He’s 27 and living on mash. I had the vet out a year ago and she said his teeth weren’t ready to come out. The vet is coming out again soon because I am hoping he might be ready. Has anyone dealt with this before. He cannot chew hay or graze. My vet mentioned “old horse tooth disease”? Right now it’s a mash of Blue seal trotter, senior feed, alfalfa pellets and beet pulp pellets. His weight is ok. Not great. Any suggestions would be helpful? Thanks,
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You are doing the right thing by feeding soaked feed if he can’t chew hay effectively. But when you say he can’t chew, do you mean he ‘quids’ hays-- chews them and spits that masticated wad out? Are his teeth so worn (molars) that he’s got no chewing surface left? Why would the vet pull teeth? EOTRH is the tooth issue I’m guessing your vet is talking about. Google to find out the different ways of dealing with it. There really isn’t an option beyond soaked feed in several feedings for aged, toothless horses.
My vet was just out yesterday to do yearly dentals on my 28 year old (who has all his teeth still eating hay thankfully) and a 25 year old pony who has all but two, and is not a good hay eater so gets soaked orchard pellets, alfalfa pellets and beet pulp to help make up her forage consumption. She’s better on grass of course, but that’s in short supply right now.
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Yes it’s EOTRH Thank you so much. He fits that description perfectly. He’s a huge horse and it’s alot. He could be fatter but I like everything fat like a show hunter. Recently his hair is falling off in patches here and there. He is happy and has an appetite. I am curious if surgery makes a difference whether they can ever chew hay or grass again? Thanks again. All I do is worry.
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I have one that has had no incisors for about 5 years. He quids grass, and we just feed his forage as mush. They adjust.
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My welsh pony had 5 teeth out last year (EOTRH) and he was able to chew hay again. He still has a day now and then where he quids some and those days I up his timothy pellets which he scarfs down just fine. The vet told me if the back teeth are still good, they should be able to chew well BUT it’s fairly up to the individual horse as some just don’t even if they “can.”
TMJ arthritis might be something to look in to also. My pony has it and it does affect his chewing (could be why he has days he quids randomly) and I give him a short course of banamine which sets him straight.
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A 26 yr old WB at our farm no longer has teeth. She is fed a mash of Senior, alfalfa pellets, cool calories and flax 6 or 7X/day. She looks great and still gets a light walk/trot ride once or twice per week.
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You may want to reconsider this.
At 27, unless your horse is actively showing & even if he is, “fat like a Show Hunter” might not be in his best interest.
Carrying too.much weight can stress older joints along with other systems.
Run that past your vet & see what they think.
Same for the hair loss.
You don’t say where you live, but shedding season is arriving here in the Midwest & 2 of my 3 are starting to shed out in different patterns.
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Please look into the Complete Feeds.
It’s been a game changer for this old OTTB pony at 37.
Needless to say I still have some teeth but not the good grinders, so my hay is nothing but quid piles.
Yes, went through the alfalfa and beet pulp and feed Merry go round
Nothing was keeping weight on.
Did a complete feed change to Purina equine sr.
I get fed three times a day and pretty much go through a bag and half a week and yes it all soaked but I gained weight and am fat sassy and happy.
Talk to your feed rep!
It’s different way of thinking but it has worked for me.
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I have a 30 year old mare with only one molar left. Somehow she still manages to eat some hay - lots of quidding but she enjoys nibbling. In the summer she eats grass quite well. But her mainstay diet is Triple Crown Senior. She gets about 7 lbs of that, spread across 3 meals a day (breakfast, dinner, nightcheck). This year at the beginning of winter I bumped her up an extra pound a day. It keeps her in a good weight. For reference, she’s about 900 lbs.
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New York State, he is bald under the patches of missing hair
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One of his feeds is a complete feed. He does not quid, he just doesn’t eat hay. I am having the vet next week. I hope things change for the better.
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As I understand complete feeds are just that complete and no need to add in other “feeds”.
Measurements of the complete feed would come into play per feeding and how many per day.
Yes, please talk to vet, dentist, feed rep, ECT and cover all boxes.
Best of luck in your endeavor.
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Down to skin?
Or just like a really close clip?
Is the skin intact? Scaly? Raw?
Definitely ask vet to look & take a scraping.
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I had a vet tell me that pulling the teeth for EORTH makes a huge difference for the horse. That removes a huge amount of pain.
Depending on where you live the hair loss could just be a weird coat shedding. I saw a horse do that once. Nothing wrong with him.
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Tested for Cushing’s?
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Yes….i was just about to post the same thing.
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My 32 yo pony can’t digest hay any more…her teeth are just worn off with age. She lives on senior feed and pellets. I don’t soak them because she doesn’t like them wet…I give her all the calories she needs in senior feed, then pellets 24/7 she can eat if she wants. What this looks like in practice is about 2.5 gallons of Alf pellets and 2.5 gallons of senior feed twice a day (senior on top). she doesn’t ever eat all the pellets, but always eats some of them.
I do keep her separate with a mini donk friend. He gets a flake of hay. They are both almost too fat.
My dentist hasn’t suggested that the teeth need removed or are painful…they are just gone. I have cared for a horse with EOTRH who had incisors removed and he did wonderfully after…really couldn’t tell at all.
My old girl yesterday:
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I have an acquaintance who had all of her horses’s incisors pulled because of this and she says he is great. Wishes she had done it before. He is able to graze with his lips.and is now pain free. But the surgery is not inexpensive.
A horse boards with me who has also been diagnosed with it, but he is still able to graze. He has NOT had the surgery but gets a supplement of mushroom matrix. He can eat hay as well. I don’t think anything is wrong with his chewing teeth - just the incisors. EOTRH is supposed to be painful.
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several years ago
Not raw but dry, scaly with some smaller scabs
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