Question regarding a serious problem with my Modern

[Mercysmom]

The whole story is on the Pony Forum but I am wondering - have any of you had problems with tongue paralysis in any of your horses, large or small?

If so, what happened and could it be fixed? Can horses function without all of their tongue?

My Modern filly cannot eat properly and after the vet and dentist were out, the dentist discovered that Neffie's tongue is "dead" or paralyzed from the tip to about 3 inches back. It is not a normal pink color - more like a flesh color, shows no signs of trauma and it is extremely thin -- dentist said it was like it was "deflated". The only clue I had that something might have been wrong was when I clipped her and she was not as round as I would have liked to seen but our veterinarian said being a yearling, she may have been going through a growth spurt. Our Morgan yearling filly Enterprise was also thin but she is now round and shiny.

Neffie is vaccinated (3-way, Rhino/Flu, WNV) and wormed with a daily wormer and paste wormed 2 x a year, eats a pelleted food and a grass/timothy mix hay.

The veterinarian will be back out to evaluate if there is anything I can do for her - after my summer on the sofa recovering from 2 knee surgeries and a bone infection, planning to show her in 2008 was one of the things keeping me going.

Mercy's service schedule has helped keep my mind off of things- tough to be sad when I have a friendly horse at my side who enjoys interacting with me but unfortunately, Mercy's magic cannot help Neffie....

Any advice would be appreciated as my mind is spinning and I am at a loss!

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[Mercysmom]

UPDATE:

The veterinarian just left and she is baffled by what she found. No trauma... teeth in good shape...tongue has no feeling from the tip to about two inches up but she has use of it in the back of her mouth. She shows no sign of assymmetry - she said if Neffie had some nerve damage to her face from trauma like a kick, she might be droopy on one side and she is not. The thinness and sliminess of the tongue is due to the fact she cannot use it - similar to the atrophy in my left leg from the surgeries and the infection.

She is compensating with her lips to get and keep food in her mouth - a softer, mushier diet including alfalfa cubes and beet pulp was recommended for her so I am off to the feed store.

The veterinarian is contacting Cornell University to see if anyone has heard of this down there.

If anyone has had a similar problem with any kind of horse who experienced tongue trauma, I'd love to hear about it.

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[crponies]

Hmmm, never heard of that problem before. I'm glad it has been discovered so you can do whatever is possible to help her. Please do keep us up-to-date on how she's doing.