LAMPAS.

Waipa Post, Volume IV, Issue 151, 4 October 1912, Page 4

LAMPAS.

HOW TO GET RID OF THEM. A correspondent, writing to the Agricultural Department asking the best method of getting rid of lampas in horses, and why burning them out, if properly done, is so much objected to that there is a heavy fine for doing it, has been supolied with the following answer by the Live Stock and Meat Division: —

"It is not uncommon for young horses, when cutting their permanent upper incisor teeth, to have an inflamed condition of the mucous membrane of the gums and of the hard palate. This constitutes the so-called lampas. In these true cases of lampas the membranes are swollen owing to the infiltration of serum into the submucous tissue, causing the gums to descend below the level of the tables of the incisors, which at this time have not attained their full growth, thus making the gums appear more prominent than it really is. The animal does not like the mouth examined, and if the gums are pressed upon evinces pain, and is disinclined to feed, as prehension and mastication hurt him. Giving food in the form of soft mashes, etc., for a time is generally all that is required, and a handful of Epsom salts may be given in these or his drinking water every other day. If the portion of the palate immediately behind the upper front teeth is much swollen and painful, it may be lightly scarified with a sharppointed clean knife, and a little powdered alum applied. In many cases horses have naturally very prominent palates, often being on a level of the tooth-tables. This is; what is generally termed " lampas" by horsemen. In point of fact, it is nothing of the kind, and the- animal is not affected

by it, neither is there pain on pressure nor an inflamed appearance of the palate. It is this condition that ignorant persons think should be got rid of, either by cutting, puncturing with a sharp ho.*se-nail, or by using a red-hot iron with a curve at the end. There is no doubt that the lastmentioned proceedings do no good. You have only to look at the horse a week or so afterwards, and you will find the condition st'll there. Burning, apart from causing great pain, disfigures the mouth, leaving a hollow behind the teeth which never fills up. There is great risk, too, of injuring v the palatine artery, in which case you get haemorrhage, which is extremely difficult to stop, and has been known to prove fatal. Accompanying the artery is the palatine nerve, which provides sensibility to the hard palate and also the roots of the incisor teeth.-If the artery is injured by the burning, it is reasonable to assume that the nerve is also, and thus incalculable damage is done both to the palate and the teeth."