Coughing up phlegm and food coming down his nose

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Caroline1805

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I have bought the most adorable pony for my little girl (5) they have already competed and brought home rossettes..... The problem that we have is that he coughs alot - we had the vet out who scoped him and said he is absolutely fine and to treat him as normal. I am concerned that yet again he has had a prolonged coughing fit and then what looked like food coming down his nose and then coughed up clear phlegm came out, which is what happened when the vet. We have also been told that its not choke? He does seem pretty quiet but nothing out of the ordinary. If he has any food other than nuts he does appear to get worse. We have checked as mush as we can all he comes in contact with whether that is his bedding or feed and hay and nothing we do seems to help him. I just want to make sure that he is not suffering or is uncomfortable. Thankyou in advance - any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
It does sound like choke to me?..does he cough at other times other than eating? ....do you feed the nuts dry? if so, I would add some water or soak them slightly or try feeding something like Fast Fibre instead which needs soaking to a mash.
Have you had his teeth checked to make sure there are no problems making it hard for him to eat or chew properly.
I would also bed him down on something dust free and wet/steam or soak his hay.
If nothing improves I would ask to have adifferent vet check him
 
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Sounds like choke to me too.

Make sure you feed his nuts well soaked (at least an hour prior to feeding), and also feed his food sloppy.

I also found that giving hard feed before hay in the evening prevented the choke.
 
Hi thankyou for your reply, Yes he coughs when my little one 1st gets on him, maybe about 5 or six times and then thats it but it is everytime. We tried fast fibre, like you say because it is soaked and it all came down his nose, the vet checked his teeth and confirmed they was ok??? He is on shavings but they are the reduced dust ones. We thought it could be the warm weather when we got him and now it has not got any better. looks like another call out from the vet is needed!! Poor little man, he is the sweetest natured pony I have ever had.
 
Gloi said:
Is there a possibility he may have a cleft palate, check out this thread and see if it sounds like him.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?310227-Horse-with-cleft-palate-any-ideas-advice
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My thoughts too! If it's not choke then this is usually when you see food coming down the nose.

I'm surprised the vet didn't look for this or suggest that you have him scoped.

Definitely continue to feed his nuts soaked, maybe mix with some easy beet. If he is gobbling his food fast place a few big stones in his feed so he has to eat around them.

I'd be inclined to have the vet out again, and if your vet is not a specialist equine vet I'd look at getting a different vet more experienced with horses.
 
Tnavas said:
I'm surprised the vet didn't look for this or suggest that you have him scoped.
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OP says he's been scoped and all is fine :)

However, clearly all is not fine so I would, as Tnavas says, want a specialist equine vet to check him out .

How old is the pony OP?
 
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Caroline1805 said:
Hi thankyou for your reply, Yes he coughs when my little one 1st gets on him, maybe about 5 or six times and then thats it but it is everytime. We tried fast fibre, like you say because it is soaked and it all came down his nose, the vet checked his teeth and confirmed they was ok??? He is on shavings but they are the reduced dust ones. We thought it could be the warm weather when we got him and now it has not got any better. looks like another call out from the vet is needed!! Poor little man, he is the sweetest natured pony I have ever had.
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What is his breathing like? Is it noisy or laboured? Is he quieter than normal....it could be a number of things but If he has been scoped and the vet has given him the all clear then it's strange.
Is he stabled near other horses and what bedding, forage are they using? Is he in a dusty environment regardless of your efforts to keep things dust free? Could he live out for a while to see if that helps?
 
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