LadyGascoyne
Well-Known Member
The dentist came to see Milagra this morning, and is really, really pleased with her.
Here are some photos from the diagnosis point until today - 16 months.
They are roughly, May 2020, October 2020, March 2021 and today. Her teeth look cleaner in March but you can see the raised area of inflammation is actually worse than it is today, and the gum is more bubbly.
Whilst she has more plaque build up today, her teeth are actually more secure and less inflamed than before. There are some red dots from poking and prodding - this is after dentist not before.
The dentist has actually said that he is no longer worried about them, and doesn’t need to see us again for 6 months. We’ve been doing 4 months recently.
He thinks they are as good or bad as any horse of her age, and he’s happy that she’s in no more discomfort than any other horse. I could cry with happiness.
I can only speak for our experience and obviously anyone going through the same thing should follow vet advice but here are some things I did and didn’t do.
Things I did:
Maintained access to forage as much as possible, trying to ensure she was chewing and moving long grass or hay through her teeth to keep the blood flow going and hopefully reduce inflammation.
Cut out all highly processed feed, and as much sugar as is possible. I feed meadow grass chaff with micronised linseed, brewers yeast, and two supplements - one is D&H Placid (chamomile, vervain, magnesium etc) and one is nettle, mint and garlic (I know people have mixed feelings about garlic but it’s a small quantity). I only feed soaked feed (speedibeet) in the depths of winter, and in addition to lots of hay and barley straw.
Considered the whole digestive cycle after reading a paper that showed a correlation between horses with EOTRH and colic or digestive problems. I’ve kept her out as much as possible and made sure she had forage when in. I’ve almost treated as if she had ulcers, and worked on managing stress too. She’s a much less worried horse than she was when she arrived.
Kept my vet and dentist checks very regular - 3 months to start and then onto 4 months, now onto 6 months.
I didn’t:
Brush her teeth - I used my fingers to remove wadded up grass, and popped some peppermint oil on her gums when I did that. Some people are advised to brush regularly but I read up and the plaque can develop to stabilize teeth so I figured I would go with whatever was developing and just manage anything that looked like it could cause discomfort or infection
Opt for surgery - just too much for a horse her age with her background, I’m sure it works for some but she’s a sensitive horse and doesn’t like change or traveling. I thought this was the kinder option for her, knowing I’d have to PTS if it went down joll
So we are celebrating at Casa del Gascoyne - we may have our little Spanish friend with us for longer than we thought.
Our sweet girl.
Here are some photos from the diagnosis point until today - 16 months.
They are roughly, May 2020, October 2020, March 2021 and today. Her teeth look cleaner in March but you can see the raised area of inflammation is actually worse than it is today, and the gum is more bubbly.
Whilst she has more plaque build up today, her teeth are actually more secure and less inflamed than before. There are some red dots from poking and prodding - this is after dentist not before.
The dentist has actually said that he is no longer worried about them, and doesn’t need to see us again for 6 months. We’ve been doing 4 months recently.
He thinks they are as good or bad as any horse of her age, and he’s happy that she’s in no more discomfort than any other horse. I could cry with happiness.
I can only speak for our experience and obviously anyone going through the same thing should follow vet advice but here are some things I did and didn’t do.
Things I did:
Maintained access to forage as much as possible, trying to ensure she was chewing and moving long grass or hay through her teeth to keep the blood flow going and hopefully reduce inflammation.
Cut out all highly processed feed, and as much sugar as is possible. I feed meadow grass chaff with micronised linseed, brewers yeast, and two supplements - one is D&H Placid (chamomile, vervain, magnesium etc) and one is nettle, mint and garlic (I know people have mixed feelings about garlic but it’s a small quantity). I only feed soaked feed (speedibeet) in the depths of winter, and in addition to lots of hay and barley straw.
Considered the whole digestive cycle after reading a paper that showed a correlation between horses with EOTRH and colic or digestive problems. I’ve kept her out as much as possible and made sure she had forage when in. I’ve almost treated as if she had ulcers, and worked on managing stress too. She’s a much less worried horse than she was when she arrived.
Kept my vet and dentist checks very regular - 3 months to start and then onto 4 months, now onto 6 months.
I didn’t:
Brush her teeth - I used my fingers to remove wadded up grass, and popped some peppermint oil on her gums when I did that. Some people are advised to brush regularly but I read up and the plaque can develop to stabilize teeth so I figured I would go with whatever was developing and just manage anything that looked like it could cause discomfort or infection
Opt for surgery - just too much for a horse her age with her background, I’m sure it works for some but she’s a sensitive horse and doesn’t like change or traveling. I thought this was the kinder option for her, knowing I’d have to PTS if it went down joll
So we are celebrating at Casa del Gascoyne - we may have our little Spanish friend with us for longer than we thought.
Our sweet girl.
