Spasming Oesophagus.....any experiences?!!

A

Allover

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 July 2010
Messages
2,155
Visit site
One of the horses i looked after had this yesterday, i went to the stables and noticed that he was standing with his nose pointing out and his head down, he then started to get "discharge" from his mouth and nose which was slimy and clear and ful of grass!!! Anyway it was only a small amount so i watched him for a bit and within 2 minutes he was producing masses of this stuff from nose and mouth, i have never seen anything like it!!!. I called the vet who was there in 10 minutes and in this time the discharge had stopped and the horse was mostly back to normal and wanting to eat.

Anyway the vet said that he had a "spasming oesophagus" and that its commonly seen in racehorses after fast work (he is a predominantly a racehorse vet) gave him an anti-spasmodic and said he should now be fine, we have been cutting down his tummy supplement as he had been off work for a month so we are putting it down to this and upped it again.

Anyone seen this before, myself and the vet do not speak the same mother tongue so want to make sure i got his diagnosis correct and whether it is called something else in the UK!!!
 
Yes I have seen it, Twice... but I beg to differ on your vets explanation. This sounds like choke to me. I am happy to be told I am wrong, but from what you describe it sounds like the horse trying to clear obstruction. That in itself is a spasming Oesophagus, but I would think it was choke that caused it.
Particles of food coming out of nose and mouth with lots of saliva is fairly typical
 
Choke was my first thought too though i always thought that with a true choke the symptoms would be a bit more severe.

The way the vet explained it to me was that the horses gut splashes acid when the horse works, the oesophagus spasms, to counter act the acid the horse produces lots of saliva and "flushes" the same way as it does with choke.

Both are treated with anti spasmodic drugs in the first instance it seems.
 
Sounds like choke to me too. One of ours did this last night, although not that extreme, just a few mins of looking uncomfortable with a few spasms and he was ok. Only happens when he tries to gobble hay to fast when fed in the field :rolleyes:
 
Does sound very much like choke to me too.

I've had a horse with a spasming oesophegus and he would just drop large amounts of food such as hay or long grass. He was fine eating chaff and grain feeds - but feed him hay and he would chew it and then be unable to swallow it. He was a TB out of racing.

He did very well on having his hay ration chaffed up
 
Was he making any noises when this was happening?
I ask because a few times in the last six months, I have heard my gelding making gurgling noises in his throat whilst eating. It was almost a continuous noise which lasted several minutes. He looked slightly uncomfortable about doing it but there was nothing coming down his nose, just the weird noise.
 
I know a little more about choke now as I am the editor of my yards newsletter where I keep my horse and I did an article about choke in it last month. The best thing to do when a horse has choke its keep its head down as low as possible whilst gently massaging the throat. Take all food away - believe it or not some horses may try to cram more down their throat in an effort to relieve the obstruction. Colic can be a secondary to choke (presumably due to the stress involved). 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.
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.

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 esophagus due to a tumour or from scarring from old injuries. The vet will advise on this.

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. This helps with spasming of the oesophegus. As most things are from what I can gather its being triallled in America first. The results are encouraging but additional research is being done to find the optimum dosage and how exactly to use the drug.

Here's a fact sheet I've found about it
http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/1997/Meyer2.pdf
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top