Mini Mare in Foal Choked

[Wtgr36]

Our Mini mare that is 6mos in foal choked yesterday. (She is also on 3cc 2x day for copd.) Has been for 3 months.

That was the first time this has personally happened, it was awful. Eventually cleared it herself while Vet was on way. And resumed to her plain old coughing.

She had crackling in her lungs. I am giving her with Naxcel IM injection once a day for 6 days after intial dose yesterday. Also giving her Banamine paste for pain as needed. I basically hand fed her two hours after vet left last night.

Today she still had no temp, but has upper respiratory inflammation, and she sounds moist when you listen to her nostrils. Her trachia has alot of mucus. Vet says just keep a good eye on her.

Her appetite is good, she has perked up alot since yesterday. She's pooping and peeing, and I'm aware that antibiotics may cause diarhea.

Other than being fed 3 smaller meals a day Hay in AM, 1/4 lb pellets and small amount of hay in afternoon, and 1lb pellets and 1/4 flake of hay in evening. I've slowed down her feeding by putting a smooth good sized river rock in her feed bucket so that she cannot inhale her pellets, and is forced to slow down a bit while eating.

Any other suggestions out there that may help?

Also, I am thinking when fall comes around she will do better with her copd. She is in a dry pasture.Stall just to feed and I watch her carefully.

What are some thoughts on all of the meds while she's in foal? Obviously, my Vet says this is all ok for her, and her comfort and health are my primary concern.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Anything to watch for or to share about this would be great!

Thanks,

Loreen

 

[HGFarm]

I have had a couple of Minis choke on pellets in the past.... one just seemed to do it a lot, so no more pellets. I just worried about it too much and dont want to risk a problem.

Will they eat them soaked if you do that?

Choke is really scary, and back in the 70's lost a full sized mare to that (not from pellets though). It was awful.

I dont have much info to offer in the way of avoiding it, other than just dont feel regular horse pellets, or maybe to soak them. I've never had problems with any Minis choking on the smaller pellets like the Equine feeds and things like that........

I hope your mare will be ok!!

 

[kaykay]

Her copd makes her higher risk to choke probably no matter what she eats. I would soak the grain or pellets

 

[~Lisa~]

They can choke for many reasons sometimes it is simply eating to fast - my T/B used to choke he was a cribber and would sometimes forget to finish chewing before he started cribbing most of the time the food would just fall out other times he would get choke.

It can be very scary if she is eating to fast you can try putting some large rocks in her bucket sometimes they do slow down a bit as they try and move the rocks around to get the feed

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I had a mare choke right after delivering her foal, had to have her tubed and scoped, even after getting that cleared up, soaking her feed etc. she choked on us two other times afterward.. For her we ended up cutting out forage (second time she choked it was on grass), she got "pellet soup" aka super soaked pellets to the point it looked like mash, and she also got soaked alfalfa cubes which we broke up so it was literally in the pieces not chunks.. No idea why she choked to begin with, teeth were good etc. was nibbling through fresh straw I had put down after she foaled and started to gag

 

[Wtgr36]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I started soaking her Platform mini horse pellets yesterday, and she is doing well. I do watch her eat, and keep an eye on her. She is such a good girl, she doesn't even mind her shots. She takes her Albut and Banamine orally really well, she opens her mouth for me without a fuss at all.

Vet came out for recheck, and crackling in her lung has decreased alot. He is going to have me continue the antibiotic shots for 6 days instead of three, stopping only if she develops side effects.

For now, just keeping a close eye on her, giving her meds, watching her eat, and giving her lots of love and hugs.

Choke is one of the scariest episodes I have ever experienced...I was calm through the whole thing, and then fell apart later that night...

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Wet her pellets to mush. Make her drink her dinner!

It worked for our guy just fine (till the farm sitter didn't wet it enough and he choked again- this time we lost him).

Lucy

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Choke is so very scary for anyone who loves their horse to watch; many of us have been there. My vet was astonished that my elderly Arab choked on pellets- he was sure at first that it must have been a wad of hay but when he tubed him what came out was a mass of half-chewed, gummy senior feed pellets. Same thing the next two times.

Finally the second vet who saw him suggested soaking his feed until it was a wet soup and that has done the trick for many years now. This horse can't chew hay anymore so removing the pellets from his diet is not an option as he lives on beet pulp, hay pellets and senior feed but now that we feed it sopping wet he *knock on wood* has had no problems.

The difficulty with choke is that after the first bad episode or two the throat will develop scarring that further constricts the esophagus and makes it even harder for them to get food down. Keep soaking that Platform! And you might consider soaking her hay as well for awhile to soften it and avoid irritating the lining of her throat as it heals.

Good luck, and I'm glad to hear she's doing better overall.

Leia

 

[disneyhorse]

I had a mini foal choke on hay, and the scarring he got make him only able to eat pellets afterwards.

So I'm not sure the pellets are at fault, I think some horses just eat too fast! I would agree with trying to soak them or putting big rocks in the feed trough.

Andrea

 

[spottedminis45107]

i agree with basically what everyone else was saying and soakin her pellets but not a whole lot,just enough to mush 'em up. we actaully soak our one lil minis grain cause she wont eat it any other way! but if its too watery shes like yeah not!

 

[Wtgr36]

Thanks everyone, I really appriciate your input! I am soaking her pellets and hay, she is eating soaked pellets without a problem! She continues to get better daily!