HELP PLEASE!!! UPDATED WITH PICS

[~Dan]

Mm, I'm going to go with an abscess. Perhaps hes beginning to loose his milk teeth and they are being pushed up into the nasal cavity? Maybe and impacted tooth? his deciduous cheek teeth are rotating out of his gums? I believe you said he was about 2 years old? that seems to be the time when most horses loose their "baby" teeth. If hes eating it doesn't seem to be causing him any pain. When the vet comes out maybe they can lance it and see if any fluid comes out. Have you inspected his mouth? maybe he has a wood chip or piece of stick stuck in his cheek? I would don a latex glove and see if you can get a hand up there and feel around. Best of luck. Hope he feels better soon. Keep us updated!

Dan.

 

[mizbeth]

I am still in favor of calling the Vet, but it does appear to be tooth bumps to me. The winter hair may also be making it appear larger and more swollen than it is. In any case, I hope he will be okay soon.

Beth

 

[kayla221444]

Vet was out today at 11:30...Checked little Princy over good. They believed it to be a tear duct clog. So we are treating him for it currently, and if it doesn't go down in 2 day's they are going to come out and flush it, then if it doesn't go away they say it is a tooth root abcess.

Nothing Major and hes going to be just FINE!

Oh and he was a great patient!!! Just stood their the whole time and let him do whatever he had to do, so I am proud of my little man

 

[Reble]

Glad he is on the mends.

 

[Royal Crescent]

I had almost the identical problem with my gelding in sept. His whole face swelled up and he was not eat if if the bucket was too high because of it. He was not doing well at all driving and we were headed to the World Show at the end of the month

I had him on banamine, after talking to the vet and they thought it sounded like an allergic reaction. Then I actually had him into the vet for a health check and they checked him out including looking at his teeth. She still thought allergic reaction and gave me steroids to try if he did not improve. After a few days, and down at the World show, we started the steroids as he still was swollen. Then I happened to run into Carl Mitz..what luck!! He looked and Royal had caps that were causing ulcers on the side of his mouth. Poor guy had to have a lot of pain when you put a bit in his mouth. He removed the caps and floated his teeth just a half hour before Royals class. Royal then behaved himself in the class and actually backed up, which he had been refusing. Problem was solved!! While he did not do very well in the class with no time to recover and with me not even trying to set his head much , I felt like a winner because he behaved himself better then he had in a couple months. In short, has someone with experience with minis teeth checked your guy out?

 

[Katiean]

Someone I knew had a dwarf they wanted ME to breed one of my mares to. He would get swellings like that every year and for him it was sinus infections. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jill]

Like some others here, my hunch is also that this is just tooth bumps. I've seen some of our young horses look VERY much like he is looking now and it goes away on it's own. Just tooth bumps. It's great to have the vet confirm it but that is my honest hunch. It can also seem more exagerated this time of year just with the loft they have with their winter woollies.

EDIT: Just read your update. I still say tooth bumps

 

[WhiteTailsMinis]

Looks like normal tooth bumps to me....

Agree, normal for that age - tooth bump/bumps

 

[Ojai Minis]

My 2yr old filly looks the same except it's both sides. What did the vet say? Mine says it's just how she's growing.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I have seen this look on many Minis and I think it is clogged sinuses. Mini halters tend to sit just below the bones of the face and don't allow the sinuses to drain properly. I have never seen it in full size horses whose halters sit on the bone of their nose. I have never seen it in mine since I started rarely ever leaving a halter on them - just use it for leading to and from.

 

[Riverdance]

I have another suggestion. He is packing. Especially since it is only on one side. Usually tooth bumps are on both sides.

When a horse packs, it is hay or grass stuck up between his teeth and his cheek. It looks exactly like what your horse is showing in the picture. Put your finger or something long and thin (and safe) up to the top of his cheek, near the gum line , between his molars and his cheek. It will be all the way up and towards the back. Bring it forward and pull it out.

Hard to explain how to find it and get it out. I had a mare here for breeding and she looked just like that. Her owner wanted me to call the vet, but when checking her mouth, I noticed something packed way up in her cheek. I carefully stuck my finger up there and felt packed grass. I pulled it out and her face swelling was gone. Little stinker learned to do this all of the time. (kind of like tobacco chew, where they stick it way up between their cheek and teeth).

Then at a show, someone was talking about how her horse's face was all swollen on one side, like a tooth bump. I checked it out and sure enough, he was packing. I got it out for her and he looked just fine one the packing was out.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I have another suggestion. He is packing. Especially since it is only on one side. Usually tooth bumps are on both sides.

When a horse packs, it is hay or grass stuck up between his teeth and his cheek. It looks exactly like what your horse is showing in the picture. Put your finger or something long and thin (and safe) up to the top of his cheek, near the gum line , between his molars and his cheek. It will be all the way up and towards the back. Bring it forward and pull it out.

Hard to explain how to find it and get it out. I had a mare here for breeding and she looked just like that. Her owner wanted me to call the vet, but when checking her mouth, I noticed something packed way up in her cheek. I carefully stuck my finger up there and felt packed grass. I pulled it out and her face swelling was gone. Little stinker learned to do this all of the time. (kind of like tobacco chew, where they stick it way up between their cheek and teeth).

Then at a show, someone was talking about how her horse's face was all swollen on one side, like a tooth bump. I checked it out and sure enough, he was packing. I got it out for her and he looked just fine one the packing was out.

What you are referring to is called "quidding" The "quid" is the pack of grass, hay or feed that gets caught in their cheek. It is not something they "learn" to do but rather is caused by poor dental condition. They need their teeth looked after. When a horse chews he moves his jaw back and forth sideways and if there are problems with his teeth, such as wavemouth, sharps or missing teeth, bits of food fall out the sides and get caught there. I don't really think this is the problem here (although I did at first glance) as that is usually lower down on the face but if you do want to check for "quids" be VERY CAREFUL because if he needs a float those teeth will have some VERY SHARP points on them and you can easily end up with a badly cut or even crushed finger. You could injure him sticking something in his mouth to poke the quid out. A better way of checking for quids is to take a hose and run some water into the sides of his mouth and watch for lumps of grass to flush out.

 

[kayla221444]

What you are referring to is called "quidding" The "quid" is the pack of grass, hay or feed that gets caught in their cheek. It is not something they "learn" to do but rather is caused by poor dental condition. They need their teeth looked after. When a horse chews he moves his jaw back and forth sideways and if there are problems with his teeth, such as wavemouth, sharps or missing teeth, bits of food fall out the sides and get caught there. I don't really think this is the problem here (although I did at first glance) as that is usually lower down on the face but if you do want to check for "quids" be VERY CAREFUL because if he needs a float those teeth will have some VERY SHARP points on them and you can easily end up with a badly cut or even crushed finger. A better way of checking for quids is to take a hose and run some water into the sides of his mouth and watch for lumps of grass to flush out.

The vet did say that on that side of his mouth, his teeth were VERY sharp, I will be having my Equine dentist out as Prince does need some floating!

 

[MiLo Minis]

The vet did say that on that side of his mouth, his teeth were VERY sharp, I will be having my Equine dentist out as Prince does need some floating!

Did your vet check for quids then? Sometimes they don't because they assume you would have but if he noticed his teeth are sharp he should have. It sure would be a good idea to have his teeth done because they could easily be the root of his trouble.