2 year old teeth - trouble with hay?

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MudMudGloriousMud

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Sorry if I am posting in the wrong area, please feel free to move me! :)

My little filly, who will be 2 at the end of May, seems to be quidding her feed a little, and struggling with her haylage.

She has a moist feed of Fast Fibre and pony nuts (too sloppy and she wont eat it, so I make it like thick porridge if that makes sense) with a vit&min supplement and shares about 10lb of home made haylage with my old cob. (just cut them down as the grass is coming a little)

She seems to be stuffing the haylage in, but then struggling to chew it properly. Given time she does chew and swallow, but at a much slower, more considered speed than the cob mare, and slower than she was eating it previously.

Her feed I think she is dropping bits as she is always looking round and being nosey, but I have noticed she really seems to struggle with carrots and so have taken her off them.

She is about a 2 on the 1-5 scale, which I am pleased with as she was a 0.5/1 when she came in December.

So, really what I'm asking is, would she have new molars erupting or tooth problems at this young age? I know that the incisors change to permanent at about 2.5/3 years, but I'm not up on my teething knowledge any further than that :o

Thank you for your time!

Mel
 
I will be having my vet out next week to for vaccinations etc so will ask him/her to check her, but was looking for idea's/explanations/clarification of what it could be in the mean time.

Thank you

Mel
 
at her age she will be teething to a certain extent so it's possible that she has some caps stuck and so chewing is painful. She certainly needs seen by a dentist or competent vet. At her age she should be seen at least every 6 months by a qualified equine dentist.
Until they are checked I wouldn't be feeding any hay/haylage due to the risk of choke if she doesn't chew properly. Use either damped chaff / soaked grass nuts etc to feed.
 
Thank you mynutmeg, I will give my vets a call in the morning and book her in for a dental. my elderly cob is almost due for her 6month check so I might as well get her done too.
One of my clients has a coming 4 year old who is struggling with caps at the moment, but I wasn't sure if - at rising 2 - she would have caps.

Thanks again

Mel
 
MudMudGloriousMud said:
Thank you mynutmeg, I will give my vets a call in the morning and book her in for a dental. my elderly cob is almost due for her 6month check so I might as well get her done too.
One of my clients has a coming 4 year old who is struggling with caps at the moment, but I wasn't sure if - at rising 2 - she would have caps.

Thanks again

Mel
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure when they get the caps coming off but I think I remember my sister's tb having some then. Even if it's not caps she's obviously not comfortable in her mouth. If they are causing problems and are loose then the dentist can just pop them off to reveal the tooth underneath - I got my mare at 3 and she had 5 caps removed at ther first dental as they were all 'stuck' and causing problems, she was much happier after and I have a nice collection of her baby teeth :-)
 
mynutmeg said:
I'm not entirely sure when they get the caps coming off but I think I remember my sister's tb having some then. Even if it's not caps she's obviously not comfortable in her mouth. If they are causing problems and are loose then the dentist can just pop them off to reveal the tooth underneath - I got my mare at 3 and she had 5 caps removed at ther first dental as they were all 'stuck' and causing problems, she was much happier after and I have a nice collection of her baby teeth :-)
Click to expand...

Brilliant, thank you so much :) I wonder if it is partially down to her being neglected between yearling and 19months old?

Mel
 
Between 2 & 3, retained caps can certainly cause problems. But there are other mouth problems that could be found - a shear mouth, for example, when the arcades of teeth don't meet in the way they're meant to - leading to sharp edges which can ulcerate the inside of the mouth; or an overshot/undershot jaw which can lead to HUGE hooks developing right at the back and digging into the gum above/below.
 
Thank you JanetGeorge, interesting info :)

She was checked by the vet in December when I got her and said her mouth was nice, hense why I'm thinking she may be erupting teeth now that she is nearly 2?

Only way to know for sure is to have the vet - coming tomorrow - I do love hemorrhaging money!

Thanks again

Mel
 
Hi this link is a useful read: http://www.baedt.com/problems_5386.html

I would agree with others that at this age they need a dental review every 6 months.

My youngster needed one wolf tooth (he only had one) extracting at his 18 month dental check by the equine dentist, the advice I received was it was better to do it early rather than leaving it later.

My personal experience (with 2 different vet practices) is that good equine dental technicians often have a lot more regular experience (especially with more complex problems) and considerably more equipment (in the region of £15k worth more) than a some vets do, but that's only my personal experience. It does make it somewhat expensive as there are two bills, one for EDT and one for any veterinary sedation required, but this is a combination which works well for me and my herd although of course nearly all my income now goes on horse supplies/treatments/etc etc! :eek:

Good luck with her :)
 
Hmm interesting. My girl is exactly the same, she has just turned 2 and has the same problems, still eating just 'thinking' while chewing kind of thing, chewing slowly and struggling with carrots. Thanks to the info given on here I'm booking her in to see the dentist just to make sure it's all going well. Didn't think they needed it until they were bitted. Good luck with yours!
 
All doctors understand teeth and the mouth and can do some work on them. I still wouldn't go to a doctor if I had a toothache.

I totally understand that your vet is coming so it will be easy for him/her to have a look, but I would want to get an EDT to assess if she is having difficulties.

They are qualified for a reason. My vet can do teeth, but he says the same as me...always get a dentist to do dental work.

Sorry, but I think it's important. Hope she is ok and just teething.
 
yes it could be her caps coming off - they can have really sharp edges and cause quite a bit of discomfort. My boy was regularly seen from the age of 16 months, every 6 months... It is only now that he is rising 6 that the dentist is happy for him to go on a 9 month cycle as his teeth are changing at a much slower rate.

Best to get any issues looked into sooner rather than later :)
 
My filly had her first diastema found and made wider when she was 18 months old. Her adult molars were there when she was about 22 months old, when checked at 24 months she had diastema's between them. I was brushing up the sides of her mouth and syringing with salt water twice a day, made no difference. At 27 months she was quidding really badly and then had 6 diastema's. Five of them were made wider when she was 28 months because by that point she could not eat hay at all, just chewed and dropped it, she also had severe peridontal disease. Two of them have been made wider since, her gums are now much healthier. She is now 33 months, can eat hay and carrots okay but hates watery feeds and has to have the chill taken off beetpulp before she will eat it, she needs a filling too. So yes 2 year olds can have teeth problems.
 
If she's not 2 yet she shouldn't be losing caps yet? Mine only started losing at just over two and a half.

He struggled with carrots unless they were cut up small when he was a baby, they just don't have the teeth for handfed carrots at that age, he'd just roll it round his mouth and spit out.

Always worth a check from the dentist as other errupting teeth may be causing issues.
 
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