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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 561
 
Location: somewhere in the south | I think my horse chokes sometimes when he eats his grain........he doesn't do it everytime just twice in the last few days. What do I need to do to help him not choke? He's not a fast eater nor a "chunk full mouth" eater. He normally eats very slowly and easy.........? What causes this?
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What About Me?
Posts: 5199
 
| Get him to the vet and get him checked.. having a horse that choked it's not pretty if he happens to have something stuck you don't want other food catching on it.. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Take him to the vet |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| Feed at ground level. |
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  Playing the Waiting Game
Posts: 2304
| I think I'd take him to the vet and be sure there isn't a stick or something lodged in his throat that food is catching on. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I agree with the others take him to a vet and have him checked out. The next time may not be so good. |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| He could have a stricture in his esophagus or could have developed a "pocket" in it. He needs to be seen by a vet immediately. |
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 Worst.Housekeeper.EVER.
Location: Missouri | Feed a pelleted feed, soaked to a mash.
Once they choke, they are prone to do it again b/c of the damage to the esophagus. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 974
Location: In the wrong place at the wrong time | What everyone else said and this ^^^^^^^^^ |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | See vet for choking. While there have teeth done. Take a hose and shove up sides of cheeks to remove any hay clumps with the water running. If the teeth are bad sometimes they will get wads of hay stuck near the back molars. |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | First during choke never run a hose into mouth with water into their throat..
second pull head down towards ground and massage his throat
give banamine to help relax muscles if you can
call vet if it is bad or becomes more frequent.. wet their food to make it soupy
and also you may want to see if he has scar tissue from the choke because usually once he does it can be come more frequent. You also need to keep a eye out on horse over the next few weeks.. if he begins to get raspy or run a temp then he could have aspirated food into his lungs and get a infection or secondary pnuemonia.sometimes vet will give antibiotics just to be sure.
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | You need to get him to the vet. Sounds like something is lodged in there making him choke. Not to scare you but my daughter in law just lost a horse to choke. He spent 3 days in the hospital but they were unable to save him. |
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 I Am Always Right
Posts: 4264
Location: stray dump capital of the world | I don't want to scare you, but my mare had a "choking" episode. Our vet came out and suggested we get her to an equine hospital out of fear that she could develop aspiration pneumonia. We took her the next morning and when they scoped her, she had chondrits and scar tissue formation in her nasopharynx. She was almost completely shut off. This resulted in an emergency and permanent trach. Without the trach, she would have died. We prayed on the way that she wouldn't have pneumonia. We got our wish, but she got a trach. On the upside, she is perfectly normal and able to do everything but swim.
I agree with the others that you need to see a vet. Pneumonia is very serious and pretty common if they aspirate. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 561
Location: somewhere in the south | Thanks for all the valuable information and I have contacted my vet but haven't heard back yet................he is ok for now but I will have him checked out asap! Say a prayer for my boy............is so very special to me!! |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 871
Location: Bama | One of my girls, the chunky one in my avatar, choked by eating way to fast a few months ago. When it happened, she was obviously uncomfortable. It appeared as if she was trying to vomit. We all know this is impossible. After a few times attempting to get something up, a green sludge(some of the food that had been stuck) started pouring from her mouth and nose. It was SCARY! I kept her head down to help with possible aspiration. She continued to do this until she had only clear froth coming out. The vet came within an hour and stuck a tube up her nose and pumped water into her esophagus then allowed it to drain and repeated the process several times. I gave her an oral antibiotic and checked her temps daily. She's back at trying to scarf food, but it's so soupy she wears more than she eats. That's one experience I will never forget.
I'd definitely have your guy checked out. Have his teeth been checked? What is your guy doing that makes you think he's choking? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 561
Location: somewhere in the south | The first time he stopped eating in the middle of his food and left his bucket, started to move around, laid down a few times (I originally thought he was colicing), but kept trying to swallow, then after a few minutes seemed fine. The episode yesterday he was in his stall, I heard an awful racket and saw him laying down.............he got up, walked out to the paddock then just kept lowering his head like he was trying to get something out......10-15 minutes later, he was ok................ |
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Location: Texas | What are you feeding him right now? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 561
Location: somewhere in the south | Purina Strategy Healthy Edge. I have talked to the vet since my last post and she wants him on mashy feed, soaked alfalfa cubes for a week and taking temp 2 x a day to check for infection. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | turn3nhome - 2015-04-05 9:56 AM Purina Strategy Healthy Edge. I have talked to the vet since my last post and she wants him on mashy feed, soaked alfalfa cubes for a week and taking temp 2 x a day to check for infection.
Hope that everything is ok with your horse  , I have seen choke and its not something I want around here, prayers that it wont happen again |
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| Sorry to hear about your horse's choke..I have a chronic choker, he has scar tissue from previous episodes/being tubed by vet, and can only eat his hay out of a slow feeder hay net. And soaked alfalfa pellets for supplements. Vet told me never let him have access to hay unless it's in a slow feeder, as he will most likely always have this problem. Its downright scarey to witness . |
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Choking horse...............what to do?