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| My gelding is a chronic choker. Multiple tubings caused a lot of scar tissue and the last time he choked, the vet worked on him for 4+ hours - my poor boy was in shock and vet said the clog was way down deep. He recovered, but forever has to eat his hay out of a *very* small hole hay net ( a slow feeder ) and he gets soupy alf cubes each day to mix his supplements. Hasn't had a choke since using the slow feeder :) |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
 
| The last and 4th time my horse choked was on purina active sr. No idea how he pulled that one off. Since then I've just switched to whole oats and renew gold and a vitamin/mineral supplement added in. So far so good. Choke is very scary and a very helpless feeling. With the cold coming I'll probably add in soaked beet pulp or the sr again but I will for sure be soaking it. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
 
Location: Florida.. | is that textured ( a soft pellet ) or pelleted ? .. Id definately soak add water no matter what you use.. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | If I were you I would look into the BlueBonnet feeds, they have a nice Senior feed called Intensify Senior Therapy..  |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Bibliafarm - 2015-11-19 3:28 PM
is that textured ( a soft pellet ) or pelleted ? ..  Id definately soak add water no matter what you use..
The active sr was kinda weird.. it was dry, very much beet pulp based. Wouldn't say it was textured more of a pellet mixed with beet shreds.. . I only went through a few bags because it was too dry in my opinion for being a sr feed. Probably good reason why he choked on it.. if I decide to go back to a sr this winter I'll go with the regular purina sr or if I can get the feed store that carries blue bonnet to get the senior in for me I'll go that route.
Well I just looked up the blue bonnet sr therapy and I'm gonna have to pass on it.. it contains peanut hulls. I'm am absolutely deathly allergic to anything peanut related.. even touching anything with peanut traces in it sends me running for the epi pen. Darn.. I like blue bonnet too.
Edited by want2chase3 2015-11-19 3:52 PM
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | maybe the reg sr would work better i love the texture of it.. and add water if you can..but its much softer.. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | want2chase3 - 2015-11-19 3:46 PM Bibliafarm - 2015-11-19 3:28 PM is that textured ( a soft pellet ) or pelleted ? .. Id definately soak add water no matter what you use.. The active sr was kinda weird.. it was dry, very much beet pulp based. Wouldn't say it was textured more of a pellet mixed with beet shreds.. . I only went through a few bags because it was too dry in my opinion for being a sr feed. Probably good reason why he choked on it.. if I decide to go back to a sr this winter I'll go with the regular purina sr or if I can get the feed store that carries blue bonnet to get the senior in for me I'll go that route. Well I just looked up the blue bonnet sr therapy and I'm gonna have to pass on it.. it contains peanut hulls. I'm am absolutely deathly allergic to anything peanut related.. even touching anything with peanut traces in it sends me running for the epi pen. Darn.. I like blue bonnet too.
Oh no I'm sorry, glad you looked up the Bluebonnet  |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | canchaserdreams - 2015-11-19 3:08 PM
My gelding is a chronic choker. Multiple tubings caused a lot of scar tissue and the last time he choked, the vet worked on him for 4+ hours - my poor boy was in shock and vet said the clog was way down deep. He recovered, but forever has to eat his hay out of a *very* small hole hay net ( a slow feeder ) and he gets soupy alf cubes each day to mix his supplements. Hasn't had a choke since using the slow feeder :)
Well, just the fact that he choked at all causes scarring. It damages the esophagus and every time the esophagus gets a choke stuck in it, when it heals it heals smaller than original. Aggressive tubing can definitely scratch up the lumen of the esophagus and damage it worse. |
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Veteran
Posts: 129
| Gave him the purina equine senior tonight and soaked it he ate all of it although he is not getting very much about 1/4 scoop. After eating I turned him out with my other two and he just goes off and stands by himself acts like he is depressed..... |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Glad he ate it.. The antibiotics can make them feel a bit lethargic and possibly even not hungry.. as long as hes drinking and not running a fever or coughing Id just keep eye on him.. or call to assure yourself and let vet know..my mare had choke.. I hung on her neck so her head was down and gave banamine iv to relax her muscles..
she ended up aspirating and got Pneunomia and was in UF on and off for 4 months.. I lost her at the end. It can be quite serious.. Id soak the food.. all food..
Edited by Bibliafarm 2015-11-19 7:35 PM
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Shortbus - 2015-11-19 7:05 PM
Gave him the purina equine senior tonight and soaked it he ate all of it although he is not getting very much about 1/4 scoop. After eating I turned him out with my other two and he just goes off and stands by himself acts like he is depressed.....
Poor guy.. I've been through it with my gelding... when he had to be tubed for his choke he had a cough for several weeks. He wasn't the same horse. Hopefully he will be ok soon. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | You have gotten good advice so I'll send prayers and hugs.. |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| LMS - 2015-11-19 12:17 PM
I have a younger horse that choked early this summer and he will still have some issue from time to time-nothing he can't figure out so far.....wondering if I should be adding water to his feed-he gets oats and ground flax-he just simply eats too fast-maybe I need to put something in his bucket to slow him down? Like a smooth rock?? Sorry to jump in here OP I hope your horse gets to feeling better soon. Â
Yes, put as couple of large smooth rocks in the feed tub. It will slow the greedy eater down. River rock works well-smooth, rounded edges. |
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 Nothing Comes Easy
Posts: 2353
Location: Texas | Â I managed a terrible choker for almost 3 years. She couldn't eat anything dry, not even pasture or hay and if her mash was not perfect she would choke.Nutrena Senior is the best for making a mash. It's very soft, and liquifies in hot water in minutes. I personally fed small alfalfa pellets soaked in hot water. Standlee pellets are not good for soaking. I used local made pellets, and made sure they were the small ones so they soaked faster. I let them soak overnight for safety of my mare. She ate in a large metal trough. I dumped the mash in and added more water. I kept large rocks or bricks in the bin to slow her down. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bibliafarm - 2015-11-19 11:08 AM
we fed alfalfa hay and pasture with no problem..
Id add about a quart of soaked beet pulp to the grain and add water to a mush.. he should LOVE the sr grain.. its very tasty.. you can add more after he adjusts.. shreds are quicker to soak I prefer them over pellets , if you get pellets you need to add more water.. it turns to a thick mush which I dont like it to thick.. shreds are more spongy and watery..also with winter here soaked beet pulp gets more fluid in their gut..glad hes on antibiotics as a precaution..
^^^^ this absolutely |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | casualdust07 - 2015-11-19 10:52 AM him eating hay makes me nervous, usually when horses choke they don't want you feeding a bunch of roughage again. he should be eating a slurry. maybe find a feed that is really palatable and sweet and get it into a mash.
This. My horse choked a couple of months ago due to scar tissue (from an old kick wound) swelling from a severe allergic reaction combined with gobbling alfalfa pellets. He got nothing but a well soaked slurry of cubes for 2 days, then soaked cubes and green grass for a week. Just to be safe, I now make a soup out of his alfalfa pellets and sprinkle the rice bran on top. And the vet gave me an emergency drug stash in case he has another allergic reaction. I think he got stung by something.
This was my first choke and it scared the ever loving crap out of me. And it turns out we were lucky because it was lower in his esophagus and I caught it immediately, so he didn't regurgitate or aspirate. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Shortbus - 2015-11-19 7:05 PM
Gave him the purina equine senior tonight and soaked it he ate all of it although he is not getting very much about 1/4 scoop. After eating I turned him out with my other two and he just goes off and stands by himself acts like he is depressed.....
Could you do me a favor and look at the ingredients on your sr feed? I've been trying to see it online for purina but haven't had much luck. I saw one from 2005 and it did list peanut hulls too. |
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 Knowledge is Power
Posts: 4051
Location: wherever my daughter's running | Stride - 2015-11-19 10:56 PM I managed a terrible choker for almost 3 years. She couldn't eat anything dry, not even pasture or hay and if her mash was not perfect she would choke.Nutrena Senior is the best for making a mash. It's very soft, and liquifies in hot water in minutes. I personally fed small alfalfa pellets soaked in hot water. Standlee pellets are not good for soaking. I used local made pellets, and made sure they were the small ones so they soaked faster. I let them soak overnight for safety of my mare. She ate in a large metal trough. I dumped the mash in and added more water. I kept large rocks or bricks in the bin to slow her down.
I second the Nutrena Senior - I had much better results with it than Purina. I also agree with the soaking and then adding extra water to the feed onec it is in the trough. Using hot water works wonders in the cold weather. I haul hot water to the barn to soak the Nutrena and alfalfa and oat cubes. By using hot water it has turned to mush by the time I clean stalls, put out hay and check water. I also use my bare hands to marsh through the food to make sure there are not large pieces of cubes that are still hard. |
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 Worst.Housekeeper.EVER.
Location: Missouri | want2chase3 - 2015-11-19 3:23 PM The last and 4th time my horse choked was on purina active sr. No idea how he pulled that one off. Since then I've just switched to whole oats and renew gold and a vitamin/mineral supplement added in. So far so good. Choke is very scary and a very helpless feeling. With the cold coming I'll probably add in soaked beet pulp or the sr again but I will for sure be soaking it.
I know vets will recommend whole oats, but that was the worst choke for my chronic choker! The vet was shocked that she could choke on them (even wet, which doesn't really help.) The pelleted feeds will break down with the flushing, but an oat bolus, not so much. It was a long painful process to have that one cleared...
My current feed is soaked cheap-y senior pellets from MFA, which is not a complete feed (so that I don't have to feed as much volume.) My mare is 32+, so I also give her lots of soaked alfalfa pellets. She also gets supplements to help maintain her weight. No chokes on this, so far.
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Veteran
Posts: 129
| want2chase3 - 2015-11-20 7:58 AM
Shortbus - 2015-11-19 7:05 PM
Gave him the purina equine senior tonight and soaked it he ate all of it although he is not getting very much about 1/4 scoop. After eating I turned him out with my other two and he just goes off and stands by himself acts like he is depressed.....
Could you do me a favor and look at the ingredients on your sr feed? I've been trying to see it online for purina but haven't had much luck. I saw one from 2005 and it did list peanut hulls too.
I don't see peanut hulls in it. There is soybean hulls. |
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