Holy cow, I was at the vet for four hours! Partially because they're slow but also because Scout wouldn't drop for his sheath cleaning, which added some time, and then Buster wouldn't load into the dentistry trailer. I guess he remembered having his four wolf teeth pulled last time he was in there. And again, when it was time to go home, he didn't want to load up. We got through it. I also thought I might want her to flush Buster's nasolacrimal ducts, but she just couldn't do it. She hasn't done it on a donkey or mule before. Donkeys have the little opening at the bottom in a different spot, and apparently his nostrils are really small, so she couldn't get the flush in there. She said she'd do some research. I said yeah, let's just call it interesting and leave it for a different day. I don't think he really needed it done anyway, he just has slightly boogery eyes, not runny eyes.
I like working with Shari, she cracks me up. I kept throwing out all these weird little facts about donkeys, just because I find them interesting, and there she is later squatting down with her hands up his nose, saying, "Yeah, apparently Andrea's right, and donkeys aren't horses."
Here's a good example of the difference between a canine tooth (red) and a wolf tooth (blue). Some people sometimes think they want the canine tooth extracted. See that root? Not gonna extract that unless it's totally necessary, and it's gonna be really difficult. Usually only the males have canines, as fighting teeth, but some mares have them. My first little mustang mare had them. The wolf teeth, if they're there, are another matter. They can be on the top or bottom, and are in front of the molars. They can be bigger or smaller, well rooted or loose, and can lay sideways or all kinds of weird ways. A lot of people leave them, a lot of people have them taken out. I have them extracted in case they're even the littlest bit loose and might cause discomfort with the bit. If they're small and loose it's easy, but I've had some that were really hard to get out. Buster had at least one that was laying parallel to the jaw, under the gums.
Scout was surprisingly good all day. Photos, exam, and blood draw for his health certificate, and then his dental and his super grody sheath cleaning. It had been two years since his teeth were done, and at 13 years old they're not erupting as fast as they used to be. They needed done but weren't razor sharp and had no problems. I think I'll wait 2 years on him again. Hey, his birthday is coming up! Shoot, he'll be a teen now. I'm not sure I like that.
Buster, well, I was disappointed in his feet glued to the ground, but he was really good other than that. He had also been 2 years since his last dental and he shouldn't have waited so long. He's the same age but maybe he chews harder, or maybe since he hadn't had consistent dental care before, his teeth fell back into a bad pattern. A hook on top in the front of his molars, which wore down the bottom front molar, and sharper points. That hook will keep his jaw from moving freely front to back, as it should when he moves his chin to his chest or vice versa.
When it came time to load up to go home, I had to tie his rope in the trailer and leave him standing at the back, outside the trailer, and take a break. I was stumped. I figured he'd get in eventually, but when? I went in to the LQ and found an orange. He loves oranges. Also, an ag plane started spraying the field behind him, flying low and loud. That might have helped. I gave him a bite of orange, climbed in the trailer and squatted down as far away from him as I could get. (He has 2 stalls to himself, so lots of room). He thought about it for a couple minutes and walked in. We shared the rest of the orange and talked about it. I don't know what got into him but I hope he forgets about it next time.
In about 10 days when the Coggins results get back we'll be legal to travel to several western states. But I won't be going far for a couple months. I need to take it easy for a while. If I can figure out how to do that!
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