Choke, when its a sign of something more serious

[smellsofhorse]

Anyone have any experience of when choke has turned out to be a symptom of something more serious?

Lumps, tumors, teeth, sac collecting food in trachea?

 

[Noodlebug]

My horse was choking and I have put a post up for any ideas. He was scoped and it was all fine. Has your horse been choking?

 

[oscarwild]

Has your horse been choking and if so for how long and how often does he choke?

I'm waiting on answers as to my horse choking. She choked around 10 weeks ago and then 4 weeks ago choked basically everytime it got haylage and occassionally hardfeed for basically 3 weeks. She was scoped and all clear. We have at pesent controlled it with feeding soaked haylage and making sure hardfeed is plenty wet.
No idea if they are linked but said mare has also now got a swelling in the saliva glands under her throat which is getting investigated too. Currently have no answers but it coud be a possible alergic reaction to something is all we have at present.

 

[windseywoo]

Thought my horse had choke on the monday so had vet out as breathing really raspy and he was in some distress. Had him all checked out and was told to keep an eye on him. Seemed to pick up and then on the friday while down yard he had another attack. Other symptoms included walking as if drunk and not seeming to focus, so knew it wasn't choke. Called the vet out again as he was struggling to breathe and sounded more like a pig than a horse. When vet came she basically said that it sounded like his trachea had collapsed and to cut a long story short by the 2.00pm my little man had been pts due to chronic liver failure. Sorry if that is not really what you want to hear, but I would definately get him/her checked out thoroughly. good luck.

 

[MiCsarah]

We had a pony a couple of weeks ago manage to get into the speedi-beat. Unsuprisingly he chocked and we almost lost him from loss of blood from tubing and him having an asthma attack. Was terrifying!

 

[smellsofhorse]

My boy has choked about 4 times in a week, them was fine for a couple of weeks the again 3 times in a week.
His good is thoroughly soaked, he seems to do it after eating haylage.
But like yesterday, he wasn't scoffing it, he only had about 4 mouthfuls, it was double netted too.

After initialy hoping it was just a coincidence the vet now thinks we should investigate further.
He is about 15 so could be more going on.
Hopefully it won't be serious but if its nothing, we will gave to be super strict. We thought we were doing the right things already and he still managed to choke!

 

[Noodlebug]

Has your horse been choking and if so for how long and how often does he choke?

I'm waiting on answers as to my horse choking. She choked around 10 weeks ago and then 4 weeks ago choked basically everytime it got haylage and occassionally hardfeed for basically 3 weeks. She was scoped and all clear. We have at pesent controlled it with feeding soaked haylage and making sure hardfeed is plenty wet.
No idea if they are linked but said mare has also now got a swelling in the saliva glands under her throat which is getting investigated too. Currently have no answers but it coud be a possible alergic reaction to something is all we have at present.

My horse seems to have somthing very similar. Never choked before but about 2 weeks ago choked every time he came in to eat haylage. Never choked on his hard feed. On Sat had ulcers in mouth and Sunday right hand side of his chin swelled up. He is now on antibiotics and vet think he is sticking nose where he shouldn't!! He hasn't choked for over a week now even with sores but SML nodes up and very lumpy under his chin. Scope showed nothing but vet did say it is hard to find any sore spots sometimes. I don't know if a virus or bacterial infection or allergy. He does have a pollen allergy but this year lungs are best they have ever been but he did cough a few times yesterday. He is absolutely fine in himself and eating well!! This year just seems to be very strange for lumps and hives. We have alsp had 2 other horse choke on yard and one on yard up the road. All of them never choked before. I found feeding the haylage off the floor seemed to help although I was worried that he would stuff too much in.

 

[Noodlebug]

My boy has choked about 4 times in a week, them was fine for a couple of weeks the again 3 times in a week.
His good is thoroughly soaked, he seems to do it after eating haylage.
But like yesterday, he wasn't scoffing it, he only had about 4 mouthfuls, it was double netted too.

After initialy hoping it was just a coincidence the vet now thinks we should investigate further.
He is about 15 so could be more going on.
Hopefully it won't be serious but if its nothing, we will gave to be super strict. We thought we were doing the right things already and he still managed to choke!

This also sounds very similar to mine even same age!! His has been going on for about 4 weeks and he would have choked more I stopped the haylage. The swelling under chin wasn't there at first and this came up later but the before the first episode of choke he had a puffy lip on the left which was treated as a sting or bite. The vet has tried danalon 4 a time and he still choked once after 3 days of treatment. Before that he went a week without but was on antibiotics. 2 days after stopping he choked. He wasn't eating it fast in fact if anything he looked like he was eating slower than normal. My vet went down TMD route as he looked odd in the jaw but osteopath has ruled that out. He would start eating and then just stop curl his lip and then start to choke. He always cleared it fairly quickley although didn't seem like when you are watching and it never came out of his nose.

 

[Noodlebug]

Any news on the choking?? Mine hasn't choked for over 2 weeks now but SML nodes keep coming up and down.

 

[oscarwild]

No I havent found out the cause to my mares choke but she hasnt choked since she been getting fed soaked haylage. Her glands have been going up and down depending if she up at yard or out in a field. So after 3 weeks got the vet to run bloods. Bloods came back last week and she has something wrong with her liver (no idea what yet) and she also has high muscle enzymes (so looks like she has tied up-but vet thinks its all kind of linked in) No idea how. So she on boxrest paddock at yard and stabled at night for 3 weeks and repeat bloods to see what changes before we go for next step of treatment.

Sorry I cant be of more help.

 

[madgeymoo]

we had a pony a few years back who started to choke
vet was out every other night to tube him it was getting more serious each time
after a week of this the vet gave him a lung wash and from that day we had no more episodes of choke

 

[kellybrown11]

a lady on my yard had it the other night and the vet said they are seeing one a day at the moment. he suggested that it could be due to lack of new grass due to the weather. So they are coming in hungry.

 

[Girlracer]

My old pony when i was younger was diagnosed with choke, she died 3 days later with TB

 

[Clare W]

My hunter is aged 12 and has recently been suffering from choke when eating his hard feed.
Start of the season and started feeding chop and pony nuts. He has farriers formula (has been on that for 12 months) and I dampen it just prior to feeding.
All episodes have been minor until last night which is when I recognised it as choke. Luckily it passed within the 20 minutes quoted by H&H (thank you) but still a horrible thing to witness and worrying.
He paces himself eating hay and grazing but he is a pig and doesn't come up for air when eating his feed!!!
I have been told put fist sized stones in his feed so he has to move them around to get it and so slows down, wet it so it's almost soup, fed it dry because they produce more saliver to moistern it, don't feed pony nuts......................., don't know what's right.
Any hints and tips welcome pleeeeeeeeeease.
Thanks from me and Charlie x

 

[Vetwrap]

a lady on my yard had it the other night and the vet said they are seeing one a day at the moment. he suggested that it could be due to lack of new grass due to the weather. So they are coming in hungry.

I think that there is a lot in this. My old boy is 23 and is very fit and well, but he is susceptible to choke. One week he had choke three times, but I find that the best course of action is to turn him back out again and observe him, until all symptoms pass. He has burst blood vessels previously, so I know how horrible and distressing it can look.

One thing that has been previously commented on, is that his incisors are uneven and that leveling them up may help. I have also noticed that he never chokes after exercise, always before, which also makes me think that it is due to him cramming as much in his mouth as he can! He is fed haylage from small holed nets routinely.

Would be interested to hear about other people's findings and experiences...

 

[oscarwild]

As I previously posted my horse choked basically every day for around 2 weeks or so. We still have found no cause for this but I can say we have controlled this by feeding soaked haylage and very wet hard feed.
I havent been brave enough to feed her a net of dry haylage since but if you give her small handful of this she does still makes the strange noises that she did before gagging anf choking. No idea what causes it. she been on boxrest for 6 weeks now for other reasons and is allowed out to graze in a boxrest paddock. And when out at grass this time I have noticed she has started making the strange noises out there too.
So we are just monitoring hert for the meantime.

 

[Oberon]

Last year my old boy was fine at 8pm when I put him away. Then I did a night shift and at 8am he hadn't eaten or drunk all night and had liquid pouring from the mouth.

I thought, grass sickness and after a moment of hysteria, called the vet.

Vet said choke. We ended up sending him in and after a few days he was found to have a salivary gland infection.

A course of antibiotics and some dental work and he was fine.

 

[Birker2020]

Anyone have any experience of when choke has turned out to be a symptom of something more serious?

Lumps, tumors, teeth, sac collecting food in trachea?

I do a monthly newsletter for the yard I keep my horse at and I last month wrote an article on choke. Choke can be caused by a variety of things including scar tissue in the oesophagus.

Here is my article in full. Please note I am not a vet, just a horse owner/rider with an interest in writing and journalism.

A-Z Vet Clinic – this month we look at Choke.

Horses will typically choke whilst eating. They may stop eating when this happens they can become distressed. The horse may try to swallow while stretching out their neck. Their mouth may frequently open and close. The horse’s mouth and nostrils may drip saliva and the saliva may be replaced by a watery green material as the partially dissolved food starts to back up into the nasal passages and mouth of the horse. Horses that are choking may produce a significant amount of saliva and this may be found on the stall floors and walls if the situation is left untreated for a long period of time.

Some horses may tolerate choke better than other horses. Other horses will salivate and cough up food particles while in distress and then may even try to cram more food into their mouths. Some horses may become so stressed, anxious and nervous at the lack of swallowing that they may develop colic secondary to choke. It is important that you get treatment for your horse no matter how they respond since there are serious consequences to persistent choke. Horses will become dehydrated if they are choked for long periods of time and their body can be robbed of high amounts of electrolytes due to the excessive saliva which can worsen the situation.

Necrosis or death of tissue can result if distention of the oesophagus walls occurs from the mass of hard, dry food and this can eventually lead to muscle tearing or the oesophagus itself can rupture. You should never feed your horses late since the threat of choke after feeding requires that they be observed for a little bit of time after they have finished eating. A serious situation can result if you put food in their buckets and then leave the yard, especially if a choking horse won’t be found until the next morning.

It is best for the horse owner to condition choke as a minor emergency. The food may be allowed to pass by removing all remaining food and trying to get the horse to relax by gently massaging their neck. Remember that you massage must be gentle in order for it to soothe the horse and soften the food mass in their oesophagus. Keeping the horses head down will prevent food them breathing food into their lungs which can cause aspiration pneumonia. Tranquilization of the horse and the use of a nasogastric tube to soften the food mass is the modern method of veterinary treatment. This is when the veterinarian inserts a tube in the horses nostril and passes it through the sinuses. The tube will go into the oesophagus by passing the back of the throat to get to the blockage.

In an attempt to dissolve the packed food the veterinarian will repeatedly flush warm water down the tube and then withdraw it. This method works well for small chokes although for larger cases it may take hours to completely dissolve. If a choke cannot be unblocked by a nasogastric tube then surgery may occasionally be used to relieve the choke.

Researchers have been recently testing the effects that oxytocin can have on horses with choke. Oxytocin is a drug commonly used to help with the muscle tone of a mare’s uterus and is commonly given by veterinarians to help the mare expel the placenta post-foaling. The results are encouraging but additional research is being done to find the optimum dosage and how exactly to use the drug.
Causes of Choke can be varied. It can be because the horse is not chewing the feed completely, due to dental problems, such as missing or painful teeth, sharp points, etc. Rectify this by ensuring your horses teeth are checked annually by an EDT (Equine Dental Technician). Another common cause is that the horse is not producing enough saliva to wet the food when eating. Always ensure food is well dampened prior to giving it to the horse. Some horses will bolt their food down which can cause choke so a good way to prevent this is to put some large stones in the horses feed bucket which has the effect of slowing the horse’s eating down. Finally choke can be caused by partial obstruction of the oesophagus due to a tumour or from scarring from old injuries. The vet will advise on this.