In Foal Mare Due 2nd Febuary 2010

Question
Velvet teats began to enlarge and thicken about 6 weeks ago which I put down to feeding on fresh new clover which has also been followed with udder development . Yesterday the 14th of Dec when giving Velvet her evening feed she had small clear waxy droplets on the end of each teat , is this a bit early for this to be happening . Velvet is a 9yr old maiden . I live in Australia and we are in our summer .

Answer
Hi Kerryn,
           You need to bring her to the vet right away.It sounds as though your mare may have Placentitis . You should start to treat her with a sulfa drug and see if your Vet can ultrasound her.

There are two types. With regular placentitis, mares often will prematurely "bag up" and have a vaginal discharge; with nocardioform placentitis mares might bag up, but there usually is no vaginal discharge.

Also, if the mare is on fescue, that could also cause bagging up. If that is the case, then you will need to remove her from it and treat her with Domperidone.

Let me know how it goes.

Lisa