dentigerous cyst

I am from Canada and have a registered Canadian Mare. My problem is that shortly after I purchased her I noticed a pocket that was under her ear. When I touched it alot of thick pus came from it. I cleaned it and the next day it was back again. It resembles (excuse the expression) snot. It doesn't seem to be painful but is terrible looking and sometimes has a foul smell. I believe it to be a dentigerous cyst. Unfortunately, had I been told about this problem upon purchase, I could have had it repaired sooner. I had my vet look at it and the vet sedated her to have a look. The vet did not feel comfortable exploring any further, so she closed the hole and said to have her looked at elsewhere. My question is has anyone had this problem before and what am I looking at as far as costs go? Also, I live in the Sudbury-North Bay area and would like to know where would be the best place to take her. She is my pride and joy and she is like a big happy dog. I really want her fixed and comfortable.

I'm a dental hygienist, and a dentigerous cyst normally occurs in the mouth and is associated with an unerupted or erupting tooth. For instance, we commonly see third molars with these cysts. I don't believe that they occur anywhere else, even the prefix "dent" means tooth. It sounds like an common abscess caused by some foreign material/bacteria stuck under the skin. As the wound trys to heal over, the bacteria is trapped and causes the body to create pus as a way to self-cleanse. I would keep draining it, use peroxide and maybe even some systemic antibiotics. By the way, my barn cat had a huge abscess of this manner, on his neck. It got to the point where I could not drain it and had to take him to the animal ER to have it drained. The vet placed a drain in his neck to keep the wound from healing too fast and prescribed him antibiotics. Watch the swelling, because it can accumulate very quickly and cause the animal to act lethargic and stop eating.

I don't know much about these kinds of cysts, but horses occasionally have "ear teeth" which cause them. Here is an article from the horse about the topic.

The Horse | Ear Teeth?

Wanted first of all to thank you for responding to my query. I have gone to the web site that you have indicated and that is exactly where I discovered what I believe to be the problem with my little lady. I read that article previously and it clued me into exactly what was going on with her. What I now would like to know is how to deal with it as far a surgery goes (if the need be) and most importantly the cost behind it. I have 2 other horses and costs can be overbearing at times when it comes to veterinary bills. I would certainly do my best to cure her of this if it is within my budget. Any ideas?

Had a chance to do some more research on this. Surgery is the only option as it is a true cyst and will continue until the tooth and capsule are completely removed. I know how rough vet bills are, but that is just part of owning a horse. If you don't fix the problem, it could become secondarily infected and cause very serious problems. Best of luck to you and your girl. I don't think she'd need to be laid down for the surgery so it shouldn't be toooo horribly cost prohibitive.

Really nice to think that she would not have to be laid down for this procedure. I sure would be nice. It's not a pretty picture when they're laid down. I will definitely look into where to have this done. Hopefully, I can find a vet in my area that can come to her rather than having to take her all over the country. Thanks again for your reply and good wishes.

Sorry I can't help more with cost estimates, I have no idea what costs of vet services are like in Canada! I bet if you called your vet, they'd be able to give you an estimate, assuming that is what the problem is. It would be great if they could take care of it on the farm, instead of all the complications of a hospital! Fingers crossed for you two!

Wow, that's really bizarre. Thanks for the info. I've heard tumors can grow teeth, but I never would have imagined that they can regularly grow near the ear. Still, I wouldn't worry too much about the costs of the procedure. You are always entitled to an estimate.

You would have to call a vet to get the estimate.... good luck!!!!!! Can you post a picture so we can see what it looks like?