Some Sad News: Branson and EORTH

Shortly after bringing Branson home I discovered a very strange spot on his front right incisor. It almost looked like gum tissue, but it was growing out of the enamel on his tooth! I sent it to two vets and an equine dentist, and posted it to facebook and pretty much everybody agreed that it is very suspicious looking!

Needless to say, I asked the vet to take a look at it when he came out to float Branson's teeth on Friday. His diagnoses? "That tooth met its maker a looooong time ago..." In other words, it's a very, very dead tooth, which needs extraction.

Worse yet, when the vet went to float Branson's teeth, he found signs that Branson has EORTH or Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis. Basically this disease causes the roots at the bases of the incisors to essentially disintegrate and reabsorb, while laying down major calcification at the root. Eventually teeth become loose and very sore as the nerves become agitated from the instability of the roots. It's an incredibly painful degenerative disease and unfortunately the only way to treat it is to extract the affected teeth.

If you look at the second photo, you can see Branson's left tooth is caving inward, and is loose to the touch. He has broken blood vessels throughout his gums, and his gingiva are receeding. He has at least three, likely more teeth that need to be removed in order for him to live the rest of his days in comfort. There are some pretty awesome photos of pre- during and post- surgery horse mouths on google, if you don't mind some gruesome sights.

Branson's previous owner has done everything she can for him, and she did a great job with his recovery post Potomac Horse Fever, but there's just no way I can ask her to fork out the money for a huge ordeal like this.

So, since Branson is a major rehab project and I'm still not sure I'm going to be able to use him in the lesson program, I (along with some help from Meadowlark) have decided I am going to do what I can to raise the funds to hopefully get him the surgery as a charity project. Even if he doesn't end up bouncing back as a riding horse, he will be comfortable and healthy and after his recovery we can work to find him a retirement home.

Check back for more details soon!