Why is it important to have your donkeys teeth checked by a vet once a year?
The role of routine dental care is to improve chewing, relieve pain, to treat and cure infection and to promote the general health, productivity and longevity of the donkey, horse or mule. It is important to remember that dentistry includes not only the teeth and mouth but the sinuses, bones of the jaw and the temporomandibular joint.
Facts:
1. Domesticated donkeys can develop high points on their teeth pushing on the gums making them sore and difficult to chew. Eating hay that is not chewed causes colic and can contribute directly to death in donkeys, mules and horses.
2. The gums can become inflamed and need a vet to do oral surgery. Most of the time these donkeys need to go to a hay mash and can no longer eat hay.
3. Sinus health issues are addressed by annual vet exam of the mouth.
If we do not do regular dental care we risk loosing our donkeys early in life. Eating hay that is not chewed properly will cause colic. Senior donkeys can be moved to a hay mash with restrictions to eating hay or straw 100%, these donkeys can graze on fresh grass for limited amounts of time to avoid obesity.
Please find a veterinarian that has experience with donkeys as donkeys metabolize drugs differently than a horse. Most vet’s in the U.S.A. give a mild sedative before opening the mouth, as it is safer for the donkey and the human.
Thank you for investing in your donkeys.
GOD bless you and your family two and four-legged!
Melody Johnson, Trainer/Owner