Teeth were power floated on my mid-teens mare last week, now she does not want to eat hay. The vet said nothing out of the ordinary on her teeth, a few sharp point and and ulcer or two as a result. She was not super interested in hay in the first 24 hours- I did not worry and started her on 1 gram of bute every 12 hours. Now a week or so later she is still not wild about hay, I would say she is eating around 40% of normal ration. She usually gets a ration balancer and bran daily, so I have added 1lb of pellets morning and night ( ramped up slowly this week) to at least keep some nutrition going. I also got a different type of hay ( grass vs. timothy) to see if she is just over her normal grass hay. She seems to eat the timothy better ( I have not totally switched her over but a flake her and there) but we are still no where near her normal consumption. Vet coming today, but I am worried. Her temp is 100.1 with no bute for 4 days. Thoughts?
I have had a vet (not my vet) tell me that sometimes a float can go a little to far and smooth the teeth out too much. The surface of the teeth is usually rough, which helps them break hay down when they are chewing. If it is floated smooth, they have a hard time eating hay. The particular vet that told me this claims it only lasts a week or two, and then they wear the smooth finish off through chewing.
Now, I don’t use this vet for teeth floating, I use a specialist vet who only does teeth. She has never, in all of the years I have used her, ever said such a thing to me about my horse or any of my boarders that she has worked on. She does an excellent job and I have never had an issue with any horse she has ever floated, even ones that needed quite a bit of dental work.
The vet that told me horses’ teeth can be “too smooth” after floating tells every client whose horse he floats this. To me, this screams that he is over-floating. If my specialist vet literally NEVER has this problem in any client horses after a float, how can this general vet who practices dentistry have it almost every single time he does a horse?
I am a firm believer with teeth that less is more. Absolutely make sure your horse is floated regularly, but a horse whose teeth are average and who is checked/floated on a regular basis should not need a vet in their mouth for 40 minutes grinding away. The vet who claims to smooth out the teeth takes FOREVER to do a float and nitpicks to the point that it makes me insane. I have had to hold horses for him when they are coming out of sedation but he is just not satisfied and keeps going back in. By contrast, my specialist vet can calmly and professionally do a straightforward float in about 20-25 minutes, with a break for the horse’s jaw in there as well. She does what is needed to make the horse comfortable and healthy but isn’t grinding the tooth surface to a shine because it is unnecessary.
Anyway, I’ll stop ranting (I have a bit of a trigger when it comes to dental work in horses, don’t even get me started on the non-vet practitioners!) but I would believe that your horse has been over-floated and the grinding surface on your mare is too smooth. When this has happened to boarder’s horses they do go back to regular eating in about two weeks, which is the timeline the vet provides. My argument is that it was uncecessary to float that much in the first place!
I would be curious if you contacted the vet who did your float if they would give the same explanation the vet I know does. . . he tells clients that it is par for the course and just what happens after a float, but since I use a different vet I know this is not true. . .
I never heard that before but never had any or was around any that stopped eating well after a float. I wonder if it didn’t break off a bit of something? Or she’s got an abscess brewing in a tooth and it stirred it up to the point it hurts? I’d get the vet back out but be aware most of them aren’t teeth guys and unless it’s dripping pus and stinks, can’t find an abscess and don’t want to look too hard.
Dont believe in coincidence and the timing here points to that float.
Was it the vet that did the teeth? Not someone I’d use to do teeth again 
When I was doing emergency hauling for a living for quite a few years I hauled a few horses that had either been “over floated” or had their mouths held open with a speculum for too long and veterinary intervention for pain management for a little while.
I would have the vet check her over.
She could have jaw pain, or a loosened tooth, or a sharp edge left, in addition to the overfloated idea.
I’m assuming it was a tranq, jaw brace, power float session, not a hand rasp. My vet can rasp my mare when she doesn’t have much wrong, without a brace or a tranq. The power float sessions are a lot more intrusive.
Check for TMJ pain/sensitivity.
Thanks for the ideas. Vet is coming today to check it out.
Power float, with sedation, etc. was over a week ago and took about 20 mins total. I am thinking that she may have just been over floated but who knows. Better safe than sorry.
Also consider neck pain if she was kept with her head supported by a hold and at an awkward angle for long.
We had a horse once that happened to, he could not move his head up and down hardly the next day.
After that, we always remind vets to not keep the horse in that position but for a few minutes at the time and why.
If her neck or poll hurts, she won’t be able to get her head just right to eat too much too fast, may even just not eat but a minimum.
I would hope that the vet coming to check her is not the same vet that did the work. My vet did back when power floats first came out, acquire one, and allowed it to gather dust. Just not happy with the possibility of over floating. there is also a problem with overheating of the tooth with power floats.
I’m just as happy to have my horses done with a manual float.
Update- everything in her mouth looks fine. Temp still normal. When I took her blanket off to groom her right before vet came she was shaking ( more than shivering) and it is not that cold here…like 35. Pulled blood, should have results tonight. Going to try feeding her some alfalfa and see if she will eat that. Of course while I was at the feed store she ate all the grass hay in her feeder. Mares.
The shivering doesn’t sound good.
We had a few horses not enamoured with hay. The chiropractor said their jaw was out and can only be put our with an open jaw. It hurts for them to chew. Using a gag incorrectly for floating teeth is one cause.
He put them back in and they hoed into the hay.
A thought- Eating hay keeps a horse warm. Not eating hay could mean she is cold.
Huh? Why would not eating hay mean she’s cold if eating it warns her up?
IF she is not eating hay, that could contribute to why she is cold. No fuel for the heat-generating digestion engine.
That’s how I interpreted Suzie Q’s comment, could be wrong.
Having it in her stomach keeps them warm and going through the digestion, not the act of chewing it.
