Cheap Drunk

The vet was out on Thursday for a Spring checkup and dental check.  Ben had been yawning a lot and stretching his mouth so I thought there might be something going on with him and since I don't know if he has ever had his teeth done, I wanted him to get checked out.

He was a bit dubious and worried about the whole thing, but Emma and Ramsey stuck close by him for moral support and he remained stoic about it all.

He had some sharp points that were irritating his cheek, but his teeth are in good shape.  He got a very, very small amount of sedative to make everything go easier for him, but Big Ben is a very cheap drunk and he was away in is happy place for about two hours after the vet left.

Everyone else had their teeth checked as well, but they all got gold stars for excellent dental care and they all got to avoid the dentist chair this time around.  The vet said that all my animals have remarkably good teeth, which I attribute to a forage-only diet fed as close to the way nature intended as possible.

Once the happy juice wore off, Ben was happy to go out and demonstrate his well honed foraging techniques with his newly polished chompers.

Of dentistry, drool and flowers

Emma and Tessa finally got their teeth worked on this morning.  They both had some sharp points and needed some work, but nothing major.  Ramsey got a reprieve until next Spring as his teeth seemed OK for now.  It all went well.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures.  Hard to believe isn't it?  Let's just say: I am not at my sharpest in the mornings as I work nights and have to get up in the 'middle of the night' to deal with a morning vet appointment.  I walked out of the house without the camera.  Probably just as well, who really wants to have their picture taken while sitting in the dentist chair, drool running down the chin and glassy eyed?  Emma would have found it far beneath her dignity.  I am sure she would have had plenty to say on the subject.

Instead, how about some more Spring flower pictures.  Just the thing to try to envision while your in the dentist's chair.  And for you donkey owners out there, do be sure to have your donkey's teeth checked even if your vet says they don't need it.  I've had two vets tell me that donkeys don't have dental problems.  This is NOT true.  Dental issues are the second mot common health problem in donkeys, just behind foot troubles.  They need their teeth checked regularly.

All Choked Up

May your life be interesting.

Is it any wonder this is considered a curse?  It's been "interesting" around here the last few days.    Late last week, I noticed that Emma was having trouble chewing her food and it got steadily worse each day.  She is right at the age where she is losing her back baby teeth and growing in her adult teeth so I figured that was the problem and it ought to resolve itself once those pesky caps fell off.  By Sunday morning, she was having so much trouble though, that I had resigned myself to calling the vet first thing Monday morning to have her checked out.

In dire need of an escape from my own wheezing bout of asthmatic bronchitis, I took Tessa out for a ride Sunday afternoon with RB and returned around 6:00 to find Emma in considerable distress, drooling copiously and unable to swallow because she was choking on her food.

Choke in equines is a little different then in humans as their anatomy is different.  Horses and donkeys can not breath through their mouths, only their nose, so they are not at immediate risk of suffocation as a person would be.  However the risk of perforating the esophagus or having food get stuck in the larynx and being aspirated into the lungs is higher.  Choke is a very scary thing.  It often does resolve on its own or can be resolved by massaging the throat, but if an animal has been choking for more than an hour, immediate help is needed.  Of course, it was Sunday night and it took over an hour to even get in touch with a vet.  She was another hour away, but would head out.  While waiting for the vet, Emma got even more distressed and started rolling and pacing.  Just about the time I was really getting frantic and trying to stop Emma from throwing herself on the ground once more, she suddenly gulped once more and.....finally swallowed.  She immediately calmed down, swallowed several more times and was better.

I called the vet back, she had just left, and we decided not to do any more that night as the immediate crisis had passed.  Emma was able to eat a very soft mash of thoroughly soaked hay pellets  and we made plans though for the vet to come out as soon as possible with her dental tools to check Emma's teeth, which we did this afternoon.  

Emma in the "dentist's chair"...

She had several caps (baby teeth) that had partially broken off and gotten stuck.  Every time she tried to chew, those sharp points were digging into her cheek and gums.  There was also one cap that should have fallen off a while ago, but didn't, so the new tooth underneath has not been wearing down properly.  The vet ground that down and her mouth is now in good shape.  For now.  She has several more caps that aren't ready to come out yet.  I devoutly hope that we won't be doing this again in a few months!

The good news is that, before the vet even left, Emma was feeling good enough to nibble some hay, which she hasn't touched in three days.

I LOVE my young donkeys and having a baby donkey has been one of the best things in my life.  But, I have to confess that I will be very glad when they both get a little older.  Baby donkeys seem to be rather fragile creatures.  Or maybe it is just MY baby donkeys.  Either way, I'll be very glad when everybody is a little older, a little tougher and has all their damned teeth!