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  Discussion on Colic or choke?
Author Message
Member:
dwinans

Posted on Sunday, Jun 17, 2007 - 3:01 pm:

I thought I would share my latest "horse drama" and see if anybody had any thoughts.

I received a call at work on Friday saying that my horse was down in his stall, the vet had been called, and I needed to get there immediately. When I arrived at the barn my trainer was there with the vet, who had already sedated Remy. My trainer said that Remy was in extreme pain and that it looked like colic. The vet did a rectal, tubed him and gave him Rompun.

Remy has never colicked before but he has choked on pellets several times in the past. He is now on alfalfa hay. Some of his symptoms in this episode mirrored his choking episodes with the exception of the absence of liquid coming out of his nose.

The findings of the rectal and tubing was that there was a little gas but not excessive. The vet said "probably gas colic" and she chose to tube with water only - no oil, which I wondered about.

Is it possible to have a deep choke without nasal discharge or was it more likely to be colic with very little gas and no impaction?

One other thing that increased the stress level was that before the vet arrived one of the other boarders noticed that when he was down in his stall that he stopped breathing. She said that she felt for his breath and when he didn't breathe for 5 of her breaths she gave him mouth to nose resuscitation. She covered up one nostril and blew into the other hard 5 times and he started breathing again. Can a person's breath be strong enough to do anything? I can't imagine what would have caused him to stop breathing. Maybe he was holding his breath because of the pain? Could a deep choke in the esophagus press up against the trachea and block it? Could a deep choke cause a gas colic? I'm a little skeptical regarding the boarder's observation but I'm not unhappy that my barn is full of caring fellow boarders.

Remy is completely back to normal now and you would never know it looked like he was getting ready to die a couple days ago!

I'm sorry about all the questions but I wondered if anybody had any thoughts.

Thanks,
Dawn
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Jun 17, 2007 - 4:52 pm:

It sounds like your horse life doesn't lack for drama, Dawn! I'm glad Remy recovered o.k.

I would be amazed if a human's efforts would revive a horse's breathing; they are so much larger than we are and their lung capacity is so much greater. Had Remy already been sedated or given anything by your trainer? I've known of horses whose breathing became irregular or sometimes very shallow when they are sedated. This could have been what your stable mate saw. I would also think your vet could tell the difference between choke and colic as the symptoms are quite different.
Member:
dwinans

Posted on Sunday, Jun 17, 2007 - 5:41 pm:

Hi Sara!

I know - it seems to be one drama after another! :-) I blame it on my high-maintenance horse!

Yes, I agree that it would take a lot of effort to fill a horse's lung capacity.

He had not been given any sedation when my fellow boarder found him down. She's a nurse and knowledgeable about human conditions but a very inexperienced horse person. She's very proud of herself - telling everybody that she saved Remy's life. I really don't mind - I'm happy that somebody else is looking out after his well-being.

There seem to be some symptoms of choke and colic that are similar. He had symptoms of both. But the absence of nasal discharge tends to make me think colic rather than choke. Every choke that I've witnessed has been a blockage high in the esophagus which caused discharge but I was wondering if a deep blockage would cause different symptoms. I think I read a post of Dr O's a while back talking about a blockage deep, near the heart.

One other thing I forgot to mention in my first post was that when the vet tubed him it took a lot of effort to get the tube past a certain spot. Once she got past that spot some horrible noises came out of his chest and green discharge came out of his mouth. I don't know if that is normal with tubing or if there was a blockage that was cleared.

Thanks for your response, Sara!
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Jun 17, 2007 - 10:53 pm:

I've only had one horse that ever got choke, and he got it twice. Once when the vet tubed him and the blockage was cleared a lot of green mush (chewed hay pellets, I assume) spewed out along with what sounded like a big burp. His blockage could be felt along his neck. It seems to me like any tubing whether for colic or choke as some "gunk" that comes up. With the colics I've seen, the gunk wasn't as thick or as much of it as with the choke, but I'm not expert on either, thankfully.

Having other people that look out for your horses is one advantage to boarding. At home, if I don't catch things, usually no one does.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 18, 2007 - 8:23 am:

Even blockages far down the esophagus will rapidly develop reflux from the mouth and nose. When you ask "is it possible" perhaps a very short duration choke may look colicky without reflux. But without reflux you cannot diagnose choke just consider it a possibility.

Sara is right, such resuscitory efforts would be futile in an adult horse but your attitude is absolutely correct: best to let good intentions go rewarded.
DrO
Member:
dwinans

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 19, 2007 - 1:18 pm:

Thanks for the clarification, Dr O!
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