44 . DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



to sharp corners or projections of the teeth, these must be removed by 

 the rasp. If decayed teeth are found, or other serious difficulty 

 detected, or if the cause of the annoying symptoms is not discovered, 

 an expert should be called. 



Toothache. — This is rare in the horse and is mostly witnessed where 

 there is decay of a tooth or inflammation about its root. Toothache 

 is to be discovered in the horse by the pain expressed by him while 

 feeding or drinking cold water. I have seen horses affected with 

 toothache that would suddenly stop chewing, throw- the head to one 

 side, and slightly open the mouth. They behave as though some 

 sharp body had punctured the mouth. If upon examination there is 

 no foreign body found, we must then carefully examine each tooth. 

 If this can not be done with the hand in the mouth, we can, in most 

 instances, discover the aching tooth by pressing each tooth from 

 without. By tapping the teeth in succession with a hard object, such 

 as a small hammer, the one that is tender may be located. The horse 

 will flinch when the sore tooth is pressed or tapped upon. In most 

 cases there is nothing to be done but extract the decayed tooth, and 

 this, of course, is only to be attempted by the veterinarian. 



There is a deformity^ known as parrot-mouth, that interferes with 

 prehension, mastication, and, indirectly, with digestion. The upper 

 incisors project in front of and beyond the lower ones. The teeth of 

 both jaws become unusually long, as they are not worn down by fric- 

 tion. Such horses experience much difficulty in grazing. Little can 

 be done except to occasionally examine the teeth, and if those of the 

 lower jaw become so long that they bruise the " bars " of the upper 

 jaw, they must be shortened by the rasp or saw. Horses with this 

 deformity should never be left entirely at pasture. 



DISEASJJS OF THE MOUTH. 



Lampas. — Lampas is the name given to a swelling of the mucous 

 membrane covering the hard palate and projecting in a more or less 

 prominent ridge immediately behind the upper incisors. The hard 

 palate is composed of spongy tissue that fills with blood when the 

 horse is feeding, and this causes the ridges to become prominent, and 

 they then help to keep food from dropping from the mouth. This 

 swelling is entirely natural and occurs in every healthy horse. Where 

 there is some irritation in the mouth, as in stomatitis or during teeth- 

 ing, the prominence of the hard palate may persist, due to the in- 

 creased blood supply. In such cases the cause of the irritation should 

 be sought for and removed. By way of direct treatment, slight scari- 

 fication is the most that will be required. Burning the lampas is bar- 

 barous and injurious, and it should never be tolerated. 



It is quite a common opinion among owners of horses and stable- 

 men that lampas is a disease that very frequently exists. In fact 

 whenever a horse fails to eat, and if he does not exhibit very marked 

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