DENTAL DAY.........!!!!

Dental day is always "interesting",  & this time we knew we had some nasty mouths.  Both Reba & Penny have let us know their mouths had problems.  And of course we had others that had not been here the last time Bert came thru.

First of all I have to compliment all the mules & donkeys, they really did great, even Penny.  I had warned Bert that she is a fear kicker, but she didn't kick once.  She's really so much better than she was when we got her about a month ago.  

 

 PENNY WATCHING COQUETTE'S APPOINTMENT

 

 OOPS.....SHOULD HAVE DISAPPEARED WHEN SHE HAD THE CHANCE

 

 LITTLE CHEYENNE & TALL, TALL, SIMON

EVEN JACK BEHAVED HIMSELF

Out of 22 animals, only 5 needed work.  Tula was not checked because the only way you can work with her is to put her in the squeeze.  Then if she did need teeth work, the corral panels would be a real obstacle to try to work around.  Bert said the reason their teeth are in such good shape is because they are out here eating brush, mesquite beans, (Yes tiz the season we're starting to find a few beans here & there in poo)  & chewing on sticks & tree trunks.  So I would imagine her teeth are just fine.  And Wister won't need to be checked until he's about 15 months old Bert said.  His teeth are perfectly aligned, unlike Tucker's were.  Tucker had a significant overbite, although his molars all lined up like they were suppose to.  Don't know as he has gotten older if his lower jaw has grown longer or not.  I'll have to ask his Mom next time I talk to her. 

Reba the big red mule had some nasty hooks & waves, Quilla needed a little bit of work.  Little Cheyenne, has been having trouble eating, even though her teeth had been done by a vet not long ago.  Two of her molars were enlarged & deformed.  Welcome to the world of minis, the smaller they breed them (she's only 32 inches tall) the more problems they have.  Simon took off some of the deformity so she can move food more easily around in her mouth.  The way it was, the teeth were up against the inside of her mouth & it was trapping the food.  That is probably why she has been turning her head in an odd way when she eats.  

Lynn had some sharp points & then there was Penny.  I doubt if she has ever had her teeth done.  She had hooks & displaced teeth, ramps, steps, waves. almost a perfect example of all the things that can go wrong in an equine mouth.   Dr. Weaver had said her mouth smelled that she probably had some abscessed teeth.  Bert said the teeth were fine, but all the hooks had chewed into her cheeks & he could even feel the back of the hair follicles, it had eroded that deep & was infected, poor little girl.  Got her all cleaned up, so hopefully once the inside of her cheeks heals, she won't have anymore trouble.  I can't say she appreciated all the attention, but she really was pretty good.  

Bert is a teacher in a equine dental school in Idaho, when he's not on the road.  He goes from Oregon to Texas on a circuit & has for years.  He said he spends about 2 weeks at home out of 2 months.  He doesn't ever tie them up & uses no drugs.  A lot of dentists work at with a vet & the vet automatically gives them drugs, whether they need it or not.  The animals all love Bert, he said he has a camel that is in love with him, that throws a fit as soon as he sees Bert..........how funny. 

Some vets still float teeth & I assumed that when they are in vet school they might get a week or two of training on doing teeth.  Let's face it, vets learn a little bit about a lot of things in school, & probably don't spend a lot of time on any one subject.  I'm sure they are expected to fill in the blank spots of their education on their own as best they can.  Bert said they usually spend about 8 hours on dental, & that includes dogs, cats, equine, etc...........!!!  Wow....that's not much when you figure they are actually learning about different species in that 8 hours.  

Some vets resent equine dentists, I guess they don't want the competition...........BUT.......... I would think there is enough work out there for all.  I certainly can't call a vet & have them show up immediately, whether it's for medical or dental, it's going to probably be days before I can get an appointment, unless it's an emergency.  So I don't understand the logic, they should appreciate the dentists & what they do, I'm sure some do, but some don't. 

Wow Bert was in & out before noon today. He said whatever we're doing to keep doing it, because only 2 needed work.  

He looked at Tucker's parrot mouth.  I told him the molars had been x-rayed & were perfectly aligned.  He said if they weren't he could actually do some work on Tucker & help to overcome some of the overbite.  He said he will get along just fine & could even eat grass in a pasture if he was ever lucky enough to have pasture.  He said they learn to use their tongue to get the grass.  He also said they are inclined to overeat more than one with a normal mouth.  

I love to hear him talk, he's always sharing information that I find really interesting & hopefully useful. Of course a lot of it is so far over my head, I'm not sure he's speaking English?  And I know he's simplifying a lot of it.  

Justin & Ruthie were the only 2 that needed anything done & they weren't really bad, just needed some sharp areas filed down.  

 Ruthie & Bert getting to know each other

We had Rusty's teeth done back in late 2011 when we had Drifter's teeth done.  Rusty had been moving his jaw in a weird way like he had it hung up or something.  Since Drifter was going for dental work we threw Rusty into the trailer too.  I've never used anyone but Bert & hopefully I'll never have to again.  The guy automatically drugged them, & used power tools.  That's a quick way to run out of teeth, if not used properly, which a lot of them don't.  Ever since Rusty was done he has been chewing a lot & it takes him longer to finish his hay.  Bert said it's because of the way his teeth were done & there isn't anything he can do now.  But maybe by fall, when Bert comes back thru, a few months of using the teeth the way they are will give him something to work with.  

Unfortunately we got some bad news.  When he looked in Pepper's mouth, he found a tumor that smells.  It's up in the right side of his palate about the size of a quarter, not very thick.  I've been on the internet this afternoon, but haven't found anything encouraging.  We were talking about taking him to have a biopsy & Bert asked why?  After thinking about it........Pepper is somewhere on the other side of 30 or 35.  He's had a broken hip & a blown knee.  Right now his quality of life is good, he eats his mush, ears are up, eyes are bright & he's always ready to get out of the pen & go chase the girls.  If we started messing with it, would his quality of life be as good?  So we will probably wait & watch & when the time comes that he isn't interested in trying to knock us over to get out of his pen, we'll let him go. 

This is the part we hate, having to make these decisions.  But when we decided to take in the unadoptable for the most part, it goes with the territory.  But we don't have to like it.