choking!

[Huntin'Fool]

Dear All,

I have a 12 yo TB gelding who has choked on his food 2x before-probably 4 years ago. Tonight i got a message that he'd choked at the barn, didn't want his food-it wasn't from grain. He wasn't really blowing any grain etc. out just sort of coughing. They got the usual vet in who is bad and whom I"ve told them before not to call for my horse. His big claim to fame is that he will suck anything stuck in a horse's throat out and so he did and said that all that was in there was grass. I have *never* heard of a horse choking on grass. I'm not saying it's impossible I'm saying that this guy would have a hard time correctly diagnosing the day of the week.

AND the barn I'm currently boarding at is *horrible* I'm trying to get out as fast as I can. I will say things have gotten better-the horses seem to have water. But I don't trust them either. It's 10:30 and the owner swears the horse is fine but.....

What do y'all think? Could he have actually choked on some foreign object? Could it be colic? Could it really be grass?

Any advice appreciated.

Huntin'Fool

[jaimebaker]

A horse most certainly can choke on grass. And hay. And anything really.

[Huntin'Fool]

Ok, well I feel a bit better about the diagnosis then. How would they get enough grass balled up in their esophagas (sp, you know what I mean!) to obstruct it? Just a bunch of big mouthfuls not well chewed?

[Posting Trot]

A lot of chokes are caused by poor chewing; and it's true that a horse can choke on anything.

When was the last time the horse's teeth were done? If it's been longer than 6 months you should definitely have them checked and also have the whole mouth checked for any kind of problem (like a swelling, an abscess, etc.). Horses do crack teeth and that can cause a lot of pain.

Once the horse has choked it is far more likely that the horse will choke again within the next week or two because of the inflammation caused by the first choke. Get the vet to give you some oral banamine to give the horse daily for a couple of days to help reduce the inflammation and lessen the chance for a subsequent choke.

Each subsequent choke increases the possibility that there will be permanent scarring in the esophagus that narrows the passage and makes the horse into a chronic choker.

Good luck.

[jaimebaker]

Ok, well I feel a bit better about the diagnosis then. How would they get enough grass balled up in their esophagas (sp, you know what I mean!) to obstruct it? Just a bunch of big mouthfuls not well chewed?


Sorry my first post was short and abrupt, I was right in the middle of something when I posted. Really, a horse can choke a variety of ways. If they don't chew properly or quid I believe it's called (where it's just a wad) and they swallow, it can cause an obstruction. I'd never a witnessed a choke until a couple of years ago and it scared the crap out of me. Since then, I've witnessed 3 more. My horses, even the ones who haven't choked get soaked, soupy feed now. At least I can help with that. I can't really control how they chew their grass or hay (had one choke on a mouthful of hay earlier this year). I just make sure their teeth are ok, and watch for the first signs of food dropping or discomfort and just do the best I can.

As the previous poster mentioned, once they choke they are more prone to choke. They may never choke again, but the first couple of weeks afterwards are the iffy times. If it was a bad obstruction or the vet tubed him, he needs to be on banamine for the next few days to keep inflammation down. And soupy food for a while would be my recommendation.

Then again, if this vet sucks that bad, who knows. Sounds like a dream boarding situation <insert sarcasm here>. Jingles for your horse nonetheless!

[Love My TB Consent]

Please don't use a bad vet to resolve choke episodes. I used a vet from a great practice (although I did not like the particular vet), and he was pretty rough in resolving the choke. And don't keep your horse at a barn you don't trust. Mine was fed a dry hay cube (despite the fact the I said to never give my horse one), and choked on it. Later, I ended up taking the horse to New Bolton, and found out that his esophagus was torn badly, due to either the hay cube, or the tubing. I had to put my DREAM horse down that day. That was 3 years ago, and it still kills me inside. I'm left with so many "if only's..." and sadness.

Of course I don't remember a lot of what was said that day, but when there was some talk of trying to save him I was told that there would be significant scarring from the issue, and he'd HAVE to be on mush. No grass, hay grain, unless it was mush. I'd have him checked for scarring in his esophagus and go from there. Honestly, I can't imagine it'd cost that much. To take my horse to New Bolton, and they did all the diagnostics, exam, plus euthanasia, it was $500. But trying to treat him with crap that wasn't working cost me $2000 in the few days before.

[moonriverfarm]

I deal with choke a lot with one of my horses. A hose of water in the mouth usually works to dislodge the wad, and wetting her feed REALLY helps. Still, it can happen with anything they ingest, especially if they bolt their food.

[jaimebaker]

A hose of water in the mouth usually works to dislodge the wad,

You can aspirate the lungs doing that. Some folks do it with no ill effects, but that IS a possibility which of course, can lead to pneumonia and lead to death. Your best bet is to wait for it to pass on it's on and get the horse to drop it's head. If it's not passed in an hour, call the vet out. When I dealt with a bad choke every vet I called told me to call back in an hour if he was still choking as most dislodge it on their own. Was scary as hell but the horse was fine in an hour.

[Huntin'Fool]

Hey Love My TB Consent,
I'm so sorry it took me forever to get back to you. I really appreciate your sharing your story-but please don't beat yourself up! I know it's hard but you are obviously a caring and thoughtful horse owner-you aren't psychic and couldn't have seen what would happen. It is my experience that vet ability (and indeed medical care period) varies *wildly*. This was backed up by spending 2 1/2 miserable years working at a small animal vets-they had 3 good vets, and Dr. Death. But the folk coming in didn't know that and neither did you.

I am so sorry your horse died but it was just a tragic event-not something you did-it would only be your fault if you did it on purpose-and you didn't.

I am, thank God, out of that barn. I am still feeding soaked food and may indeed soak the food for this horse for the rest of his life. The fence is good-still no barn but it's better than where he was. Thank you again for sharing your story.

Regards,
Huntin'Fool