My mare recently foaled & has a bit of an infection. She has had 3 anti biotic injections & if its still there after her foaling heat then the vet wants to flush her out. Meantime I want to help out if I can by giving her some echanacea but am unsure if its safe to give to her? Does anyone know if its safe? Thankyou
What makes you think that your mare has a "bit of an infection"? Discharge is perfectly normal following foaling, and will even include a purulent (pus) discharge for a few days.
If you have gone beyond about 7 days post foaling and there is still a purulent discharge, then yes, there may be a problem, but prior to that, it is normal.
On top of that, the uterine immune response post-foaling is at its highest, and the random use of antibiotics may be questionable at that time.
Echinacea is not approved for use in the equine, and has not been researched as far as I know. I would leave well alone and let nature take care of what is - in all probability - a perfectly normal situation. And even if it's not, the antibiotics should hopefully deal with any problem (although systemic antibiotics are not considered sufficient to deal with a uterine infection alone, so they may actually not do any good either).
I would personally not want my mare lavaged ("flushed") after a heat either, but rather during the heat when the cervix is open to allow drainage...
I'm not keen on giving herbal additives whatsoever to pregnant mares, having experienced a 6mth perfectly healthy pregnant mare, who had had two previous foals, aborting after giving her so-called equine herbal supplements. Can't actually prove it was the herbs, but as a very hands-on owner one gets a gut feeling. All tests came back negative and environmentally nothing had changed. As the vet said, the cause of abortion is very often impossible to confirm. Makes one think..
I have given yeast and some other mild herbal addatives. The way i do it is by using there insticnts if they'll eat it without me feeding it to them then i asume its safe. example placeing a boken tablet somewhere were she'll definately find it without it being in her food. if she eats it on her own i assume its its what she's needing, but only after determining that it is safe to give in the first place. I would google it for more info
(Message edited by bugrace2000 on February 28, 2007)
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