ovariectomy - standing sedated not to be taken lightly

anj789

anj789

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I lost my 8yo mare this morning just over 36hr after a standing ovariectomy to remove a granulosa cell tumour. I had read up about it and understood the risks but saw them as fairly low. The procedure was very straightforward by all accounts and I was told afterwards to expect to bring her back into work within a month. She was given i/v antibiotics as a matter of course but 24 hours later she started to look uncomfortable / colic, then her temperature soared and heart rate went up. Despite all attempts, she died this morning of suspected peritonitis. I know these things can happen, but for anyone considering this procedure for their mare, be aware that sometimes they actually do.
 
That is very sad indeed and you have my sincerest sympathy. Sadly, these things can happen - although with modern procedures and drugs it's rare.

Unfortunately, NOT operating for a GTC tumour just isn't an option because they get bigger - and bigger - and the behavioural problems they cause can become very dangerous indeed. You did your best for your mare!
 
thanks - it was the right thing to do but hard to feel that right now. Easier to feel that when I remember how scary she was getting to ride, I'm no wuss xc but bearing down on solid fences flat out is not a good place to be. Sad, but it happens. It's always worth checking out a mare's ovaries for anything behavioural, probably before you start spending a fortune on calmers.
 
I am so sorry for you, that really is dreadful. My mare had her ovary removed due to a tumor in sept this yr and luckily everything went so well. You did the right thing by having the op - i know it ended badly but you cant blame yourself - she would have been in pain if you hadnt have operated as it would have just gotten bigger.

You have my sympathies. so sorry.
 
Really sorry to hear about your mare - thoughts are with you. Our mare had an ovarian tumour removed a couple of years ago, but with a GA - there wasn't an option, it was either that or PTS she was so dangerous. With any op. there is always a risk under sedation or a GA, I'm really sorry you lost your mare.
 
Good point about having them checked - Ive found regumate is too quickly prescribed without scans etc. cost me about £70 for a scan - same as regumate - and showed there were no abnormalities on her ovaries so I didn't pump her full of synthetic hormones unnecessarily.

Sorry to hear about your girl xxx
 
So very sorry that you did the right thing but it turned out badly. I hope that you are able to enjoy Christmas, and that the New Year will see you able to face looking for a horse to love again.
 
So sorry for the loss of your mare but as others have said, you did your best by her, Such a shame though.

If you dont mind me asking, what led you to discover that she had a problem in the first place?
 
Purely behavioural. I've had mares before who have felt their ovaries when in season but she was never traditionally marish - never even threw a buck in the 4 years I had her from 4yo. However, she was never easy and resisted working thru from the start. I repeatedly had back, teeth, tack checked, top physio saw her 3 times a year, but nothing showed up except 'she's a bit tense', put more muscle on her etc - which was the outcome not the cause. I started eventing her and she increasingly lost it in the dressage, to the point this year where she was bolting in canter. She'd still jump the moon but at speed and at my last event with her this summer took the sj course out from its roots. I'd tried every calmer over the years with occasional glimmers of hope but nothing worked for long. After the last event, I wrote a list of all the things to look at before she killed me and ovaries was top of the list. First scan and we discovered one ovary was the size of a grapefruit and showed up an odd cell structure. Blood tests for inhibin however did not indicate it was a tumour so we stuck for a few months on believing it was a cyst. Then I just thought, whatever it is, it's not going away, she's been running from pain for a long time, insurance is paying, so vet and I agreed let's get it out. Out it came, and whatever the bloods said, it most definitely visibly had the honeycomb structure of a granulosa cell tumour. It's probably gone for tests now. Unfortunately, that's where it went wrong and we lost her. I'll never know if that would have cracked it for her, but have more than a feeling that was the root of her problems. There's always a reason for odd behaviour in horses...
 
TicTac said:
If you dont mind me asking, what led you to discover that she had a problem in the first place?
Click to expand...

The classic symptoms of a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour (and they are the most common ovarian tumour in mares) start with general 'bad' behaviour that does NOT follow the mare's cycle - it's there all the time. A previously sweet natured mare might start to bite - or kick - or become aggressive with other horses! As the tumour advances, you see stallion-like behaviour, to the point that the mare will mount other mares (and attack geldings!) This is because this sort of tumour produces testosterone.

The surgery is normally straight-forward with good recovery - and the mare returns to 'normal' behaviour. A friend had a very 'tricky' mare for several years and the bad behaviour got worse. After surgery, she was MUCH nicer than she had been since my friend had owned her - no longer 'tricky' at all.

anj789 was incredibly unlucky - but there is no option other than surgery. As the tumour grows, it produces more testosterone and is also painful - particularly when ridden. The mare becomes increasingly dangerous.

No-one with a 'difficult' mare should waste time and money on 'moody mare' supplements without first having the ovaries scanned - as anj789 said: "There's always a reason for odd behaviour in horses..."
 
JanetGeorge said:
The classic symptoms of a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour (and they are the most common ovarian tumour in mares) start with general 'bad' behaviour that does NOT follow the mare's cycle - it's there all the time. A previously sweet natured mare might start to bite - or kick - or become aggressive with other horses! As the tumour advances, you see stallion-like behaviour, to the point that the mare will mount other mares (and attack geldings!) This is because this sort of tumour produces testosterone.

The surgery is normally straight-forward with good recovery - and the mare returns to 'normal' behaviour. A friend had a very 'tricky' mare for several years and the bad behaviour got worse. After surgery, she was MUCH nicer than she had been since my friend had owned her - no longer 'tricky' at all.

anj789 was incredibly unlucky - but there is no option other than surgery. As the tumour grows, it produces more testosterone and is also painful - particularly when ridden. The mare becomes increasingly dangerous.

No-one with a 'difficult' mare should waste time and money on 'moody mare' supplements without first having the ovaries scanned - as anj789 said: "There's always a reason for odd behaviour in horses..."
Click to expand...

Quite agree JG - we tried various "moody mare" supplements on our mare, before deciding that the aggressive behaviour was just not normal - the vet that came out to see her and scanned her told us to treat her like a stallion until the surgery and to be extremely careful with her - she would rear at us when being led - would rear when being ridden, looking back she must have been in so much pain and we didn't realise it I feel so bad for getting cross with her when she "misbehaved". She is a delight again now, loves the attention she gets, and is back to the lovely mare I bred, and even better is a wonderful "nanny" to our filly foal (she actually attacked her own foal, and he broke his leg; we had put her in foal to give her a break from being ridden to see if she would "calm down" - no one had suggested that her ovaries might be problem). The tumour must have been there, quite small to start with for a long time, and it was only about 6 months after foaling that it discovered.
 
I am really sorry to hear about that. I have seen this procedure in photographs from an old veterinary manual that I own and from what I read believed it to be as simple and straightforward as removing wolf teeth, or castration of a stallion with an extremely high success rate (even when the book was published in the 60's).

I agree wholeheartedly with what you say about there always being a reason for odd behaviour in horses too.

I do hope you do as a previous poster says and get Xmas out of the way and have another horse in the New Year. You sound like such a nice owner, it would be very sad if this was your last horse.

Good luck, thoughts are with you xxxx
 
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Thanks guys - it still hurts and will for a while but that ovary had to come out. Post mortem says that she died of "endotoxic shock secondary to lieus (ileus?) post surgery. This condition can be brought on following a period of stress such as starvation or surgery". I guess there's a risk of this with any procedure involving starvation then, though this required 48 hours so quite a long time.
She was great (well showed glimmers thru her problems) and brave but I will move on and I'm sure I'll be out shopping before too long ;-)
 
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