Tumour in the mouth

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Twiglet

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Does anyone have any experience with tumours in their horse's mouth?

Mine had what I thought was a routine dental check by the vet yesterday and he found a huge tumour stretching the length of his upper jaw. At the moment it doesn't impinge eating or the bit, and he has shown absolutely no signs of illness or lethargy - quite the opposite, he has never been fitter or healthier.
Vet came back today for x rays but couldn't do a biopsy as the labs are shut for Christmas.

He seems to think that it's inoperable due to its location on the jaw, so the next question is whether it's malignant.

I'm in total shock - 24 hours ago I had a fit healthy horse who was gearing up for his first full season eventing, I've now been told that 'best case scenario' is that the tumour is benign and slow growing and won't affect his eating or having a bit in in the near future but long term it will remain. Worst case is cancer, with only treatment steroids and chemo.

Don't know what next step is, other than wait for biopsy to be done.

Merry Christmas all :(
 
Sorry to hear this.

The only experiences I have is of a dog; that too seemed to arrive overnight and because it was a Border Terrier, so only a small area, as it grew it restricted her throat and she was put down within the week, it wasn't fair on her. A mare I lost a fortnight before foaling had a growth in her throat (totally invisible, only found at her PM) and she looked a million dollars in spite of this going on inside her, it hadn't stopped her appetitie either. Sorry I haven't got good news for you, you can only hope it doesn't grow either too large or too quickly when you'll have to evaluate. I know my vet suspects that if there is a growth showing that there could be others elsewhere that you can't see so he needs to be monitored carefully.
 
What a horrible shock. Ecspecially as there were no signs. Sorry I don't have any advise but fingers crossed that it's not worst case scenario. Let us know the outcome.
 
I am so sorry. This is what Rosco had and his was a squamous cell carcinoma. He was put to sleep last month as eating was becoming difficult. Whether it's malignant or not is sadly not the issue. The location means that sooner or later eating or breathing will be affected. I did find that metacam was very beneficial in Rosco's case, so I would discuss this with your vet for pain relief in the first instance, as it also slows tumour growth due to its mode of action (Cox inhibitor).
 
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