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Discussion on Eats everything well except hay
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New Member:
Mlynn
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006 - 8:15 pm:
I have an 18yo thoroughbred gelding that over the past 2 mo. has changed his eating habits when it comes to hay ( the hay is terrific and 15 other horses enjoy it). He has regular dental care...every 6mo.... and the dentist refloated him and said that his teeth are in great shape as did my Vet. His physical exams are nomal. He eats carrots, apples,grain,cookies well. All bloodwork is normal.He is terrific under saddle...2nd level dressage...His diet has been gradually changed to include sweet feed and more grain twice a day but he is slowly losing weight..We have soaked his hay ,tried grass forage,several days of bute but he still spits out hay balls... Am I missing something?
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006 - 11:27 pm:
He may have a rotten tooth, M.Lynn, or an abscess. Is he getting worked more that usual? Could his output be more than his input?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 1, 2006 - 8:03 am:
Welcome MLE,
I too think there may be a problem with the mouth that is not easily visible. It the horse is having problems chewing push the exam up to a manual manipulation of each tooth, gentle percussion of the outside or the maxilla and mandible over the tooth roots with a rubber hammer and if a loose or painful tooth does not turn up you might consider skull radiographs or the teeth.
In the mean time to address your problems with weight loss, I would consider changing the grain based diets over to the high fat non-grain based complete feeds. These feeds can be fed at higher levels more safely. For the forage problems first try soaked alfalfa cubes and/or beet pulp may help.
DrO
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New Member:
Mlynn
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Posted on Tuesday, Mar 21, 2006 - 3:49 pm:
Finally after 2 endoscopys,X-rays and many exams..a 1cm hook was found posteriorly on a cheek tooth. It curved both medially and laterally and was difficult to find. This was done at Leesburg under heavy sedation. They were able to rasp it smooth. Hopefully everything is resolved. (He,s on Bute and no hay for a couple of days...)Before the procedure we were able to put his weight back on with soaked alfalfa cubes, beet pulp and rice bran.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 22, 2006 - 7:45 am:
Sounds like a possibility MLE. Let us know how it works out.
DrO
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Member:
jhamilto
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Posted on Monday, Dec 3, 2007 - 9:18 pm:
Hi MLE:
My 25-yr-old gelding started spitting out "hay balls" about a month ago. I had the vet check him and float his teeth--he didn't find anything problematic--but then he got worse! It's been 4 weeks since the float and he still can't chew hay or long stem green grass, but has no problem with grain, pellets, carrots, etc.
So, I am very interested in what the ultimate outcome was of the removal of that difficult-to-detect hook.
Dr. O: Have you any ideas?
Thanks for helping.
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