo nurse so it would relieve the pressure but when they saw how disgusting it was they understood, It was nothing but pus.

When I came home for the meds Ellis asked me if there was a shot. I did not have an answer.

We did research though and it appears this is normal in some mares and simply completely drain it the first time then once a day after that along with antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds. it also suggested warm cloths and massaging to soften the stuff inside. LOL I was already doing that so I guess I did ok.

Not sure how many of you recall the pics I posted of the stuff that came out of Blessings neck when the vet lanced it bit that is what it looked like and when it puddled on the ground it looked like a big pile of vanilla pudding.

[Carol Nelson]

Yes, that is mastitis...and yes, it is rather common, and yes, there is a shot that will help dry up the milk. I actually have never had a case, knock on wood, but I don't take the foal away from the mare immediately either. I put them on opposite sides of a portable panel fence, and the baby can nurse through the fence. Eventually mama drifts away and I can put up a sheet of the two by four fencing and voila, the baby is weaned without the crying and trauma of traditional weaning. So yes, letting the baby nurse DOES help, but way before it comes to the point you are describing. No, I would not let the baby nurse now either.
Antibiotics, warm wet compresses and time will gradually help with the healing. I guess you could try the shot now, but I've only heard of it given right at time of weaning.
I can't remember if it's oxytocin, or what, that they give. Like I said, I've never needed it. But with 8 babies coming next year, I suppose that could change.

[DSDECKERT]

Oh I'm familiar with that Leila! Bianca got it every spring in Florida, even without a baby. Yep, Green clumpy pussy clumps, followed by yellowish, then finally milk when it starts to clear up.

There is a shot you can do (I don't remember what it is, Carol is probably right), but it does carry a founder risk. Better off to treat with antibiotics and let her dry up on her own. Cut her grain, that'll help. The breast has four quadrants, two on each side, so hopefully the infection is only in one :-(

Our treatment for Bianca's last bout (knock on wood, she hasn't gotten it in the 4 years we've been in TN), was Naxcel antibiotic shots in the neck, and gentomyacin (spelling?) in a syringe right into the infected quadrant of the breast (this is definitely a two-man job, somone needs to hold up a leg so there is no kicking).

Warm, hot towels help relieve some of the pressure, and make it easier for you to milk her out. Poor baby, I sympathize, having seen my poor baby with this several times (all she has to do is SMELL a foal, and she starts making milk). Good luck!

[pnalley]

Carol,
great minds think alike. we always weened in a similar fashion, except we'd out the mare up and hve the baby with an adult babysitter. The baby cold hang out by Momma or go off as far as they wanted. It never took long & the foals were off living their grown up lives. No crying no trauma.

Mastitis makes them feel like crap. All that infection in there. Poor mare, I bet it hurts bad

[GNix46]

mastitis - I do not know about horses but in cows and goats you give antibiotics, and put a small plastic tube in the teat so it will drain.

G

[motorgypsy]

We also wean gradually with an adult the youngster has been with since birth. We don't wean until six months and sometimes longer with fillies and then we do the across the fence thing also.

Mastitis can be very nasty and can sometimes require surgical removal so yes there is a shot and you can bring the baby back and forth for a while so they dry up gradually. Our moms usually start weaning the foal themselves at about 6 months anyway. the main thing is to catch it before it gets bad. Of course in a mare that didn't foal one wouldn't expect it. Mommy genes too strong in some I guess.:)