Slobbering and coughing mini

[jaytori220]

The first time I noticed our mini mare slobbering and coughing I called the vet out cause I suspected a partial choke situation. She came out and assessed the mare. Temp was good. Only other signs were stretching out and trying to clear her throat. Vet witnessed all of it. We sedated her and flushed her mouth out. All symptoms releived themselves. Vet wasnt sure what was wrong. Then about a month later the same thing happened. I didnt call the vet out. I flushed her mouth out when I noticed her slobbering. No coughing at that time. Then yesterday she started it again. Slobbering and coughing. Previous owner said that she has always slobbered and drooled. Vet ruled out her needing a float and that they were recently done. Vet did notice that she doesnt open her mouth as wide as she should. She cant eat hay well so I give her bagged hay. Which she can eat much better. She is special needs as has other issues. Has anyone ever experienced this? I usually notice her slobbering when she eats. Especially grass. I have not found any plant or clover or anything else that could cause it. We do have a bunch of scrub oaks and a pepper tree at the back of the property. But i never see her eating anything from them. She does eat in a huge patch of grass that I used to have some goats on thats really green and naturally fertilized from the goats when I had them. I looked around for clover or anything else and found nothing. I am suspecting ulcers, which she has no other symptoms of or something she is getting into. Also possibly not being able to open her mouth wide although she has enough clearance to chew. Im stumped. Ive searched everywhere online and really havent found anything that says "thats it"! Any ideas? It usually resolves itself. But she usually slobbers so bad when eating anything that it soaks her feed and hay. Im in Florida BTW....

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I've learned recently from firsthand experience that once a horse chokes they are very likely to have subsequent episodes. Maybe.you have something different going on but it sounds like choke to me. Is there another vet to consult or maybe call the first one back and explain it is now a recurring event?

I hope you get some answers.

 

[happy appy]

Slobbering is a sign of pain in the mouth. I'm dealing with a boarders horse with a broken tooth. The vet did a visual close inspection of the teeth and found a crack in one of the molars. We had it xrayed and found that it was cracked to the root. What prompted us to look in his mouth was that he was drooling and not eating his hay well. Sometimes he is great and others it seems to flair up and hurt. When it is hurting, he is drooling.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Sounds alot like my horse did when he choked. I recommend getting her scoped and see if there is a problem. I highly recommend soaking her food. I will not give my horse dry grain anymore, his food will be soaked, but he can handle dry hay just fine. Right now he is just on a all hay diet.

 

[disneyhorse]

This animal obviously has something going on in it's throat, mouth, or teeth and its impossible for any of us to diagnose that over the Internet. I would suggest getting a full diagnostic done on the horse so that it can eat comfortably. It does not sound like they are comfortable eating and may even be in great pain... Animals are stoic about pain particularly when it comes to basic functions like eating.

I don't think it sounds like ulcers, unless her checks are totally ulcerated raw but a vet should be able to see ulcerated cheeks when doing a dental float.

Please get help for your animal, sounds like a chronic or long-suffering issue that needs to be resolved.

Good luck,

Andrea

 

[chandab]

Slobbering is a sign of pain in the mouth. I'm dealing with a boarders horse with a broken tooth. The vet did a visual close inspection of the teeth and found a crack in one of the molars. We had it xrayed and found that it was cracked to the root. What prompted us to look in his mouth was that he was drooling and not eating his hay well. Sometimes he is great and others it seems to flair up and hurt. When it is hurting, he is drooling.

I'm dealing with this right now. He's got something going on in his mouth, so while I'm waiting for the vet appointment, he's on a small dose of banamine to alleviate the discomfort, so he can eat comfortably while we wait for the vet appointment (which the soonest I could schedule is next week). After his first dose of banamine, he was already comfortable enough to eat his full meal without slobbering tons. [And, he doesn't like soaked feed, so its a careful balancing act to wet it just enough to make it easy to eat with out putting him off the feed.]

 

[Mona]

I would think that the slobbering, combined with the coughing and stretching of the neck, points to classic choke symptoms.

 

[stormy]

So I have two a little more off the wall experiances with recuriing slobbering and coughing.

first was a young horse with a deviated septum and upon scoping was found to also have a malformed epiglottis and elongated soft palet. He coughed and slobbered because the epiglottis would not close off the airway sufficiently to prevent food from entering the airway....as he got older he learned to exhale when swallowing and his issues became less pronounced.

Second was a 29 yr old stallion who had lost most of his molars. roots of the molars can connect to the sinus cavities and when he lost them an opening was left directly into his sinuses. he often had foamy nasal discharge and foamed while chewing because of the missing teeth. All his food was well soaked.

and of course as others have said...what you are describing are classic choke symptoms.

 

[dannigirl]

First thing I thought of was choke also. Is it possible to have an equine special vet to see her? Sometimes a regular vet just doesn't understand what a vet that has special equine training will find in no time. Good luck

 

[mizbeth]

Typically - classic choke symptoms include discharge from the nostril and the mouth at the same time - thus the "choke" - greenish in color no matter what they have eaten. Something is not right no matter what and should be checked as soon as possible. I have also had Vets that tell me the horse does not need floating, and a week later Carl come and horse has ulcers in its mouth from hooks???? So not all Vets have experience in this matter.

Good luck -

 

[jaytori220]

I do not beleive its choke. When we flushed her mouth the water went right down. And she will still eat and drink during an "episode." Also she doesnt seem to be in pain. When the vet and I opened her mouth she did not have ulcers nor did she have hooks. She even had me look to see if I thought I saw something. Her teeth were all nice and even with no sores or ulcers inside anywhere. I also was given banamine paste just incase there was something going on in her mouth. She still didnt stop her slobbering. When she eats you can hear how wet and sloppy it is. And she soaks her feed. She does not always cough when she slobbers either. Her slobbering is everytime she eats. She never has any discharge from her nose. And depending what she is eating at that time determines what color her slobber is. I am going to have the equine dentist out to check her teeth soon. To rule out any kind of dental issues. Like a cracked tooth. Maybe she can shed some light to the slobbering issue.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I would still recommend getting her scoped.