Mare has milk , fat but scanned as not in foal??

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bunnereeny

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Mare at work has been with us a few weeks and I had suspicions when she first arrived. She appears to be getting fatter despite grazing not being all that good. You can feel all her ribs and she has no arse or crest. When I looked her over on weekend I squeezed a teat and milk came out although she isn't bagged up at all.

Apparently she was scanned today (not by a vet) but owner was told not in foal and is completely the wrong shape (I'd be inclined to disagree.)

I've worked at studs and I've only ever known mares to be scanned up to 50 days I'd have thought foal would be too big after this to see by scan and a blood test/internal exam would be best way to get a result?

Opinions/expertise/advice please.

This is a riding school/ trekking centre and she is still being used.
 
If the mare is bagged up enough to be producing milk then the vet wouldn't need to scan her to see if she was in foal , the head would most likely be there to feel as soon as he/she put there hand in.
Squeezing milk in itself wouldn't be unusual both of my empty mares that foaled last year still produce some milk and i have had maiden mares get milk too
 
OK, but we have been told by previous owners that she has never had a foal. So is it possible that a mare that has never had a foal to produce milk?
Also would a scan at this stage be accurate due to the size of the foal? surely it would be to big to see on a scan?
 
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A couple of years ago a stallion broke into my mares field. Vet called and all mares injected to ensure no foals. A year later one of the mares that had never had a foal started to bag up. I was horrified! To late to scan at that stage but vet called and confirmed no foal, he couldn't really explain why or how a maiden was producing milk.
 
Laafet said:
If I am right in my reading of this, this is illegal. Only a vet can scan a mare rectally which is the only way to scan for a foal. Our mares are scanned upto 60 days so they can be sexed, occasionally they will be scanned much close to foaling if there is something wrong but at that stage a manual exam is more reliable.
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I wasn't aware of this. I don't know who performed the scan just that it wasn't a vet. I wasn't present at the time
 
It is indeed very true - the British Equine Veterinary Association say - Internal examination of a mare, either by manual palpation or by use of ultrasound, to determine the stage of her cycle or to diagnose pregnancy is a complex procedure requiring considerable experience. Furthermore, it carries a risk of damaging the mare internally with potentially fatal consequences. Although this
risk is normally small, it is much greater when performed by inexperienced individuals. Accurate diagnosis of such damage having occurred and prompt and suitable treatment of such damage can only be provided by a qualified veterinary surgeon. For these reasons, internal examination of mares is considered to be an act of veterinary surgery that is not suitable for delegation. It is illegal for individuals who are not veterinary surgeons to attempt to carry out any internal examinations of mares per rectum.

I have seen people do rectals for colic etc that are not qualified and it sent me cold. My friend had an incident where they lost a mare during rectal scanning a number of years ago, it was a pure accident, the vet was very experienced but there is always a risk, I would never let anyone other than a vet do it, also the insurance is invalid in event of an injury/accident.
 
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