Mare's Postpartum Discharge - Normal?

[Reddfox]

My 13 year old maiden mare gave birth on April 18th. The colt she had was HUGE (she's a big girl - but he was 3 weeks overdue, so, he was slightly overbaked!) She had some vaginal tearing and pretty bad bruising and she was really straining during foaling.

She dripped (1 drop every 20 seconds) blood for 1 and a half days. That is done now. But, she has been gushing fluid every time she trots for the past 2 days. It's gotten less and less but it's getting a bit thicker and more yellowish. (was clear at first) Also smells like urine.

She has a tipped vulva (rather flat croup) and was Caslicked to prevent urine pooling. No depression, normal temp and no colicky symptoms. In fact, she's bright and happy- I've been monitoring her VERY closely and cleaning her thoroughly. The vet said that when the swelling goes down we'll have to check to see the extent of the tears, but other than that she's hesitant to say what could be going on without a further exam.

Does anyone have any advice or have experienced this?! I'm going crazy and i can't find any literature on postpartum mare issues other than ruptured bladders and such. If that was the case, wouldn't her vitals be affected?

This mare is my baby and I can't stand not having any clue as to how normal this is or isn't. Please help!

[Laurierace]

Yes the discharge sounds normal to me. It does look like they are spewing pee behind them when they run around. They have to get that stuff out, and running around is the best way to accomplish that.

[Equine Reproduction]

She dripped (1 drop every 20 seconds) blood for 1 and a half days. That is done now. But, she has been gushing fluid every time she trots for the past 2 days. It's gotten less and less but it's getting a bit thicker and more yellowish. (was clear at first) Also smells like urine.

May very well be urine and may very well be that she is coming into her foal heat.

She has a tipped vulva (rather flat croup) and was Caslicked to prevent urine pooling.

Be aware that a Caslick will NOT prevent urine pooling and may actually cause the very condition you are attempting to prevent. Think about it. You are actually sewing shut the labia. The idea is to prevent the entry of pathogens, not the exit of urine. By closing down the opening, it can make it more difficult for the urine to pass.

Does anyone have any advice or have experienced this?! I'm going crazy and i can't find any literature on postpartum mare issues other than ruptured bladders and such. If that was the case, wouldn't her vitals be affected?

A post foaling discharge is normal. It's all a part of the mare cleaning up the uterus! A mare's uterus will be close to its pre-foaling condition by day 15 post foaling. Pretty amazing when you think about it! In order to accomplish that, there's got to be some pretty major house keeping going on <smile>. A slight discharge for up to several days post foaling is completely normal. But, if your mare is predisposed for pooling urine, she may very well be doing so now. It's not serious, but something to be aware of when you have her examined, especially if you are planning on breeding her.

This mare is my baby and I can't stand not having any clue as to how normal this is or isn't. Please help!

As long as she is eating well, not running a fever, no foul discharge, no heat in her feet, etc., I wouldn't worry too much. But, if you are really concerned about what she's doing or if she exhibits any of the above, have a vet out to examine her.

Good luck!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com

[clint]

I had a maiden mare spurt urine for six weeks after she foaled, every time she trotted or otherwise moved out of a walk. At first I thought (hoped) it would be a post-foaling discharge, but it was much more than that. My vet put a speculum in and discovered that there was some swelling where the urethra (?) empties into the vagina. He put her on a course of antibiotics, and whether that helped, or the swelling just went away, she quite doing it. I was really worried, and unable to find any literature that might explain what I was seeing.

[jennywho]

I had a maiden do the same thing for about two weeks post foaling this year. Vet said not to worry. I short cycled her after her foal heat and we'll check her Friday, so we'll see.

One thing I wish I'd done earlier: The urine scalded her hind legs pretty badly. I ended up slathering that creamy vaseline all over where she was scalding and it healed it up fairly quickly, as well as prevented further scalding. The people at the dollar store look at you pretty funny when you're buying a dozen tubes of creamy vaseline though.

[Waterwitch]

Based on your description, I would suspect an issue with her urethra (inflammation, damage to sphincter, neuropathy from the difficult foaling) like clint mentioned. I also agree with Kathy that if she is a known urine pooler, the caslicks will likely make things worse.

[Reddfox]

Thanks for the insight! My barn manager tends to over-exaggerate situations and she was telling me that there could be a neurological problem since my mare strained so hard or that the bladder valve could be damaged somehow. So of course I started freaking out!

I've been monitoring and haven't seen any signs of colic, depression, elevated temp or anything. I have been using vaseline in between cleanings so the scalding is at a minimum!

Does anyone have any insights as to normal color for this discharge? It was clear and didn't smell too badly the first couple of days (when there was a large amount of it.) Now that there's less and it takes longer to come out, it's thicker, yellow and smells strongly. I'd suspect infection, but no other signs point to infection. We're getting a thorough check on Saturday now that the swelling and bruising are down.

BTW - gorgeous palomino colt for her first! he's a bit knock-kneed even though sire and dam are straight as can be. But he has long legs and is very tall - farrier will be checking in the next week or two to see if any corrective trimming needs to be done to straighten.

[Reddfox]

I should also clarify - The Caslicks was not for urine pooling it was because she tends to draw air in because of her conformation back there. In my panic, i was transposing symptoms and treatments. That's what i get for 2 weeks of sleepless foal watching nights. (we had 5 total mares that we we're waiting on and they all went in the same time-frame. (all late!))

I think she may be pooling urine now, I haven't known her to pool urine in the past - she does draw in air though.

[VirginiaBred]

Was she lavaged?

[Reddfox]

I have not had her lavaged. Is this something i should look into?

[Tiki]

She could have a little temporary nerve damage and possibly a bladder infection. Those symptoms exactly describe one of my mares once. The local vet kept telling me she was 'cleansing' post foaling. I finally brought her down to the repro clinic for a checkup. They took a bladder sample, found an infection and treated her. Voila, all symptoms cleaned up and mare fine.

[VirginiaBred]

I have not had her lavaged. Is this something i should look into?

It certainly would not hurt, and that way you can be sure everything is out and she is clean.

[Equine Reproduction]

It certainly would not hurt, and that way you can be sure everything is out and she is clean.

Doing a post foaling lavage "can" hurt. The uterus is in a highly inflamed condition and you run the risk of introducing pathogens. If indeed she is dumping urine into the uterus, that should be addressed, but the uterus isn't like a dish that needs "washing" periodically. In the healthy mare with no issues, she will clean herself out quite well. Your vet can tell fairly easily if a mare is pooling urine by simply reaching into the vagina and "scooping" his/her hand outward. It's not uncommon for some mares post foaling to have a little bit of pooling issues as there is somewhat of a void initially after foaling that can cause things to somewhat "sag" inside. Tincture of time will often take care of that problme, as well.

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com

[VirginiaBred]

We had a mare of ours lavaged when she retained some of her placenta. She had also had a large foal and had torn, like the OP's mare.

[Equine Reproduction]

We had a mare of ours lavaged when she retained some of her placenta. She had also had a large foal and had torn, like the OP's mare.

Retained placenta is a viable reason for lavaging. A large foal and tearing are not. Indeed, with a tear, by lavaging you can open up the tear and cause more bleeding. There are legitimate reasons to lavage post foaling, don't get me wrong. But, it "can" create problems that aren't there. Discuss it with your veterinarian, but don't automatically believe that every post foaling mare should be lavaged. Often times, less is much, much more.

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com

[Reddfox]

I really appreciate all the tips. I feel better now that I have some idea what to discuss with the vet. She will be out Saturday since my girl's vitals are all normal. The tears that I can see seem to be healing nicely so we're going to check out the extent of the tearing further in and then and go from there. Thanks again, all!