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WHEN FOALING IS IMMINENT

What does a foaling actually look like?  There are 3 stages to parturition:

Stage 1: this stage is the beginning of parturition where uterine contractions begin and the mare may demonstrate colic-like signs.  The colic-like signs should not be violent, but include sweating, cramping, and getting up and down.  These last for about 4 hours before foaling.  The mare may drip and/or stream milk.

Stage 2: this stage begins with the rupture of the chorioallantios (“water breaking”) and ends once the foal is born.  The foal should be born within 5-30min of the water breaking.  Intervention needs to occur if there is a red bag, dystocia, or there is no progression after 30min.

Stage 3: this stage includes the passing of the placenta, or “afterbirth”.  It should pass within 3 hours of foaling. 

Vaccines Kirby Penttila Vaccines Kirby Penttila

Vaccination FAQ - My horse needs his hocks injected, and while you are here, could we vaccinate him as well?

         We get this question quite often, and it would be convenient to combine the treatments to save on an additional call fee.  However, we generally recommend against this for a few reasons.  One of the drugs we typically use in joint injections is a steroid anti-inflammatory such as triamcinolone or methylprednisolone acetate.  These are very potent anti-inflammatory agents, and can cause immune suppression even in the small amounts used in joints.  This means that the immune response to a vaccine could be dampened by the steroids injected in the joint, and the horse may not be adequately protected by the vaccine if it is administered at the same time as intra-articular injections.  Also, in the case of the intranasal Strangles (Strep equi) vaccine, we are very careful not to have contamination of any injection sites with the snorting of the vaccine after the horse is given this vaccine.  If this modified live bacteria is inadvertently injected, it can set up a nasty abscess and this would be particularly devastating if this infection were to occur in a joint.

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