dealing with the aftermath of choke? vibes please :(

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sophiebailey

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Hi all,

Came back from a weeks holiday last night to find my little man had a bad episode of choke on Tuesday night. He had something stuck in his gullet that didn't budge on Tuesday after 2 hours of flushing, and only budged on Wednesday after a hell of a lot of muscle relaxant and another 1 1/2 hours flushing. I now have a very grumpy Bailey with a nasty lung/chest infection. I'm following all of the advice given by the vet (obviously) he's having his first night out in the paddock tonight since Tuesday (he's been in his box) has anyone got any tried & tested tips for helping your horse through the aftermath of choke?

The mucus he's coughing up is no longer coloured and isn't particularly thick so I hope that's a positive sign that the infection is clearing up (he's on antibiotics). He's being allowed to graze for 3 hours, then in for one hour, then back out for three hours etc and tonight i'll put him out at 9pm and leave him out until 8am.

To encourage him to drink he's got a wealth of salt licks in his field, some of which we're pouring molasses over to encourage him to lick them. He's not drinking a great deal and is very tucked in, but i'm hoping that'll improved the longer he's out at pasture.

Any tips welcome, feel distraught I was sunning myself in Turkey whilst my boy was in so much trouble :( thank goodness for my friend who stayed with him all week in my absence :(

xxx
 
When my youngster had choke, we were lucky she didn't aspirate (which it sounds yours may have done to get a lung infection).
But the vet did manage to damage her trachea trying to get the hose down as she was pratting about despite sedation.
Her throat swelled up and took almost a month to disperse, and she was VERY picky with food for about six months after.
Very wet food helped in that time.
 
I would ask your vet for advice.

My boy has had choke twice, but no-where near as bad as that. The first time was just a lump in his throat which I massaged til it went down. The second time he had mucus coming out of his nose, I walked him to keep things moving then he coughed and snorted it all out and was fine after.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm following the vet's advice to a tee but she said the same as you guys, she's not seen a case that bad in a while. We're at a loss as to what he may have eaten but we're thinking it may have been some tree bark as one of the fruit trees in the paddock has some bite marks up & down it. He's now fenced away from any trees and i've painted the fenceposts with anti-crib just in case. She's advised if it was tree bark then his throat will be very sore (and with the tube etc could be slightly grazed in places)

My main worry at the moment is he's not drinking enough water and is very tucked in and only doing approx 1 poo every 12 hours, but am hoping this is because he's been kept in with no hay since Tuesday night and only allowed to graze for a few hours at a time, after a few days of constant grazing that should get his digestive system going again shouldn't it? I'm lucky as we've had two 'dewy' mornings so there's alot of moisture in the grass he's eating.

Horses really are sent to try us aren't they :( my poor boy looks so miserable :(
 
Sorry to hear about your boy, it's very distressing isn't it.

I had a beautiful TB who had recurrent bouts of choke which was almost as awful for me to see as it was for him going through it :(

We couldn't feed him any hay at all and what feed he could have was soaked to a mush, but you are doing the best thing by just allowing him to graze for short periods, gradually increasing it.

With regards to drinking have you tried Horse Quencher? It's like a packet of goodies that you soak in his water which should encourage him to drink. I use it when I take mine to competitions and they love it so it may be worth a try.

I hope he recovers soon.
 
I have been there! It's awful. The first time my horse refused to eat anything other than grass for quite a few weeks after. Make up some very very sloppy sugar beet, both mollassed and speedibeet, and soaked high fibre nuts and/or grass nuts. If you can't pour it out a jug, it isn't wet enough! This should get some water and fibre into your horse. The tucked in appearance is more to do with an empty gut than lack of water. Does your horse actually graze when out? Often its very sore for them to put their head down. I feed at chest height as I find this lessens choke in my mare but we did discover she has an oesophagael melanoma that probably is the cause of her choke episodes. I'm sure your boy will recover with a bit of time.
 
Sorry to hear of your lad's problem, but glad he seems to be improving.

Have you tried flavouring the water? Apple, mint, sugar, anything really that he likes and which will get him drinking. There's also a rehydration powder that the eventers use, but I can't remember the name of it - try asking on Comp Riders.

Hugs hunny.
 
Thanks guys great idea! Will take some apple juice to the yard tonight and get to a feed store tomorrow and look for some of these water flavours!

He is grazing none stop whilst he's out, he's going to be out all day and night today with an hour in this morning (for his slop) and an hour tonight (again for his slop!) so will see if the apple juice works :) thanks!
 
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