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Equine Dentistry

Dr. J.D. Norris of Equine Dentistry writes a monthly column in Cowboy Times magazine. Here is the November 2008  column:

     Our subject this month is the bot fly.  You’re probably wondering what bots have to do with dentistry.  They can be a serious problem.  By the time you read this, most bot fly problems will be over.  Actions later mat prevent some serious dental health problems.

     First, let’s look at the life cycle of a bot fly.  The bot grub living in the stomach is passed out of the body in fecal material from late Spring until early Fall, depending on environmental conditions.  Once passed out and on the ground, the bot fly hatches out.  The fly then starts laying eggs (nits) on the hair, mainly on the legs.  The fly does not bite or feed on the horse, but its attempt to lay eggs is very irritating to the horse.  The eggs require three conditions to hatch: moisture, heat and carbon dioxide.  All of these conditions come from the horses breath.  Once they hatch, the larvae then migrates through the tissue in the lips and gums.  Now come the dental problems.  The larvae move through the mouth until they locate in the palate, between the teeth, mainly in the upper molars.  Here they develop into maggots and dig pockets in the gums between the teeth.  This causes the development of periodontal pockets.  They remain there until mature and then go to the stomach to form bots.

     Once they leave those pockets in the gums, food can pack into these areas and slowly develop into abscesses.  Once started, these abscesses start destroying the periodontal ligaments and go on down to the roots.  These pockets are very hard to treat.

     Prevention is by far the best treatment.  You do this by killing the bots before they leave the stomach.  The bot fly is normally gone after the first freeze, so using a dewormer shortly after the first freeze and then again in late Spring before the bot emerges, you can control bot flies.  Only two products kill bot flies, Ivermectin and Quest.

 

Call or write with any comments or questions …903-348-5828 or jdnorris@neto.com.