Advice really needed - Treatment for Bloated Pony

cliodhna

cliodhna

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Hi everyone,
I have a four year old Connemara mare who I got last August. She has always been large and in spite of restricted diet (soaked hay, oat straw, grazing muzzle, starvation paddock), she has not lost weight. Lately, it is looking more like bloat. You can feel ribs and the weight is on the underside of her stomach. She is very deep girthed. Her stomach towards her hind is very soft, almost fluidy. I have never experienced anything like this before. Her worming is up to date, but I wormed her again today with Eqvalan Duo as a just in case. I have also order pink powder as some sort of digestive aid for her. I am thinking now of getting bloods done to see if she has liver damage or something along these lines from possibly eating ragwort before I got her.

I am at a loss as to what could be causing such heavy bloating. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding how I could 'flush her out'? Or what it may be? :(

Thanks for reading, apologies for the essay just really getting concerned:(
 
Are you 100% certain, beyond any shadow of a doubt that she isn't pregnant? Are her teats swollen? If you've had her for 10 or 11 months and she was pregnant before you got her then she'd be ready to foal about now. Stand and look at her side carefully - can you see any movement? If she's a tart when in season, have you seen her regularly have seasons this summer? Is there any possibility she could have been covered by a colt or rig, or got at by someone else's stallion since you bought her? What would you condition score her? Condition score looks at specific areas of the body so it would theroretically be possible to have a mare condition scored 2.5 for scraggy ribs, scrawny neck etc etc but still having a huge belly. If it's a definite NO to the BOGOF question, then I think you're right to get the vet involved.
 
Sounds pregnant I'm afraid, esp the ribby but big belly part.

Either way get the vet out: they'll either confirm she's in foal or they'll investigate why she's looking so bloated.

Do you have a picture? It can sometimes be fairly obvious.
 
Agree with the others I'm afraid; expect news of an imminent arrival and hope it all goes well. Don't your other mares show these symptoms when they're about to foal? (it is you with the lovely colt foal isn't it?)
 
Maesfen said:
Agree with the others I'm afraid; expect news of an imminent arrival and hope it all goes well. Don't your other mares show these symptoms when they're about to foal? (it is you with the lovely colt foal isn't it?)
Click to expand...

Yes that is me. I should have mentioned, I bought this mare in foal and she had her foal 8 weeks ago. She is a half sister to Pearly, with the 'lovely colt foal' I posted pictures of. It is definately bloating and not a foal! I am thinking of Brewer's Yeast and Pink Powder to aid digestion and getting her bloods and stool checked to mare sure organ function is ok. Its nothing drastic, but she is not looking as well as she should so am just starting to explore options. Was just wondering if anyone had experienced anything similar.
 
Have I got this right then but the young mare you're worried about has an 8 week foal on her?
If that's so I wouldn't be inclined to worry too much as she is still growing herself as well as feeding a strong foal which will be taking all the goodness from her, she will have a slack belly until her muscles and body get back into shape (which, because of her age, she'll never have been 'in the shape you associate with a fit young horse, she is in maternal shape and should be until after her foal is weaned, it doesn't go back into shape for a while after foaling usually).
I personally would not be using a muzzle on her at all or a starvation paddock, she needs decent (not good, she is a native after all) grass to provide the right nutrients for the foal to grow too and I wouldn't want to pump too much into her because of her type; just a regular reasonable diet. Brewers yeast won't do any harm at all and TBH, does a very similar job to PP.
Is there any chance you can put up some decent pics of both side and rear views to show what you mean better?
 
cliodhna,

I'm sure that I have the wrong end of the stick, but having read both of your posts, it would seem that you have a 4 year old filly, who has produced a foal, some 8 weeks ago, and you're keeping her on a starvation diet. :confused: I only hope that I'm wrong.

Alec.
 
She has been far from starved. She was on bailey's stud balancer and lo-cal throughout her pregnancy. I tried to keep her on a very short paddock (advised by vet) as when I got her she was very overweight. I said starvation paddock as a term meaning very short grazing. She has been on a balancer since I got her though. I am being misinterpretted and judged incorrectly. I have posted pictures of this mare and her sister and their foals and it is plain to see that they have recieved top care. This forum is so judgemental at times, people are never given the benefit of the doubt!:(

:mad:
 
And for clarification, the grazing muzzle was used last August after we got her. She has not worn it since.
 
cliodhna said:
She has been far from starved. She was on bailey's stud balancer and lo-cal throughout her pregnancy. I tried to keep her on a very short paddock (advised by vet) as when I got her she was very overweight. I said starvation paddock as a term meaning very short grazing. She has been on a balancer since I got her though. I am being misinterpretted and judged incorrectly. I have posted pictures of this mare and her sister and their foals and it is plain to see that they have recieved top care. This forum is so judgemental at times, people are never given the benefit of the doubt!:(

:mad:
Click to expand...

cliodhna said:
And for clarification, the grazing muzzle was used last August after we got her. She has not worn it since.
Click to expand...

Cliodna, I feel that's a bit of a sweeping judgemental statement from you as your opening post gave no details that she had a foal on her at all and you used the words 'starvation paddock' yourself which obviously has a very different meaning here than from Ireland, here it is basically a very bare patch of land which sounds different from your description. It's no wonder people are confused if they only have half the details plus you said yourself that she was in a muzzle, it's only just now you said that that was last year, not at the present time which is a totally different kettle of fish especially as she is now nursing a foal.
We are not to know that you have posted pics of her in the past; some clever soul might but I'm old and senile, I have a job to know how to use a computer let alone dance all around the forum matching people up with their previous posts so please don't tar us all with the same brush.
On the facts you gave us originally, we tried to help not accuse you of anything other than wanting the well being of your mare, I fail to see how that is being judgemental, I'm sorry you feel that way.
 
If she's ribby but has but has a belly and a foal on her then she is needing more grazing, her belly will be foal belly - unless you have Posh's plastic surgeon on hand to do a nip tuck and liposuction after birth! - a foal belly is perfectly normal as the muscles are pretty lax and stretched, especially with her being still a bay herself, and with her not doing much she will not get back her original figure until she is in work!!!:D
I'd get her on more grazing and just vitamin supplements until her foal is weaned - if you are trying to get her to loose weight with a foal at foot, she will be struggling to provide for the foal without stripping her own body or resources and it could mean the foal will loose out too.
 
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