Mare lactating due to grass - experiences?

SmartieBean09

SmartieBean09

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Hello,

First post in a long while and I'm hoping someone can help?

My horse who has previously had a foal (not sure when but not in last 3 years)and had mastitis last year which we thought was from a fly bite. However she is currently producing milk (?). I was covering her udders with Sudocreme as per vets instruction from last summer and the action made her skirt a milky fluid. I called the vet who advised to restrict her grazing as the sugar can cause a hormone inbalance and cause her to produce milk. Vet also suggested testing for Cushings when lock down is lifted. For the current time she suggested 1 feed with Danilon and to keep her off the grass until I could fence off an area of her paddock, which I've now done.

Has anyone experienced similar??

Also does anyone have any fly rug recommendations that may offer some level of udder protection? Ive ordered some yellow fly cream for her udders which may be enough but I've never used it before.

Also just to state, she is in no discomfort and there is no swelling or questionable gunk.

Any help very much appreciated.
 
I’m in the same boat actually with both my mature brood mares. Vet as yours said test bloods when next able and just reduce their sugar intake.
 
equi said:
I’m in the same boat actually with both my mature brood mares. Vet as yours said test bloods when next able and just reduce their sugar intake.
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Thank you equi,

Did your vet mention whether to continue to milk the udders or to not interfere? Mine didn’t mention anything and so I will call her at some point and ask. Part of me doesn’t want to leave them because of mastitis but equally I don’t want to encourage milk production.
 
My horse (the one in my avatar) would produce milk when the grass was rich. Something to do with estrogen in the grass I was led to assume. We bought her at 8 and she lived to 22. If she had ever had a foal it would have been before she was 5, so the effect was very long lasting! Interesting your vet mentioned Cushings though. My horse had all the symptoms of Cushings although she tested negative twice. Producing milk never caused her any problems, as it wasn't a massive amount.
 
Mine did this last year. We didn’t find any specific cause. Her udders were swollen so we treated with bute which brought them down a lot and it just cleared up on its own. What colour is the fluid coming out? I was concerned about mastitis but the fluid was clear so just kept an eye on that.
 
Thank you for your reply. The colour is a watered down milk colour. We had a couple of days where everything seemed to have stopped and now it’s started again. I was tempted to try maybe something like Oestress or perhaps Chaste Berry to see if that helped? Just as a precaution really whilst it’s difficult for Vets to attend.
 
Is it possible it could be something like a prolactinoma? But then I'm assuming horses can get them too. The watery milk is what humans can get with this condition even if they have never even been pregnant.
 
My mare started to 'bag up' a few years ago when she was on clover rich grass. I managed it by muzzling her and putting hay out (which she can eat quite happily through the muzzle). It never happened again.
 
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