Swollen Cheeks in 5 Month Old Foal

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chameleon

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Hi all.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on this. I have been helping my friend out with her neddies which includes 3 weanlings - two colts (7 months old) and a filly (5 months old). The filly was an add on and my friend got talked into taking her also when she went to collect the colts at weaning. The filly was in a sorry state, very underweight and weak - her dam had been put to sleep about 8 days earlier when she was about 4 months old. Over the last month she has put on weight and has been progressing well.

Last night when we brought her in from the field she was swollen all along her cheeks (if you imagine where her cheek teeth would be, think swelling showing along this line) - she looks like a hampster with her cheeks full off food but the swelling is more one side than the other. We felt in her mouth last night and there was no food caught between teeth and gums and this morning the swelling had gone down. She went back out in the field this morning with the colts and a`14 month old gelding and tonight she is swollen up again. There is nothing in the field except grass and they cannot get access to the hedges as there is fencing in the way, so I cant see that it can be something she has eaten and the other three are showing no sign of the same thing.

Tonight I tried gently pulling her tongue out the side of her mouth to see if I could get a better feel for if there was anything going on in there. Can anyone tell me how far advanced a 5 months old teeth would be. The edges of her cheek teeth seem quite sharp which I was suprised by but it doesnt feel like she has any hooks pointing outwards that might have caused rubbing. So can anyone advise on what this could be? She is eating and drinking fine but it is concerning due to her being in poor condition in the first place.

Thanks for reading and any advice would be appreciated:)
 
My youngster also gets hamster pouches which are always gone by the morning. My vet said that there could be high levels of sugar in the grass or some horses are allergic to some grasses/pollen/clover.
He said only to worry if it's only on one side, it doesn't go down by the morning, if the horse is salivating (dripping) or stops eating.
I had the dentist out earlier this year to my yearling (just to get him used to having the gag in his mouth) and said although his teeth were a bit sharp he wouldn't do anything because if you damage the caps it could disrupt and damage the teeth underneath.

If your still worried or your filly stops eating then get either a dentist out or give your vet a quick call (normally don't charge for phone advice) and see what they suggest.
 
Thanks for that. She seems fine in herself and is eating normally, so we were going to monitor it and see how goes over the next few days. Its interesting what you say about sugar reactions as my friend is feeding her stud mix and honeychop. Personally I dont like honeychop even for older horses as I think it has far too much sugar in it - might be suggesting that she omits the honeychop!!
 
Please ask your friend not to feed any type of chaff/chop to foals as they don't have the teeth or the digestion formed enough to accept it; there is also a very high risk of choke as they can't masticate it as older horses do. If it is sugar related as seems possible from what you have written then a move from stud mix to a pellet would be a safer route to go. She could try D & H Suregrow, a small pellet made to provide enough vitamins and minerals especially fro growing youngstock which will be a more suitable feed for them; in fact you can feed it to any age but it provides everything a youngster needs for even growth; you'd only feed something like 100 - 200 g a day so very economical too.
No, I don't work for them but I've seen first hand what a good job it can do even on orphan foals from a fortnight old.
 
My filly had this for a few nights too when she went onto slightly more grass, the vet said it was just her saliva glands, my filly's went a little way past her jaw and made her jowl abit puffy too. He just said they were over active and nothing to worry about some adult horses get it too but not quite so bad I dont think, you've probably seen in an older horse when it looks like the glands behind the jaw get puffy in the summer. Thats what mine was anyway! xx
 
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