Is this even possible?

[spindleberry]

This is probably a stupid question for me to ask....

Is it possible for a mini to be pregnant with twins, abort one twin, but not the other?

TIA

 

[mdegner]

Yes. Had a friend who had that happen. The mare carried the other baby to full-term and had a healthy foal.

 

[Jill]

Yes, I think a member here had that happen a couple years ago.

 

[spindleberry]

Really?

Now that is interesting, does it happen often or is it rare??

 

[mdegner]

It certainly isn't common, seems fairly rare.

 

[spindleberry]

Well....do you think this could have happened with my mare then? She was 4 mos pregnant when I found her fetus...

She would have been a little over 5 months pregnant now.

Here's photos I took today....do you think I should pull blood and have a pregnancy test done when I pull blood from a goat?

 

[weerunner]

I would just wait for the kicking at this point. I usually feel my foals kicking at day 170. If I dont feel it after trying for a few meals, I can pretty safely assume they are no longer pregnant.

 

[wildoak]

Keep watching her, of course.... but I have quite a few non-pregnant mares that look nearly full term.

If you want to know for sure, have her vet checked. I like to know & be able to plan for a foal or not.

Jan

 

[levi]

Twins in horses are within the means of rare, don't hear much of that and living both of them- odds are that is even more less.

I had a mini that was ultra sounded in foal with twins, but mother nature decided to let one go at an early stage it just shriveled up when we gave her two more weeks then took her back to the vet and checked her out it was dieing off and the other fetus was growing! Born a really nice healthy foal.

 

[maestoso]

A skilled vet can pinch one of the eggs and leave the other alone.

Oops, I misunderstood the topic. I did not realize you were referring to a natural abortion.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I have a gelding that looks a bit like that right now. Not making fun... just laughing over how minis can look pregnant when they get their winter yak woolies.

LOL on the other question... would seem pretty rare.... a vet should be able to tell you..

 

[rabbitsfizz]

All my horses, including two stallions, two colts and a gelding, look like that at the moment!

It is possible for this to happen but not probable, what is far more likely is that her body has not caught up with the fact that the foetus is gone, and is still producing all the hormones. If she does not start cycling again in spring, and is not pregnant, I would talk to your Vet about Regumate

 

[spindleberry]

I was talking to my cousin today and they had a mare that had twins, one foal was aborted while the other one was born full term. Think I will draw blood and send it off. My vet can't check minis since he doesn't have the wand for the ultrasound and the bloodtest is only 25$.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

How long is it since she aborted- you could get a false result, so check with your Vet

 

[Riverrose28]

Well maybe I should just keep my mouth shut, but, a mare has two uterine horns, usually when there are twins present one is absorbed and the other is retained to full term. since there is only one cervix how can a mare abort one foal and not both? Has this been documented? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[dgrminis]

I had a mare that we bought bred several years ago - only mare in her pen here at the house that aborted on Christmas Day. Fetus appeared normal but quiet small for as far along as she should have been. Since it was christmas day vet didn't come out as mare was fine and everything looked fine. Assumed she was open since we knew she aborted. March snowstorm came and my husband had to go to work in the very early morning hours (he maintains the roads) and he checked all the horses since he was out already only to find our mare that had aborted with a brand new foal. We hadn't even been watching her for changes since we knew she had aborted. So obviously she was bred and aborted a twin without aborting the other that she foaled the end of March. The filly was conformationally fine but was very small. She had a heart problem though -- a murmor where the heart chambers hadn't formed correctly so she only lived 2 years. She was very sweet and a miracle in its own. Our vet said it was uncommon to abort one without aborting both but that it can happen and obviously did.

I don't claim to be an expert by any means but that is our one and only experience with twins so I do believe it can happen....

 

[spindleberry]

I contacted the lab and she can't get a false positive on the blood test they do, so ill send a sample to the lab this month when I send in the sample for the goat.

 

[happy appy]

I wish in Canada that I could send in samples on my own. It costs $102 for the test and the vt has to send it in so her fee is on top of that. Ends up being around $170 for a blood test.

 

[spindleberry]

It's only 25$ plus shipping for the blood test at biotracking and I can pull the blood. No vet needed.

hopefully they let me know their testing schedule so I know when to pull the blood.