Phoenix’s chewing saga

Looking back, I first posted about noticing Phoenix quidding some hay back in February.

In that post I detailed out having Phoenix’s teeth power floated by one of my regular vets, Dr. Q. It seemed to help slightly then not help but looking back it was clearly the pain meds that helped him.

After Vinny joined the family and needed his teeth done, I contacted my regular equine dentist (not a vet) who was able to come out. He does all the work manually and I’ve always loved his way with the horses. Most don’t even need sedation.

So I had him look over Phoenix while he was there and he did a little more work on him. No really change from that either.

I talked with one of the regular vets, Dr. D, was out to do shots in early March and he suggested that maybe we should x-ray Phoenix’s TMJ to see if there was anything and left me with some Surpass to try. The Surpass seemed to help but kind of inconsistently. Soon after I experimented with starting Phoenix on Equioxx. After day two of the loading dose (double dose) he stopped quidding. After a couple days on the normal dose and since he has left anywhere from zero to 10 quids a night in his stall.

Dr. D came out and took TMJ x-rays in late March, but they didn’t show anything. The vet offered to inject him anyway, but I declined. I don’t want to poke a joint or put steroids into a horse with cushings unless I have good evidence.

Also in this process the woman at my boarding barn who does massage work suggested that I try her Spectra laser poll wrap on Phoenix. I experimented with that and found that it did help, which honestly I didn’t expect. Between the two therapies we got down to zero to 5 quids most nights with one or two being most common.

Regardless, I was still concerned about Phoenix’s comfort and I don’t want to go into winter unprepared for his needs. Phoenix definitely comes first and if another winter isn’t in the cards I would rather know now. After talking with a few people I got the information on a vet who specializes in dentistry who was highly recommended.

This Vet, Dr. T, came out Tuesday. Honestly I’ve never seen so much equipment or anyone be so thorough, it was very impressive. She used essentially a larger version of the mirror on a stick (I’m sure it has a fancy name lol) to look around in his mouth and showed me so many things! I’ve copied her summary below.

So with me standing there being the nervous horse mom I am, Phoenix got two teeth pulled. It’s some scary stuff having your horse sedated, never mind a 31 year old. Actually you know who was the most nervous one? Vinny.

Vinny was having a tough time watching things happen. He had to have pooped a dozen times and kept pacing around his stall and occasionally nickering at Phoenix. I felt so bad for him!

After a few hours to recover in his stall I freed the boys to go back outside just after dinner. Phoenix of course got right back to eating grass despite still looking a bit tired. Other than being unable to eat his usual baby carrots at night, he was fairly normal and ate his dinner grain with zest. The next morning he nickered at me heartily when I came out to feed which made me feel better.

So here’s hoping that Phoenix heals up quickly and easily and while I know his chewing won’t be perfect because he’s running low on teeth, I just want him to be comfortable and able to eat enough food to maintain himself. We shall see what the future holds. Either way I’m the luckiest girl to have this boy around and so glad I trusted my gut that something wasn’t right despite the opinions of two vets and a non-vet equine dentist saying otherwise.

Oh and Happy 10 years reunited Mr. P! You are, as always, a dream come true.