Spontaneous abortion

[follygirl]

Sad news to report that my most favorite mare carrying my most hopeful breeding slipped her foal. She was due in April so she has been out at night and thus she had to go it alone. She appeared fine when I went to bed and ate her carrots from me at the fence just like usual. In she has never been off her feed. It seems she will be okay, though the baby may have come breech owing to the large cervical and vaginal lacerations she had. The vet says in one month we will know better if she will be breeding sound. Based on the conditions of the foal's organs, he believes it was dead in utero for a few days.

In December, the mare develped laminitis, which the vet attributed to her being overweight a bit and possibly hypothyroid. So she was put on a diet and started on thyroid supplementation. She has been fine, the laminitis having cleared. This is my first season with this mare, but as per the previous owners, she has never had a problem in pregnancy. I know these people and I have seen the mare's offspring at the track so I have no reason to doubt them.

My question is whether anyone has had experience with hypo/hyperthyroidism and its treatment in their mares? I know that in people, hyperthyroidism can increase one's risk of spontaneous abortion, but I am not sure this extrapolates to horses. Could we have contributed to the loss with the thyroid meds?

Cultures were sent from the necropsy of the foal, an age-appropriately sized bay filly This is a very sad time here at the farm. The sire was Hay Halo, half brother to Broad Brush and a lovely match for my mare. He is old now, and I felt lucky to have a piece of such a pedigree! The loss seems so late in her pregnancy.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Cathy

[madelyn]

My heart goes out to you... I have lost my share (or more than) and it makes me cry EVERY time. Nature has her way and there is NOTHING you can do about it.

[teb]

Cathy,
I am so sorry for your loss. As with Madelyn's comments, nature does crappy things sometimes. I am not an expert, but Thyroid issues do have a considerable effect on pregnancy and carrying to term. A board you might find interesting is equine-reproduction. com Go to the message board section and you will find info on your situation. Some equine repro specialists are on the board too. I know it woun't make it any easier. Once again, sorry for your loss.
teb

[follygirl]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I don't expect to figure this out and I almost hope some culture is positive so that we have something to try to act upon, but just being able to share the loss makes it easier to bear.
Thanks

[Laurierace]

I am so sorry for your loss. I lost the very first foal I ever bred the same way. We never did find out whyas everything checked out normal. Guess some thing just aren't meant to be. I bred my mare back and she took but was empty on her second check. So we bred her back again and finally got a foal the following year. I am happy to report that it was worth all the heartache and waiting as the resulting foal earned $130,000 retired completely sound and is due with her first foal TODAY!
Better luck the next time.

[ZiaLand]

Follygirl, so sorry to hear about your foal and hope everything turns out all right for the mare. I know it's got to be heartbreaking with the pregnancy so far along. Best wishes for the future.

Laurie

[Happy]

Follygirl,
So sorry for the lost of your foal. It just breaks my heart. I hope the mare will be ok. Do you know the owner of the stallion? Maybe they would cut you a break on breeding back to him. My 3 yr old filly is by the same sire. I would tell you her name so you can watch her race, but I'm just worried it would upset you more. Just love on and take extra time with the mare is all you can do.

[UK Breeder (19)]

Hi

I am also sorry to hear the news. I had a similar experience. My very best mare (who was dam of Gr winner and a Stakes winner), slipped her foal 8 mths into pregnancy. Again she was covered to a very good stallion in France (so it had cost me a lot of money to get her there and on keep charges). She was stabled at night and she ate her dinner and was fine. I did a last check at 11.30pm as I always have done, and she again seemed normal. However in the morning i was feeding her, and as I entered her box, I tripped over the foetus. The vet was called, and a post-mortem was carried out. There was no indication of any bacterial or viral infection (which was good news as I had other mares due). And the vet said she was A1 too. However after about a week she went down with laminitis (the vet attributed this to the changes in hormone that her was going through after loosing the foal). However it continue to get worse, and nothing the vet did made any different. So after 2-3mths of her slipping, she was out down. The sadest thing is her last foal, has also became a stakes winner. Unfortunately I bought her, and this was going to be her first foal for me, so I never got any foals from her. This happened in 2005.
It's very sad, but horses are animals, and these things (as hard as they are on all of us), do occur.
I once again feel your pain, hope that your mare goes (im sure she will!) on to produce so fantastic foals for you.

All the best

[follygirl]

You are all so kind. I am overwhelmed at all the supportive emails I have received and it has helped me gain perspective. I am sorry also for all of your losses and wish you all the best of luck in your ongoing endeavors!

Most sincerely, thank you.
Cathy

[henthorn]

So sorry, Follygirl. My best mare also lost her seemingly healthy Include colt at seven months gestation last year, and she's due for her Petionville foal now this April. Sorry that your lady tore, though; it probably makes you feel guilty you weren't with her. But you can't watch 'em all the time, just like your own children have to experience some problems on their own.

[BenB]

Very to read about your losses, I,ve had my share too in the past.
Since than I,ve been reading everything I could get my hands on.
What seems to be important in connection to laminitis, Every kind of stress from whatever source must be avoided at any stage.
So in relationship with the loss of a foal, it seems correct but the lamitis could be starting just before the loss of the foal
Keep the protein level as low as possible not more than 11% or even less nutrion is much more important at the time of this late stage in pregnancy.
If there is float in the neigbourhood with really cold water puts them in, it will effect the rate from laminitis.
I almost starts crying when I read this things.

Ben

[BenB]

Even a difference in weatherconditions is a possible source leading to an abortion.

[mary syers]

I think the laminitis was a symptom of the coming problem in the uterus. It is possible that the foal was not viable and you began to have breakdown products from the fetus, even before it died. Founder, as far as I'm concerned, is the result of screwed up nitrous oxygen and prostaglandins in the feet. A foal dying in the uterus could and does increase inflamatory cytokines systemically. If she were mine, I'd get the mare clean and breeding sound and try again. The chances are this was a genetic mixup, and probably won't happen again. Mary Syers

[follygirl]

Dear Mary,

That is a very interesting thought. I have my mares on Platinum Performance and when Maria foundered, I added Hemo-flo after I cleared it with my veterinarian. This is another product made by the Platinum Performance people and is supposed to enhance Nitric Oxide production, thereby improving blood flow to the compromised lamina.