Horse not eating well, choking, unhappy, dull

MissTyc

MissTyc

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Thought I would repost an email from a friend in France. See if anyone had any thoughts or advice? Have to admit I've never seen baby caps causing such a large amount of trouble, but I do know that if I have a toothache everything else in the word becomes secondary.

Horse in question is a rising 4 yo warmblood gelding, well bred and well looked after. Recently backed and riding quietly.


-------Attached email

[...] what you think? Mistral has not eating much since 3 days ago. He wants to eat but he only can eat from the floor (grass, bucket) and not much hay. He try to eat the hay but then choke and cough, turn his head to one side and bite his stomac. Immediately we have the vet in case it was a colique but the vet does not think so. Mistral's heartbeat and temperature is normal and he wants to eat. He is eating all the grass but only long grass and if he eats his grain or the hay he quickly choke and coughs and then turn the head again. Again today we have the vet because I think it is worse and he looks not very happy. Vet thinks a toothache, possible? There is a baby tooth moving in the back of his mouth but I have never seen such a problem from one tooth and it is not loose enough to take out. He had dentist 2 weeks ago and no problems for his mouth. We are very worried now and have asked the vet to refer us to a animal clinic but we don't even know what they should be looking for to help Mistral. Any help?

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Edited to Add: we had a little chitchat via email and she said she feels his coat has become dull over the last few days and he doesn't seem right, but that overall he is brighteyed and fairly cheerful, standing at the gate when it's time to come in for the day and keen to go back out in the afternoons.
 
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Has the vet had a full inspection in the horses mouth since the teeth were done?
Only asking as you say the vet suspects a 'toothache' but no mention of vet doing a full check in mouth & upper throat. Quite possible for something to occur since the teeth were done recently, possibly an impaction or loose or infected tooth at the back of the mouth?
Worth checking out with vet using a gag.

Hope your friend finds the answer soon
 
I think the teeth were all checked again as it was the vet who told her the back molar had a loose cap. Will pass on all suggestions. I think we all understand the horrible fear one gets from simply not knowing!
 
Yes it can be a concern not knowing whats going on - My boy has had tooth problems for the last few months - he had a cracked tooth which had lots of food impacted into it - half of it was removed a few days ago when the vet was out, hes giving the other half 6 weeks to loosen and then taking that out too. We realised there was a problem when he lost weight, had a gungy nose a smelly mouth and his hay was not being digested properly and was mixed in with his poo telling us he wasn't chewing properly - he displayed coughing and apparent choking a few times which we also put down to him not eating properly - his coat also lost its shine and he was generally grumpy and ears back all the time - hes normally a very cheery boy.

Doesn't sound completely dis-similiar to what your horse is displaying but I would ask for a full dental workup just to get his teeth looked at. Hope horsey is ok :)
 
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