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  Discussion on Small older pony choke
Author Message
Member:
sass

Posted on Sunday, Nov 6, 2011 - 7:17 pm:

Hello, I have a small pony that is what seems to be in the middle of a choke, I had soaked senior pelleted feed, and i guess it had not totally softend enough , there were also alfalfa pellets added in , she has been standing rather quiet , with the nasal discharge,not overly excited or anxious, the last time it cost me quite alot to have the vet out, to be honest, i just do not have the funds to do the emergency call again , how long is reasonable to wait before deciding to have the vet back out , its been about an hour now.. i dont want to put her through more then i have to, but i don't need more added onto the bill im still paying down. I am seriously considering this being the "last" call.. ive never tried to "wait it out" i always called right away, and she was still blocked two hours later when the vet came..then tubed and ok.. i was not sure how long was reasonable and fair to wait..
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Nov 6, 2011 - 7:48 pm:

From my experience it will take several hours at least. If you haven't done so already, do a search on this site and read the article on choke. It had good info. Good luck.
Member:
sass

Posted on Sunday, Nov 6, 2011 - 8:31 pm:

well, its only been about two hours, i really don't see how she could have that much stuck in there, it was one mouthful, but you never know.. it was senior but alfalfa pellets.. New ones, they did seem harder to me though.. Ive never let it go that long, I've always called the vet as soon as it started, and it was always tubed within an hour or two tops.. having never waited it out or tried, i don't really know if its doing more damage then its worth , or if putting her down now would be kinder rather than wait.. I did read the information, but there wasn't much in the way of time/guidelines.. shes quiet,but starts pacing, i did syringe a little warm water but that seemed to agitate her. wiped her nose and left her alone for the most part.. shes not excited or anxious right now at all.. i thought perhaps if she relaxed a little more it might help things along.
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Nov 6, 2011 - 10:48 pm:

I wouldn't even consider putting her down,! Most chokes will resolve themselves, and it's common for the horse to be kind of mopey afterwards for quite awhile. Don't try to force liquids or food down her. The main danger is if she aspirates into her lungs it could cause pneumonia. If you just keep an eye on her she will probably hang her head which will help stuff to move and the fluid to drain from her nose. Take all food away from her. I leave water only and keep the horse up where I can keep an eye on them.

We have an older rescue mare that is prone to choke. I finally figured out she feels threatened when fed near other horses and gulps her food, then chokes. I have to feed her alone in her stall, then turn her out. Most of her food she gets at night so she can take her time eating. She seems to naturally be a very slow eater. When she has had choke it takes her a couple of days to feel normal again. If she starts acting worse instead of better I get her to the vet. She has choked three times since we've had her. Her teeth are good, they get checked 2x a year by our vet. Often an older horse had teeth problems which interfere with proper chewing. If fed with other horses maybe your pony, being smaller, feels threatened and tries to eat too fast like our mare does? I would try and figure out the cause for sure. Senior seems to soften quickly, but alfalfa pellets and cubes can be a problem, ad can just hay.

If she doesn't seem too agitated but seems pretty calm, I would keep an eye on her and if she isn't better, or acts destressed I'd get the vet. Chances are she will be fine.
New Member:
bluegate

Posted on Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - 4:43 am:

I had the same problem with my older gelding. A bite or two and he choked. He now gets very soupy feed thoroughly soaked. I was so paranoid for a while that every feeding I would run my hands through the feed checking for even the smallest lump of feed.

It was, as another poster said, because he was fed with other horses and was bolting his feed. Also he seems to have a diverted esophagus, which exacerbates the problem and makes tubing impossible.

My vet gave him a shot the last time [that causes peristaltic action] that worked and now I keep 4 syringes of the stuff in my refrigerator.

Best to you and please let us know how the pony is doing today.
Cindy
Member:
sass

Posted on Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - 10:58 am:

Hi,and thanks, she did pass it this morning, so thanks to all that posted, and to sara for hanging in there.. i never ever wait to call a vet out, but funds were such that i just can't keep racking up higher bills on repeated episodes like this.. it was either she gets it through.. or thats "it" .. if you know what i mean.. of course i don't want her miserable for any length of time if i can do something to prevent it.. but last nite, i noticed she was shivering, i put on a heavy blanket thinking since she was cold and this was causing her some stress, perhaps getting very warm might make her sleepy and somewhat relax her .. I dont know if it did or not , but when i went out she was screaming for food and water.. i put her in a bare stall with the blanket and took everything else out..bedding included, now if she stays ok, at least thats passed.. Bluegate, lol, thats what i do, i go through the slop and if i feel a "pebble" i put more hot water and wait longer.. but yesterday, i didn't do that, once in awhile i just do not have time , there was little there to choke on , but shes a small little thing and a couple of tablespoons is a mouthful for her.. so she made it and is so far doing well... !!
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - 11:07 am:

Good to hear! Poor little thing! Bet the blanket helped. Anything to reduce the stress. Hope she continues to remain well. Choke is scary and worrisome and it's difficult to know when help is needed sometimes.
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - 11:09 am:

Oh, and I'd start offering small amounts of very wet food and keep water in front of her now. You probably know this if you've been through this before.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - 5:33 pm:

Hi Sass,

Its good to know your pony will be ok. I had a similar situation with one of my horses. He choked the first time and I called the vet, this is before I read the articles on choke here at HA. Between the emergency vet call, the antibiotics and the follow up care, it coast me a fortune. The second time, it happened, no vet it took about 12 hours to pass, he stayed calm, hung his head and ended up being fine.

What I did with him was, I spread his hay out in a trough and put his feed on top and spread it out, this way he did not bolt his food.

As far as wetting the food down. Set it up in advance and let it soak, by the time she eats it it will be fine. Do her nightime feed at breakfast, breakfast feed at night etc.

Good luck and here's to no more chokes.

Rachelle
Member:
sass

Posted on Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - 10:04 pm:

Hi,
rtrotter, thats what i do as well, but i use hot water in the cooler months, she prone to choke because her age/teeth are working against her.. it had also been somewhat of a cold snap as well, and they all get ten times more rammy once that chill hits after being in the warm sun all day.. I know what you mean with the calls, just the farm call can be 350 or more depending on who you get.. my calls are usually far and few between, never had a colic, never had founder.. but im finding that as they all get older( i have 12) its more then likely going to be more problems.. i have four that are over 36 yrs old, one is thirty nine, the pony that choked.. is over thirty , she was old when i got her fifteen years ago.. lol... I just lost my dog at 19, shar pei Pit mix... everything is getting old around me .. including ME.. and falling apart!
New Member:
bluegate

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2011 - 4:29 am:

Glad to hear she is better!
New Member:
bluegate

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2011 - 4:37 am:

ps.
Sass-sorry to hear about your dear old companion.

& I can totally relate. My oldest horse is 35. Then there are all those dogs I adopted 11 years ago. And of course my old self. We are all going down the tubes together!


Just remember...there is always room for you in NC where the weather is a bit more moderate.
[...from an upstate NY native].
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2011 - 2:39 pm:

Oh such good news that the choke has passed!

You must take really good care of your animals to have so many at advanced ages.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 9, 2011 - 2:40 pm:

Hello Sass,
In the article we recommend a wait of less than a hour but as you have experienced, waiting longer can work for you. The longest I know someone waited was several days and you read about such cases. A lot depends on how much distress the horse is in and your tolerance for the condition and its possible sequelae. Most important is while you are waiting that the horse does not have access to more food and he is kept quite and untied.

There are details in the article about the treatment Bluegate is talking about above. When I first read about it I must say I was excited that no longer will I be having to tube and flush horses in what are almost always difficult conditions. However having used the treatment 4 or 5 times I have been disappointed in most cases. I still start with it though.
DrO
Member:
sass

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 9, 2011 - 3:05 pm:

Hi Dr O, and thanks for your input!
I really do not wait as a rule, but it was to the point of finances are running out and I was sure she had a super small amount, had i found her later and not known it was one mouthful, i think i would have just called the vet.. but i was within seconds of her first cough and grabbed the bucket back, she was very mellow, pacing here and there but very calm. i have a feeling she probably did this more times then i found and called the vet for, shes not one to be calm in general. I did put her right into a bare stall, but i was "iffy" about the length of time it was taking, I do remember the last time when she was tubed, the block was way down, and was loosened easily, it went down almost as soon as he found it.. so i was thinking at that point it would have resolved on its own that time had i waited a little longer. I had read about the oxytocin? is that what you were referring to? Or would perhaps some type of sedation be of more use to relax and let it move?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 9, 2011 - 3:55 pm:

Sometimes you have no choice but to wait. Not once have I had a horse choke nor have another emergency during normal vet clinic hours; it's always late, or on a weekend or holiday. Times when in our area at least, it is almost impossible to get a vet, even though I have personal cell numbers for two of them.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Nov 12, 2011 - 12:15 pm:

Sass, check the article out, it will have our latest medication recommendations and we also discuss the use of sedation and it's purposes.
DrO
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