Scanning ovaries

[lovelyfrenchie3000]

I’m having trouble with the younger mare when she’s in season. She turns herself completely inside out - today she couldn’t trot a circle without napping, reared when walked past the arena mirror and reared when I led her out. She’s been cow-kicking me when I put her saddle on (she has been scoped and no ulcers). She’s been in season since Saturday and she’s been like this basically all weekend.

She’s young and I’ve seen it said that younger mares get worse seasons and that the spring seasons are worse than summer ones but I really think she’s struggling. She’s on Oestress powder and I’ve doubled the dosage but it doesn’t seem to touch the sides.

Is it worth getting her ovaries scanned? Has anyone had it done before - how much is it (on average) usually etc?

 

[Muddy unicorn]

We had my daughter’s mare’s ovaries scanned as she seemed to be permanently in season despite being on regumate. It turned out that her right ovary was massively enlarged and had huge numbers of egg follicles on it. It cost about £150 from memory (a couple of years ago). She had blood tests to see if she had a type of tumour which would need the ovary to be removed but that was clear. We stopped the regumate and she managed to sort herself out over the course of the summer. Her first few seasons are much worse and gradually improve over next few months so by August she’s actually quite nice

 

[visa_bot]

My mare had her ovaries scanned and nothing was visibly wrong, but I opted to have them laparoscopically removed anyway as they were obviously causing her problems. Turns out she had granulosa cell tumours in both. She is now much nicer to handle and ride. Doesn’t have ups and downs And no seasons! She was on regumate for many years but it stopped working and was quite expensive. Might be worth trying Regumate to see if it helps. I can‘t remember how much the scan was, but the removal was about £2500 last year.

 

[lovelyfrenchie3000]

Am I right in thinking that Regumate is prescription only?

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Am I right in thinking that Regumate is prescription only?

Yes and you have to be very careful when handling it

 

[lovelyfrenchie3000]

Okay thank you - do people think it’s best to track her season and see if the symptoms subside next week or to just ring the vet now?

 

[scats]

We sent Polly in for an ovary scan after she started throwing herself on the ground and colicking when she was in season. They didn’t find anything though, other than that she had lots of follicles.

 

[visa_bot]

Okay thank you - do people think it’s best to track her season and see if the symptoms subside next week or to just ring the vet now?

You could wait a week or so just to check. In my case, approximately every 3 weeks my mare had what I called "mini colics" - she was obviously very uncomfortable but it wasn't a typical colic. She also scoped clear of ulcers and timing just pointed to her ovaries, even though nothing showed up on the scan except that the Regumate was no longer suppressing everything it should. It won't hurt to wait a week, there is no particular time of season to start Regumate, so if she is back to normal next week, you could get some and that would prevent her from coming into season again.

 

[lovelyfrenchie3000]

You could wait a week or so just to check. In my case, approximately every 3 weeks my mare had what I called "mini colics" - she was obviously very uncomfortable but it wasn't a typical colic. She also scoped clear of ulcers and timing just pointed to her ovaries, even though nothing showed up on the scan except that the Regumate was no longer suppressing everything it should. It won't hurt to wait a week, there is no particular time of season to start Regumate, so if she is back to normal next week, you could get some and that would prevent her from coming into season again.

Great thanks. I think I will do that as it should make it a bit clearer whether it is her season that’s causing the issues. Does the vet have to come out the prescribe Regumate or can they do it over the phone via symptoms?

 

[visa_bot]

Great thanks. I think I will do that as it should make it a bit clearer whether it is her season that’s causing the issues. Does the vet have to come out the prescribe Regumate or can they do it over the phone via symptoms?

It probably depends on the vet and how well they know your horse. I would actually ask for a prescription rather than buy it from the vet, it is normally about 50% cheaper on line so more than pays for the cost of the prescription. I knew my vet well, and she used to give me 2 repeats as well, so I only needed a prescription every 9 months. If they have already scanned for ulcers and know the symptoms, I would imagine they would be happy for you to try Regumate without seeing the horse again.