Monitoraggio della fattrice gravida e sue condizioni patologiche

Abstract

The pregnancy in mammals is a physiological process that elapses between conception, that happens when the sperm fertilizes the oocyte forming the zygote, and parturition. Although most of pregnancies are uneventful, sometimes complications do happen. There are several pathological conditions concerning the pregnant mare which can cause illness or be lethal for both conceptus and mare. The aim of this thesis is to describe carefully, based on the most recent literature, the most frequent pathological conditions of the pregnant mare, in order to prevent those diseases and know how to face them as well. On this purpose, it is very important to know the reproductive physiology and anatomy of the mare. Horse’s reproductive physiology shows particularities and specific characteristics that make this species appear unique compared to the others. After a description of the mare’s reproductive anatomy and physiology, the main diseases and pathological conditions occurring during the gestational period of the mare will be treated in this work.