3 month old with choke

[Pipruda Miniature Horses]

Sitting here waiting for the vet, my 3 month old colt is choking, goodness knows what on as he is out in the pasture with the mare.

Anyone had anything like this, any advice welcome.

Prayers needed

 

[Miniv]

You must be very scared.......I know *I* would be!

Unless you are experienced with tubing a horse, the only thing I can recommend doing is massaging the foal's neck from the jowel area and on down......

We had a mild choke once and doing the massage while my husband ran to call the vet, the horse dislodged whatever it was on his own.

 

[Julie/Azariah]

I just had a 2 month old filly choke last week. Was a horrible thing to see, she was getting nothing down and I don't know how long she was like that.

Also turned out in a paddock or pasture.

Head down, milk and stuff coming out of both nostrils (were full, no room to get air in w/o moving fluid) and mouth. Eyes BIG. I could feel the lump

She is fine now, but I was sure a wreck til we got her cleared.

During the walk down to the barn it caused her to cough like crazy so much that she couldn't walk,

Vet met me down there and stuck a tiny tube down, then larger one. That was enough...vet thinks that the walk down and coughing helped to loosen it.

I have had other experience with choke....that made me a wreck with this one :O(

Saying prayers for you and your colt. I sure hope it goes as smoothly as it did for us.

Babies put EVERYTHING into their mouths.. could have been POOP!

Watch for fever and signs of not feeling well for a week or so, as they can aspirate and get a pneumonia afterwards from the fluid in the lungs.

 

[Mona]

Good luck with your baby! I know how scary it is! I went through something similar a couple of summers ago with one of my suckling colts. He was also in the pasture with his dam and other mares and foals, and apparently he must havetried eating a ball of manure and choked. He had green foamy stuff coming from his nose and kept trying to cough it up to dislodge it and couldn't. I have NO vet at all, so I had to try getting it to move on my own, and was within an hour or so, fortunate to have gotten it dislodged or flattened enough to move it along by massageing the throat all the way down. It is definately VERY scary and something I hope to never have to experience here again!! Good Luck!

 

[Pipruda Miniature Horses]

Well good news although all the symptoms of choke, it isn't. He seems to have cut his tongue somehow and because it is sore it is making him salivate.

We have to check his temperature in the morning and if there are any more problems the vet will visit again.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[~Lisa~]

How is he this morning?

 

[Riverdance]

Choke is very scary. Over the years I have had three and a person who had a horse here for breeding, their foal choked too. Usually it is because they have eaten too much manure. Something young foals do to get the right bacteria into their guts.

I have learned to fill a 60 cc syringe with water and slowly get the foal to drink the water. It dislodges the ball of manure and the foal will recover pretty quickly after that. Then you just have to watch for any fever incase they got some in their lungs.

Glad to hear your foal is doing better.