Vet coming to check hormones etc What to expect??

[TequilaMist]

Hi vet coming to see mare(She who bites) on Wed afternoon.Managed to get day off work.Don't know what vet thought when I said it had best be in daylight for safety reasons!!!(yard can be quite dark and shadowy for mare that may go off on one!)
Anyway what should I expect to happen if checking hormones etc?Vet mention scanning her.Just so I can be prepared if anything needed.Thanks.

 

[Happy Horse]

I would suggest you pop her tail in a bandage as the vet will most likely want to rectal her and probably scan her as well. This can be a bit mucky if the tails are loose! Other than that it is likely to be blood tests and a general external examination. It would be best to have her in a bridle if she gets really grouchy when being examined.

 

[jennystreek]

He could be scanning her to check she doesnt have any cysts on her ovaries which could cause hormone variations.

I need to get my mares hormones checked at some point - hope it goes well!

 

[sallyf]

A small word of warning .
Mares generally only cycle ie come into season in the summer months so it is possible that there is nothing to see on her ovaries at this time of year.

 

[Sooty]

If he is going to scan her he will probably sedate her, so a well lit stable would be helpful. Also, the obvious bucket of water, cup of coffee for vet etc. It is interesting to watch, I hope the tests shed some light on her behaviour. I shall try and bump up the thread in the vet section from when we had Toffee done.

 

[jodarling]

I had my mare scanned in september, the time of year is only to be taken into consideration if they blood test as levels may vary but with a scan it gives you a better idea and can be done at any time. All was ok with mine, (just attittude) but to scan her my vet advised that it would be safer in stalls at the vets (and she then had to be sedated!)! hope it goes ok.x

 

[GTs]

[ QUOTE ]
If he is going to scan her he will probably sedate her......

[/ QUOTE ]

God it sounds like the vets in England sedate for everything - quite a poor performance really. I never saw a horse sedated to be scanned, even trans-rectally.

 

[TequilaMist]

Think sedation in this case is justified.Vet is good and will only sedate if she feels its nescessary for her safety and have found in past ,for safety of these expensive machines(had one mare that managed to kick a £35000 piece of equipment-luckily not too hard.They gave further dose of sedative!)
GT you must have a lot of very nice well mannered horses!!Can I have one!!
I have only had one who would stand like an angel without sedation.But agree it does appear more commonplace nowadays don't remember a lot of it being done when I was younger but that could be due to health and safety.Theres got to be risk assessments for everything nowadays!!

 

[TequilaMist]

Vet did mention something similiar sallyf but said we could scan to see if anything there(should try mares head see if anythings there!! only joking)Must admit to hoping theres something there!At least would give me something hopefully to work on!!

 

[sallyf]

You can scan at any time of year if looking for a granular cell tumour.
We saw our first one this year after standing stallions at stud for the last 15 yrs so not very common.
You canalso scan for cysts in the ovaries but if the mare is not cycling her ovaries will have shrunk for the winter and show no activity.
You would take bloods to check hormone levels if a granular cell tumour was present to confirm that it was producing testosterone , thought likely to produce irrational behaviour.
Mares can quite often get encysted follicles usually at the start and finnish of the season when they are transitional as hormone levels are too low to make her ovulate.
Cysts in ovaries and in the uterus itself are not that uncommon and can come and go.
Quite often a mare may not come into season as expected as she has a follicle that hasnt ruptured or a persistant CL and differant drugs can be given to rectify these problems quickly.
Either Corulon (lutinising hormone ) to aid ovulation or Prosterglandin to shift the carpus luteum and bring her into season.
Hope all goes well for you anyway.

 

[sallyf]

GT's we scan between 40 and 50 mares a year and if we are unlucky we might have to sedate 1 or 2 and they have to be really bad.
fortunately we have a nice solid set of stocks which helps.

 

[GTs]

I never saw one sedated and saw 100s scanned - we rarely sedated anything.