Floppy top and bottom lip

[TAWilson]

Our pony has caught his head and damaged the nerves either side which means he has lost the use of his lips, top and bottom. They just hang there completely floppy. Our vet has not seen anything quite like this before and neither have we. He has prescribed bute twice a day to reduce any inflamation and suggests that in the passing of time the use of his muzzle will return, but this could be a slow process, if at all. The pony is fine in himself and is managing to eat hay and moistened mollichaff/course mix and drink plenty from a deep bucket but can't manage grass out in the field. Has anyone experienced anything similar and can share ideas that might help us here?

 

[be positive]

I knew one years ago that did this to its top lip, banged its head and damaged the nerves, it took a fairly long time to fully recover, but as far as I remember it did. Nerve damage may be helped by some gentle physio to stimulate healing, if he is eating that should also help with recovery, obviously if he couldnt eat it would be a different prospect.
I suggest contacting Hilton Herbs they may be able to advise on a herbal treatment that could help him and they will make up a special mix if there is something specific for him that they do not usually do .

 

[TarrSteps]

I've seen two that damaged the nerves on one side, causing partial paralysis of the lips and, in one case, the whole side of its face. Both improved over time, although not completely and both did better on moist feed as did not seem to be able to get the most out of their grass. How long ago did the injury happen?

 

[TBB]

Had it happen to a two year old, she was in a shed with 3 others and one morning the right side of her face was paralysed. The bottom lip hung very low with a big gap between it and her gum, the vet said nothing could be done but as long as she could eat she would be fine as it was only cosmetic! She coped with eating as normal and I was talking to a guy who said he had one who's lips tightened up well when he had to work for his food?. He explained that he put rocks in the manger and the horse had to use his lips to get his food from around the obstructions. I tried this and didn't see any great improvement but when she was turned away for the summer I put he on bare pasture with the sheep and a few other horses and while she had a good run (40 acres) the sheep kept the grass very short so she had to work for every mouthful and I stopped bothering about it and by late autumn I mistook her for the other filly when she came up as her lips were normal (both bay tbs with no white, we use whorls and microchips to be sure which ones which). Shes just turned 5 and there is no evidence of it at all but I would think it took the best part of a year for it to go fully. Nothing scientific in it, so maybe I was just lucky.

 

[fatpiggy]

My girl caught her head/face on an empty saltlick holder screwed to the wall of her new stable (the screws had rusted in and I hadn't been able to take it down) resulting in a droopy eyelid. She couldn't blink it very well and certainly couldn't retract it very far. My vet said to massage it very gently every day and after about 12 months it looked pretty much back to normal although when she was tired it would droop again and she would wink rather than blink.

 

[popularfurball]

For nerve inflammation, steroids are the most effective treatment - mine has neural symptoms as a result of auto immune problems (shaking, collapsing) and vet advised that even if she hadn't had steroids for skin problems they are the only things for nerves currently.

Not a great medication but perhaps worth a shot? We knew in three days if they were helping for my pony.

 

[TarrSteps]

I did wonder about steroids, too, as that's the go to treatment for any nerve damage in my experience. I think I assumed the reluctance was because it's a pony, though, as steroids do increase the risk of laminitis. That said, certainly worth a conversation with your vet if the injury is recent - it's often the inflammation which causes permanent damage to the nerve so if that can be managed initially, there is a much better chance for recovery.

 

[TAWilson]

Thanks everyone - some great advice here and we'll take it all on board. The injury was only 4 days ago so early days - not eating/drinking was our initial concern but he's mastered that, thank goodness. We had wondered about physio or possibly acupuncture?

 

[popularfurball]

I have used steroids on my chronic laminitic without laminitis - it can be done, very carefully.

I would probably bump for a short (5 day) high dose and then taper them off to blast any inflammation. When we used them, she had half an hour turn out morning and night, free schooling in that half an hour to exercise. If I had a non grass area she would have been turned out more. No hard feed, just hay and continue for a few weeks post steroids - its after that people often get caught apparently as they take a while to get out Te system.