swollen puffy vagina

[scathach]

i noticed today that my mare's vagina has swollen up and is puffy feels full of air, it looks very sore but obviously isn't as she was very happy for me to wash it with an antiseptic and even prod it with my fingers to ensure no injury. there is no sign of injury and no signs of diarrhoea or acid that may have caused skin irratation. she is 12 years old and i have owned her for 8 years she is usually a dirty seasoner with it dripping down her legs and in her tail but never swells up like this, she is showing no signs of season no interest in the geldings in the field and extra aggressive towards the other mare. she is a maiden mare and as far as i am aware as not been with a stallion, however one night last july/august her and another mare where found having broken out their field (unlike them and not happen since) and the following night a stallion was found in the field they had been grazing in. she initially had seemed odd for her but settled down over the winter but this spring i haven't seen any seasons and she is unusually fat. she has had what appears to be a drop of white on her teets for about 3 weeks but until today when her vulva swelled has not shown any signs of foaling and i just put the weight down to needing more exercise (luckily my daughter doesn't gallop about or jump)i will try to add a picture there is red area but that is old scar tissue from about 3 years ago when a fillet string rubbed her but you can see it is swollen extending down between her legs. i will get a vet out to her just wondered if this is a sign of foaling as if it is then i will have vet ASAP

 

[scathach]

okay should work now lol

 

[jools123]

cant view the photo

 

[scathach]

http://tiny.cc/9ur1gw

 

[jools123]

still cant, have you made it a public album?

 

[scathach]

it should now work

 

[jools123]

it does not show where it goes down between her legs so difficult to tell.
is all the redness and swelling nearer the top normal for her?

 

[scathach]

the redness is she has scar tissue from an old rub wound off a fillet string but the swelling is new this evening, it's not hot or even warmer than the surrounding skin and no puss or open sores or lesions no foreign objects, she has been in for 24 hours on straw bedding due to the weather field has no buttercups she was swishing her tail about alot i'll try to add more pictures http://tiny.cc/xvs1gw

 

[RuRu]

From what you have described i would say she is getting ready to foal. Not having any seasons this year, being grumpy with other horses, having beads of wax on her teets, a large tummy and now a swollen vulva all says due to foal to me. Has her udder filled and looking bigger lately? If she is in foal good luck, i hope it all goes well

 

[jools123]

it looks sore in the photo but if it does not in reality i would just keep a very close eye on it over the weekend-maybe its a reaction to something
could you put belly shots on tomorow?
if she was in foal from the time she got out i would expect it would be quite obvious by now but not all animals read the text book and follow the rules.
sometimes even the most experienced horse person can get caught out

maybe you will have two by morning
good luck

TBH i would not waste money having vet ASAP they cant change anything if she is in foal

 

[scathach]

lol typical little princess going off with a rough boy from wrong side of the tracks, she bred in the purple riding pony and stallion was a roaming gypsy cob, i'll get some belly pics tomorrow along with pictures of her this time last year so you can see the difference in size lets just say when my daughter was riding her last week i was following behind and noticed i couldn't see her legs past sherry's belly! but it hasn't dropped she just seems flat backed she has no bag but then is a maiden and always been well muscled as schooled alot for dressage and showing

 

[scathach]

okay nothing overnight and vulva still really swollen up pictures of belly last year and then this morning http://tiny.cc/xsk2gwhttp://tiny.cc/7tk2gw then this morning http://tiny.cc/awk2gwhttp://tiny.cc/txk2gw heart line measures 165cm belly measures 184cm similar mare of same height and similar breeding on same diet and same regime heart line is 162cm belly 164cm

 

[jools123]

she is very pretty also in very good shape in first photo 2nd photo does not really show much it might to have one from the same angle as last year

 

[scathach]

hi thank you she is a really lovely pony nature wise too however this is the only rear veiw i have of her from last year not an area i usually photograph lol http://tiny.cc/a5c3gw

 

[domane]

She looks in foal to me. A blood test should let you know. If she was covered July/August last year then she's getting close to dropping too....

 

[the watcher]

swollen vulva, gained weight, starting to show signs of milk.....I'd be bringing her in every night and getting ready to foal down

 

[jools123]

she looks to have slackened off around her back end too, it all points to an fairly imminent arrival good luck let us know how you get on

 

[scathach]

thanks guys first time for us both and not planned but my priority i guess is making sure she is relaxed and happy and then vet tomorrow for a blood test no point trying to palpate she's to much of a fidget and would have to be sedated etc and possibly risk being torn and with how swollen she is just not practical plus side my vets have their own lab lol

 

[jools123]

i would avoid internal, there is a risk (however small) of introducing infection or if the mare does not have too long to go of starting labour early.
hope it all goes well

 

[HazyXmas]

Sounds very exciting Please let us know what happens & post lots & lots of pictures if she does produce a foal

Good luck i hope that everything goes well.

 

[HazyXmas]

Is there any news?

 

[scathach]

nothing yet but her teets looked a bit baggier this morning she's just keeping me guessing lol

 

[samisheen]

any news?