
11/02/2024
Yesterday we took Moonpie for a wellness evaluation. She is still considered underweight but our veterinarian was happy with her progress and feeding program. She received her normal vaccines, coggins test and ultrasound to make sure she wasn’t bred back (negative!). Her age is estimated in her early twenties. Overall she received a fairly good evaluation. No signs of infection, heart and lungs sound good, no lameness. She got sedated for a teeth float and we were all shocked when we opened up her mouth and got a look at the condition of her teeth, or lack there of. The pictures below compare Moonpie’s lower molars on the left and a normal horse on the right. Her teeth are pretty symmetrical and equilateral on both sides with nothing to grind against on the top (top teeth don’t come anywhere near the bottoms leaving her unable to masticate hay or grass). Although we can’t be certain how this was caused the vet’s best guess was an overzealous and uneducated teeth float was performed at some point leaving her with almost no teeth. Due to her age she won’t grow much more tooth even if the dentition hadn’t been damaged. The good news is the prognosis is good with continued feeding of soaked forage diet.