Broken Mouth

luvmypets

luvmypets

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I was taking a video of my 1.5 yr old ewe clover getting a treat. As I went back to watch it I noticed that her front teeth didnt look right. So I went to check on her and she is missing two of her front teeth. One is fresh and her gum is still red from when it fell out. So as always I did research and it looks like she has broken mouth. She had all her teeth at the beginning of the month when we wormed her.. But this shouldn't be happening, right? I read it is common is ewes that are 6+ years in age, but she isn't even two yet. Im really upset... Is this something I could have prevented? What measures can I take to make sure she doesnt lose anymore teeth? The hardest thing she has gotten to eat is stale bread, but its by no means rock hard.
 
luvmypets

luvmypets

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Oh ok, that is such a relief! I wasn't sure if they had two sets of teeth. Learn something new everyday!
 
Sheepshape

Sheepshape

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Broken mouths are usually only in old sheep (aged 6 plus). Now I have a fair number of old girls who have just a few 'pegs' left for teeth who are then known as 'gummers'. As the gums are very hard, they do a pretty good job of eating with them, though whole sugar beets need a bit of chopping up for them to be able to tackle. (Some people are pretty good at eating without teeth,too....EUGH!)

My oldest girl, Longface, has been a gummer since the was about 8 and she is 13 now. She is still fat and happy, though she did get a bit of a gum infection earlier on this year.
 
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