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Message |
    
Lena Iversen
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 10, 2005 - 1:50 am: |   |
15 year old horse eating grain well, but often he will chew his hay for a while and then spit out round balls of hay and saliva. I had his teeth floated one week ago - no big problems were found and he is not better after the floating. Any ideas ? Can this be a symptom of stomach ulcer ? |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 823
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 10, 2005 - 2:48 am: | |
Fifteen isn't very old for a horse, but for some reason, your horse isn't able to grind his hay. Either the grinding surfaces of the molars aren't making contact, his molars are all smoothed out, or he may have some pain from the recent floating. Not everyone who floats teeth does a great job . . . and unless the vet used a speculum and a flashlight and really did a thorough feel of the teeth with the mouth open, and then closed, he/she could easily have missed something.
Was your horse quidding beFORE he was floated? If he can't grind his hay properly now, then he may not be able to grind his grain well either, and may be swallowing lots of whole grain. If you can find a pellet that is comparable to the grain, you may want to offer it soaked instead of giving grain until you are sure the horse can grind his feed. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 14082
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 10, 2005 - 6:55 am: | |
Quidding is not usually a symptom of some other disease and I agree with Holly, there remains a problem in the mouth or possibly with the hay. Is the hay of good quality and free of stems? The problem in the mouth may become evident with a closer inspection or may even require further diagnostics like radiography to identify occult tooth problems. Lastly if nothing is found in the mouth a endoscopic exam of the pharynx might reveal swallowing difficulties.
DrO |
Jenny Gogarty
Member
Username: Jeng
Post Number: 21
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2005 - 4:30 am: | |
My mare was an extremely bad quider (Hay mostly), it got worse and worse as time went on to the point that she encountered a worrying amount of weight loss. We did the usual like getting her teeth checked etc. But when x-rays were taken it came to light that she had a gap between her teeth which was causing problems. We actually removed another tooth to make the gap larger and prevent food getting jammed in there. She has never looked back since.
This may not be the exact problem with this case however getting x-rays and using an experienced equine dentist will source the problem. From my experience it is imperative to take action quickly as they can go down-hill quite quickly. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 14111
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2005 - 8:57 am: | |
Hello Jenny, the term for this is diastemata and we cover this condition in Care for Horses » Particular Situations & Procedures » Equine Dentistry.
DrO |
