Am I worrying over nothing?

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Kalees_mum

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Any vets about to maybe give me a reply from a vets point of view as to whether you ( as a vet ) would think me as an owner is being too over cautious and a pain or just trying to do the best thing for my pony?

( yes I do worry about annoying people/being a pain far to much lol )

Last September my 40yr old pony had some problems vets found she had two loose teeth with an infection in the gum causing her quiet a bit of pain. They removed the teeth treated infection etc and she was then fine! This Feb she started signs one evening of being in pain ( chucking her head sidewards and bolting backwards when going to eat just what she did in September but not so bad ) vet came out again and all was wrong was that she had a slightly long tooth on the left side of her mouth and that feed/hay was getting stuck in the gap where the two teeth were removed from! I was advised to put her on half a sachet of Bute a day change her to horsehage and ditch chaff and replace with something soft ( Allen & Page Fast Fibre )

Since Feb she has been fine up until 4 weeks ago where I noticed she had a lump on the right side of her face ( where the teeth where removed from ) and that she was chucking her head every so often when eating hard feed. I had the vet out who found nothing wrong apart from feed getting stuck in this gap told to up Bute to 1 sachet a day! Now 4 weeks later she is still chucking her head up slightly when eating sometimes she will chuck her head up spin and bolt away from her bucket :-(

She's also got an enlarged thyroid gland in her neck shes had this since I got her ( 9yrs ago ) and has caused no problems hasn't increased in size or anything! Now this morning when feeding her she kept chucking her head more then normal and checking over her face the lump under her neck to me feels harder then normal but I'm not sure if its just me thinking that cos I'm looking for something causing what shes doing. To say when I noticed this I got all upset and am now thinking the worst about it
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Thing is she only does this when she is eating hard feed not horsehage or grass!

I've booked the vet to come have a look at her tomorrow as its not right what shes doing and isn't fair if shes in slight pain! But I just feel that there going to tell me there's nothing wrong and then I am feeling like I'm being a pain in the arse to the vets and wasting there time?

I know the vets are there for any problems like this and this is what we pay them for but I just don't want to bed a pain keep phoning for advise/having then out if there's not much they can do!
 
We owe it to our animals to see veterinary advice when we don't know what is the problem or how to treat it, so I am sure your vet is the best person to check pony out. Good for you for calling him/her.
 
No you jolly well aren't. To get to 40, a pony has to have done something right and usually it's because they have found a damned good owner. Do you think she has periodontal disease caused by age and possibly diastemata? Here's a link to some veterinary info on this. The best person to get in might be a fully up to the moment EDT and have them work alongside your vet?

And don't be afraid to ask, ask, ask! Your pony NEEDS help!
 
No, you are not worrying over nothing. Your pony is showing signs of distress and you are right to get her looked at. She may have more loose teeth, impacted food, several things so best to get her looked at. If you still arent happy after your vets visit get a different vet
 
Brighteyes, it could be possible that she has I wouldn't know?

I've just phoned my vets and canceled the vet I was having out tomorrow and have asked for one of the partners of my practice to give me a call as he specializes in equine teeth ( he removed her teeth last September ) so hoping to speak to him either this evening or tomorrow. See what he thinks and go from there having him out if needs be!
 
Nope, I wouldn't feel that my time was being wasted at all. To be honest I take the approach that if someone has called me out and is paying for my time then it is my duty to listen to their problem and assess their horse. Thats not to say that I don't have some strange call outs, and clients who demand a disproportionate amount of my time but the ones that do don't tend to worry about it!

Sounds like you are doing the right thing by your horse.
 
Thanks for your reply GreedyGuts, I just want to do whats best for the old girl.

I spoke to the vet this evening and he thinks it will be best to bring her over to the vets so they can sedate and have a proper look at her teeth and then if anything needs doing they've got the stuff there to do it. He also said if they cannot find anything by having a good look in her mouth they could then do x-rays to see if anything shows up that way!

I said that I don't want to mess them around and find out its nothing but surely her chucking her head up when she takes a mouthful of food isn't right and there's obv a problem and he totally agreed said there's got to be an underlying cause to this. Shes on 1 Bute a day and that doesn't seem to be stopping this or it might be covering it up so it may be worse then we think? I don't know!

Have now gotta find cheap transport in the Gillingham Kent area to get her over there, so if anyone can help please message me!
 
Ok small update I got transport and tried booking her in my vets where fully booked rest of this week for the vet I wanted and was told he goes away on Monday so would have to wait till the following week for him or use another vet which I dont want to do as Johns the best one for teeth!

Anyway I said I would leave it for now the vet then phoned me this evening and he has very kindly asked another vet to cover his Friday at 10am appointment so he can see my mare before he goes away! Am so grateful his done this so fingers crossed for us this Friday at 10am please!
 
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