Gums red and swollen, Virus???

[islandspirit]

So my boy has now been off work for three and a half weeks with very sore looking swollen gums. They became red and inflamed over night so not a dental issue. Where the gums meet teeth the edge is inflamed but it isn't stopping him from eating. The vet came out and checked his mouth and only the front teeth and front half of the tongue are affected and no sharps were found and no offensive odour either. Bloods were taken and indicate a virus, and no inflammatory response so the vet thinks it unlikely to be a reaction, he is flat as a pancake, no energy what so ever. Has anyone ever experienced anything similar? I've got him on haemolytan 400 and hiltons detox but the gums aren't getting better and he is still flat. He's got me stumped and I'm not sure what else to do for him.

 

[Silverfire]

Does he have red spots/blotches? And is it actually around his insicors gums?
I have two horses with red spots/blotches in their mouths. One has had it since at least March and its probably a drug reaction of some sort but I don't know what the second horses is other than possibly viral but his bloods were normal. He has red spots in corners of mouth and redlines around his incisors and slightly red lips and it does appear painful at times. I will post some photos later as can't now off phone. Does your horse have any other problems?

 

[NellRosk]

If he has got a virus it will probably take him a while to recover, I know when my boy got one he was 'flat' and not entirely himself for a good few months.

 

[islandspirit]

Thank you for your replies, when it first started he had a couple of ulcers but it is predominantly inflamed on the edge of the gum where it meets the teeth all around most front teeth. No other symptoms apart from a lump on his neck that came up about a week ago. It's rock solid about an inch and a half across but isn't warm. I will try to get a picture later but he is getting a bit fed up of me checking. He will have had a month off on Thursday this week.

 

[Silverfire]

Is the lump actually on his neck or on his shoulder? Both mine have a raised patch where neck joins shoulder. Photo's of mouths, the lines around the second horses teeth are a lot more red than these photos are showing.

Horse1

Horse2

 

[islandspirit]

Silverfire the pictures do look very similar even down the tiny spots on the tongue but my boy is much more swollen and angry around the tooth edges and when I looked last night he also has great big white sores, not sure what they are. I will try to take photos today. Was hoping for the vet to call me back yesterday but sadly he didn't. Are your horses flat too? What does your vet think it is? Have you tried any treatment?

 

[Silverfire]

There is something called stomitis (sp) which can be viral, bacterial, chemical or toxins and can be from irritation from eating certain plants. If you go on The equine dental clinics facebook page and scroll down there are some photos on there. Have you tried changing fields and hay? Neither of my two have grass other than odd weed in field. The one is on hay the other haylage.
Horse1 has had various things going on for past year which are thought to be immune mediated drug hypersensitivity.
Horse2 I had his teeth checked and the day they were done all around his teeth the gums were red and purple blotches but no spots or redlines that day. Vet said it was immune mediated. Week later he had swellings on his shoulders and was very lethargic so had vet out who did some bloods which came back normal but he had nothing going on in his mouth that day. It was thought he might have a virus of some sort and hes not seen vet since, spots and lines been there at least a month now but I do know he had very red lips in July and I thought once or twice I could see redlines round his teeth and blotches but he doesn't really like you looking in his mouth so not easy to find out. He was lying down feeling sorry for himself when I took those pics. He is not lethargic now and seems okay otherwise.

 

[fatpiggy]

Lampas maybe?

 

[stilltrying]

My horse had a similar sort of thing a few years ago. I caught him in and noticed he was drooling a little. Looked inside his mouth and all his gums were red and ulcerated. I panicked and called the vet, as you do. Vet didn't know what it was, said it was probably caustic. One by one all the horses in the same field came down with same symptoms. So could have been a virus, but more likely eaten something that irritated them. It passed and despite being on same field there was never a relapse.

 

[islandspirit]

There is something called stomitis (sp) which can be viral, bacterial, chemical or toxins and can be from irritation from eating certain plants. If you go on The equine dental clinics facebook page and scroll down there are some photos on there. Have you tried changing fields and hay? Neither of my two have grass other than odd weed in field. The one is on hay the other haylage.
Horse1 has had various things going on for past year which are thought to be immune mediated drug hypersensitivity.
Horse2 I had his teeth checked and the day they were done all around his teeth the gums were red and purple blotches but no spots or redlines that day. Vet said it was immune mediated. Week later he had swellings on his shoulders and was very lethargic so had vet out who did some bloods which came back normal but he had nothing going on in his mouth that day. It was thought he might have a virus of some sort and hes not seen vet since, spots and lines been there at least a month now but I do know he had very red lips in July and I thought once or twice I could see redlines round his teeth and blotches but he doesn't really like you looking in his mouth so not easy to find out. He was lying down feeling sorry for himself when I took those pics. He is not lethargic now and seems okay otherwise.

I've had a look on the Facebook page and my boy does look very similar but not as bad. How long have your horses had the swelling, do you ride? I haven't tried putting a bit in his mout as it looks too sore.

 

[islandspirit]

My horse had a similar sort of thing a few years ago. I caught him in and noticed he was drooling a little. Looked inside his mouth and all his gums were red and ulcerated. I panicked and called the vet, as you do. Vet didn't know what it was, said it was probably caustic. One by one all the horses in the same field came down with same symptoms. So could have been a virus, but more likely eaten something that irritated them. It passed and despite being on same field there was never a relapse.

Sounds very much like a virus if all the horses came down with it. Mine is the only one on the yard with it and he's been on individual turnout on the same paddock for the last 3 years. I have changed his feed recently to releve as he is ulcer prone and stopped it as of last night just in case. How long did it take for your horse to get back to normal?

 

[Silverfire]

I've had a look on the Facebook page and my boy does look very similar but not as bad. How long have your horses had the swelling, do you ride? I haven't tried putting a bit in his mout as it looks too sore.

Horse1 since at least March. Horse2 - I thought in July there were lines around his teeth but the spots have only been there about a month, they were still there yesterday as I did look. I have had a bit in his mouth to walk him to the field but hes not ridden at the moment. I did read somewhere that cool black tea can be soothing for things like this but haven't tried it yet.

 

[islandspirit]

Here are pictures of my boy yesterday, the pictures don't show how red his mouth is .

Hope the pictures work.

 

[stilltrying]

Sounds very much like a virus if all the horses came down with it. Mine is the only one on the yard with it and he's been on individual turnout on the same paddock for the last 3 years. I have changed his feed recently to releve as he is ulcer prone and stopped it as of last night just in case. How long did it take for your horse to get back to normal?

Hi sorry only just seen this. Yes every single horse that grazed in our field got it, but not every horse on the whole yard. So no necessarily a virus I was the only one to get the vet out, as my horse was the first to show symptoms (or i was the first to notice) I am pretty sure they did bloods, but nothing came up, which is why vet said to assume he had eaten something that irritated him. As i got the 'all clear' no one bothered to get the vet! I think it was a week to 2 weeks before he was back to normal.

One other thing, I remember a friend of mine saying something ordinary she fed gave her horse mouth ulcers...think it was alfa a? Cant rule it out if there has been a feed change i suppose.

 

[Silverfire]

I've pm'd you islandspirit.

 

[Kylie chacon]

Here are pictures of my boy yesterday, the pictures don't show how red his mouth is .

Hope the pictures work.

Hi! I was wondering did you ever figure out what was going on with your horse? My boy has very similar bumps on his tounge. He also has some red lines on the root of his teeth and his gums look a little swollen. He also has a couple of red blotches on one side of his mouth. But they aren’t blisters/ ulcers... it doesn’t seem to be bothering him too much yet, but I think I caught it pretty early.
he seemed a little sluggish today when I rode him before I checked his teeth. Just trying to get any information I can. Thank you!