Horse News & Views - December 2004

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Association of Equine Practitioners

• When a person decides to wean a foal, a number of other decisions must be made. One is ‘How do we dry up the mare?' Place the mare in a secure area where she can neither hear nor see her foal. Provide a companion horse to reduce her anxiety from being away from her foal as well as from other horses. Use a teat dip (one used for cattle) daily for a week to disinfect the ends of the teats and provide a barrier to the entrance of bacteria. The mare's udder will swell quickly to a hard mass, making the mare very uncomfortable. Your veterinarian may suggest the use of a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug, such as phenylbutazone, to relieve some of the discomfort. Over the next few days the udder will get less firm and less painful. Do not milk out the udder. This will just stimulate further milk production and prolong the problem. Over the course of a month the udder will progressively get smaller and slacker. Mastitis, the infection of the udder by bacteria, occasionally occurs. Your veterinarian will be able to provide advice should this be a problem.
  
  
• Occasionally, horses will come in from the pasture with tearing eyes. Any of the artificial tears products used for humans can be used to flush debris from horses' eyes. However, you need to look for a cause of the irritation. Plant awns, pieces from burdocks, hay and debris can become imbedded in the subconjunctival sac and cause severe irritation. These must be differentiated from equine recurrent uveitis, secondary to a leptospirosis infection. Your veterinarian can help determine the cause and the appropriate treatment.

Related Links

• Leptospirosis and Equine Recurrent Uveitis in Horses

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