Ruptured milk bag?

[knowles]

Hi all hope that someone can help. I have a mare who was due to foal on Wednesday. She started getting milk the week before and the right side was about 3 times bigger than the left. Now the bag has gone down and she has these pockets (of possibily milk) on the inside of her right leg and also back between her legs on the right side. Is this a ruptured bag? If so, what do I do about it? Will the baby be able to nurse? Any help would be usefull. Thank you so much.

[WildHorseSpirit]

If this is the case you need to have the mare seen by a vet immediately.
I have never dealt with this so I can't really advise you but if she is coming due to foal you need to get this looked at!

I sure hope it isn't Hugs!

[P8ntCrazy]

Get a Vet out to look at her ASAP, to have them evaluate her. I have never heard of a mare doing this but sounds like it is time to see the vet in any case, for her and the foals health.

Let us know what the vet says.

[Ride Or Die]

I have other problem, it's about a mare that has a foal almost 3 years and she still has milk.... Is this normal? They are in separate boxes, someone told me that it is because she misses her baby :confused: Please write me...

[P8ntCrazy]

Ride or Die,

If the foal and mare were never completely seperated, "out of sight out of mind", yes the mare can still have milk even though she is no longer nursing. She is not missing her baby. Once the filly is to old to be nursing and the mare does not dry up it is then called inappropriate lactation. Even mares that have never had a foal can have this. You can get with your vet and see what he thinks. It is not a big deal to have a mare that lactates all the time, the only thing you may be concerned with is if the mare goes off her feed or the udder becomes hot and hard. THis could be a sign of mas***is, mares don't normally get this but it is something that you want to watch for with mares that lactate all the time. If I remember correctly I believe there are drugs you can give, but most of the time people choose to just watch the mare. Give your vet a call and talk it over with him. But out of the dozen or so mares that I have come across with this problem, most of the owners choose to do nothing. Hope this helps.

[Elana55]

If the mare produced a bag that was very large on one side she may have mas***is (in one quarter.. yes.. mares have 4 quarters and two teats.. each teat has two opening and two streak canals and one goes to each quarter on that side).

Mas***is strictly speaking indicates an inflammation of the the mammary glands. In dairy cows, this is usually caused by infection. The same thing can happen in mares.

I assume the "pockets" you refer to are large, filled looking, lumps. These may be swollen lymph nodes as the mas***is could have been an infection. If the mare is showing signs of pain, this could be lymphangitis.

I know it is not inexpensive to do so, but please contact your vet. You might want to have some colostrum on hand if the foal is near due as this mare might be so compromised she may not have any of her own. the foal, as you know, needs that colostrum to build his/her own immune system from the mare's antibodies.

[Elana55]

BTW I am new to this forum and I do not understand why the word, Mas***is, has stars in it. This is a medical condition, not a bad word????