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HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Mouth, Esophagus, and Liver » Choke: Esophageal Obstruction »
  Discussion on Recurrent Choke on 22 YO
Author Message
Member:
alisa

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 1:08 am:

I have had this horse for about 5 years, he is a saddlebred/arabian. Last spring he had the first episode of choke that I ever saw with him. I felt that he might be trying to eat too quickly because of other horses eating around him. As a result I pull him outside the pasture to grain him. About three weeks ago he choked again, then a few days ago and finally today.

He has never discharged through his nose but a fair amount of saliva DrOps from his mouth. Since his choke of three weeks ago I have been soaking his grain (cleaned oats) which is also mixed with beet pulp. He still eats outside the pasture so there is no competition for his food.

I have massaged his neck and throat and walked and done short slow jogs to try and help clear it and they do pass all no longer than 20 minutes. Having read the material I now know to not massage the throat any longer. Should I also not be doing these other things?

I will be having a the vet check him when he comes out to give the spring shots but is there any possible guess as to what might be going on? Is there some condition that may come on as a horse ages? I am beginning to think that when I grain the other horses that I will just put him in a open field to graze while the others eat.

Any ideas, thoughts?

Thanks -
Alisa
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 6:41 am:

Hi Alisa,

Scary situation isn't it. I've been around horses for over 35 years and never had one choke up until a year ago, I have had 2 horses choke in the past year, with one of them choking twice. The first two times I did not have the advice given here on HA. The third time I did.

As in your case and what I have read in the HA articles is that the choke usually resolves by itself.

I think that a lot of people think that the horse is unable to breathe when choking, but what he really can't do is swallow due to a blockage in the esophagus.

The first time my one horse choked, some well meaning friends tried to unblock the horse by squirting mineral oil down his throat, which of course came right back up since there was no place for it to go and in my opinion made the choke worse, necessitating a very expensive vet call and 7 days worth of antibiotics.

The second time this same horse choked and after reading Dr. O's article. I left him alone, let him stand quietly, with his head down and monitored him, he came out of it fine.

This horse was always a very fast eater and tended to gulp his food. The solution for this horse was to spread his hay in a long row and put his feed on top of the hay and not in a feed tub. This method works for him as he is now not able grab as much in his mouth and basically has to work to get at his feed.

Another thing, if you haven't done so already, get his teeth looked at to make sure he is able to chew properly.

Good Luck
Rachelle
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 9:08 am:

The article is clear, you should not be forcing movement Alisa and explains why. You say you soak the grains, are you also soaking the beet pulp?
DrO
Member:
alisa

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 9:24 am:

Thank you both for your replies - I soak the combined oats and beet pulp which I have mixed together.

I forgot to mention that I had his teeth floated a few months ago - late fall.

OK, I will just leave him alone and let him clear it himself. I will spread his feed along the ground on top of some hay.

Any thoughts on why he has choked so many times recently?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 11:21 am:

We list possible causes in the article and you might know better than me which might apply. If you do feel eating to quickly might be the cause there are several recommendations in the article to slow down eating. You might also try just feeding oats to see if the beet pulp may be related to the cause. When you soak do you let it stand till the beet pulp is fully saturated?
DrO
Member:
alisa

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 1:32 pm:

Yes, I let it fully saturate, but I will try not giving the beet pulp and see what happens AND, I will let him clear it himself - no walking, no massage.

I will update you with any future chokes and also what my vet says when he comes out.
Member:
stek

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 3:33 pm:

Alisa, we have a boarder horse who occasionally chokes (did just the other day in fact). I suspect he has some teeth/mouth issues and he is scheduled for a thorough oral exam. He also doesn't chew large, hard treats like pieces of carrot well and tends to try to chew them with his front teeth.

Anyway my guess on the recent recurrent episodes would be that his esophagus is still inflamed? I soak/water down hard feed after a choke to the point of soupyness.

Good luck with your horse!
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