Choke Experiences the good and the ugly.

[Ozone]

I feel like I learn something new every single moment I am around the horses.

About 9 months ago a pony of ours choked, fluid out of his nose, coughing etc. We syringed warm water down his throat, call the vet out and he said that it is not servere and he will pass it. Which he did - thankfully. (He passed away at 40 of natural causes in March 09)

In November another golden oldie (32) shows signs of colic but his color was good, gut sounds good, not carrying on like a colic would but he was breathing heavy. That passed and a week later happened again, and then again 2 days later. We changed his feed up (any kind of corn/oat/sweet grain would make his belly upset).

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I go to feed him and he is obviously choking. Call the vet. Next thing you know he is at the clinic with drip bag (became dehydrated). The next morning they scoped him. He had 12inches of food backed up in his espohugus and the scope could not even reach down to his belly because of the 12" back up. Pony is only 14H so you can imagine that once the food entered his mouth that was as far as the food went (short neck), his lungs started to fail and the toxicity in his belly was unknown. Otherwise we were going to do surgery on him regardless of his age (32), he passed away :sadsmile: 2 weeks this sunday.

I think that this occured in November and it took a month for the back up to really back up ending in this result. I am surprised the poor guy did not drop weight, he was literally starving because the food could not pass. This pony was doing lessons a day earlier so needless to say it was a shock for everyone. This little guy was one strong willed pony because he never showed any drastic signs of a problem.

I just wanted to share with you all about what a choke can result in. It is a learning lesson for me. Never in a million years would I have thought the vet would say he has 12" of food stuck. Older horses with hadly any teeth are becoming scary to care for.

[Lieslot]

I just wanted to share with you all about what a choke can result in.
Thanks so much for sharing and reminding us!
This is why I take a choke serious each and every time and eventhough I don't fancy the tubing of a horse choking (as I know it can damage the esophagus lining), if a vet deems it necessary I will have horse tubed to make sure it's cleared.
Been there with my grey, choke appeared totally resolved and horse calm & eating again, vet nevertheless insisted on tubing, which afterwards I was glad she did as we still found a blockage close to the stomach entry.
If either one of mine chokes I call out the vet, even if it looks to be resolving itself.

[Ozone]

Your Welcome :)

Our pony was a little gray man. We thought he could have had a tumor blocking him as well but the choke was so deep it was hard to tell.

It has to be taken so seriously now. Back in the day I don't ever remember even being worried that this could happen, but it does and with no so good results sometimes!

I guess I started this thread to say Chock is serious even a little choke is still a life threatning situation!

[ksojerio]

My gelding, 30 yrs, has his first case of choke this fall. And it was the first case I had ever seen. Vet came out, and all is well. However, every ounce of food he eats now is soaked, including senior pellets, hay pellets, beet pulp, flax seed and hay.

[SarEQ]

The last stable I managed had two horses choke. One was a nearly 30 year old draft cross who scared me to death.... I fed him (WELL soaked food, it was more like a slurpy or soup than anything else) and heard this awful crash... I thought he'd had some sort of heart attack or colic. Turns out he was choking. Poor toothless old man. He survived and cleared it himself, but he has since passed.

The other was a young pony mare- she was about 8 at the time. Her food was also soaked- we soak all the horses food. This mare choked (and seemed to pass it) three days in a row, each meal. Owner didn't want to call a vet, since the mare passed it every time. I'd do what my vet taught me- syringing warm water/oil and GENTLY massaging her throat, and in moments she'd be alright, and starting eating (and swallowing) any scrap of hay she could steal. It was a pain in the butt. I'd try to keep her away from food for a bit between attacks, but those three days were awful. Hearing Ozone's story, I wonder if she never fully cleared it, even though I saw her eating hay and drinking over those three days.

I finally stopped her choking by no longer soaking her feed. I know soaking is supposed to make it easier to swallow, but I noticed one of her supplements (can't remember which one, sorry) seemed 'sticky' when it got wet. The mare got very little food (about half a scoop) so one day I just stopped soaking it, and things have been fine since. She did choke one day when I wasn't there when someone else fed and soaked her food, despite my warning. Has anyone else experienced this as well? I was always told soaking grain helps prevent choke, but the opposite was true for this young mare.

[philosoraptor]

I've seen some really bad chokes. I saw one poor sad chronic old choker actually choke to death in front of me, as I'm on the phone with the vet trying to get help.... but he had some issues, so his situation was not typical. I've seen horses choke on hay pellets, pelleted feed, regular feed, you name it. Some horses just inhale without chewing carefully.

If a horse choked one before, I treat them as a choke risk. You can put a rock in their food dish to slow them down. You can soak their food. You can try switching brands to see if that helps.

I've noticed that when I soak food, I am amazed how much water it soaks up. It's a wonder more horses don't choke, especially on anything pelleted/compressed. Out of habit anymore, I just add water to all my horses' pelleted feeds and lit it sit briefly before serving.

[Arrows Endure]

A friend of mine had her husband (non-horsey type) feed for her one night when she was away, and her 26 year old normally greedy mare didn't finish her dinner. Being non-horsey, he didn't think anything of it and didn't mention it to her.

So the next morning, when my friend went to feed, the mare wasn't eating at all, and had a great deal of nasty mucus coming out of her nose. She wasn't coughing, or doing anything to suggest a choke, and my friend thought she had an URI or something. Husband hadn't mentioned the not finished dinner from the night before, so who would think of choke in a horse that wasn't wanting to touch her food...

A few hours later, the mucus had a HORRID smell to it, and the mare wasn't eating or drinking anything (duh...), so she called the vet, who came out. Vet thought upper respitory, until suddenly the mare coughed, and food pellets came out. *ding* On came the light bulb. It took forever to get the choke cleared.

The mare ended up developing pneumonia, she dropped about 300#'s over night and became a walking skeleton. Much anti biotics, a major food change, and a few months later, she is doing a lot better, but it really was scary.

[Simbalism]

My horse choked last year when the boarding farm where I keep her changed to a different brand of feed. I wasn't concerned with the feed change as my mare is a pretty easy keeper for a TB. Several other horses had choke episodes withing a few weeks of being completely on the new feed. My girl coliced as well and had to be tubed. She had so much slimy mucous pouring out of her mouth and nose. She just had her head hanging down and it was pouring out. She was switched back to the feed I had given her for years prior to moving to boarding farm. Apparently there was something wrong with the batch(pellets) and they did not break up as easily as they should. I have never fed pellets prior and probably never will again after that episode.

[FindersKeepers]

Our 25 yo pony choked this past fall. He was on a round of prednisone for his heaves and had an amazing appetite as a result. (not that he would ever turn down food...) He cleared it on his own within 30 minutes. From that day on, we've made his breakfast and dinner the consistency of oatmeal, and he has been just fine.

I have seen really bad chokes though. Whether its a really bad one, or a simple one they clear on their own, it's still horrifying.

[Ozone]

Wow I guess we have all been there at some point before. It is scary when you walk into the barn in the morning and you see your old man of a pony with mucus pouring out of his nose!

StarEq - soaking our Pony #1's food had the oppsite affect on him as well. That is what caused him to choke to begin with. We thought hey - he is loosing teeth let's soak his food. Did that for 2 days and here comes the choke. From that situation we did not soak anymore.

#2 Pony, we gave him a hot mash and it poured out of his nose after only two bites. He seemed like he cleared the choke... obviously didn't though.

[Love My TB Consent]

I've posted Cupid's story more then once, but I'll post it again.

He was a rescue, dangerously thin when I got him. He was also a gorgeous 5 year old 17 h TB, who I was in love with. Even as he gained weight back, he was never stupid, hot, or dangerous. He was perfect to me.

Almost a year into owning him, for some unknown reason, the BO where he was boarded fed him a dry haycube (I always fed them to Cupid, but soaked, and the BO knew that, and knew she wasn't to feed him haycubes at all, I did it everyday). He choked, vet tubed. The next thing I knew I'm taking him to New Bolton with a torn esophogus due to the choke, or the tubing. His prognosis was very poor (less then 10% chance of survival, major complications, and he'd have a high chance of reoccurance). Most of all he seemed like he was done trying.

I put Cupid down. Choke can result in damage (scar tissue etc) that can impact the horse for the rest of it's life, or it can cost a horse it's life. It's scarey, and it was my first experience personally dealing with it. :(

[Georgiatrails]

Horrible stories for sure! There is always something to learn everyday. I have never experienced a horse choking until my yearling choked last year on pellet feed. Vet came out and had to tube her - it was awful to watch and since then I will never feed pellets again. They are so dry and powder and easy to choke on because they clump up when they get in there mouth. I am very scared now and watch them eat to make sure.

I guess no matter how careful we are as horse owners, things are bound to happen.

[Katy Watts]

A friend bought a REALLY nice gelding from a broker who finds good looking ones at auctions. For about a year everything was perfect. She fell in love with him. Then he choked. Wouldn't resolve with local treatment. Rushed to CSU, prepped for surgery. Then they found scar tissue from previous surgery. They said repeat surgeries are even higher risk, so she decided to not have him wake up.
Katy

[Ozone]

Then they found scar tissue from previous surgery. They said repeat surgeries are even higher risk, so she decided to not have him wake up.
Katy


Yeah My vet was adiment about knowing if he choked previously and that he may have scar tissue that could be blocking him which pony did not ever choke - well not in the 15 years we owned him.

I wonder if anyone's horse that choked, was there a tumor blocking? Our pony was grey with no external melonomas but internally we will never know.

Awe poor Cupid.. all over a hay cube... :sadsmile:

[BoysNightOut]

I was feeding dinner at my friend's barn one night, and all the horses got soaked Beet Pulp with their feed (Safechoice). Her mare started choking within minutes. Beet Pulp and grain were coming out of her nose, and she kept wandering around.

Luckily, she cleared it herself probably 5 minutes before the vet pulled in. She went on antibiotics, and was fine.

Made me even more aware that soaking feed is not a total preventative for choke.