A horse that has choked once is likely to choke again very soon thereafter. Often this is because of the inflammation and swelling caused by the first choke. That’s why it’s a good idea to give the horse some banamine every day for 4 or 5 days after a choke, to bring the inflammation down.
You should get a good equine dentist out to look at the horse’s teeth and gums.
You can wet the hay too, as well as putting it into a net.
Good luck.
[QUOTE=aghorton;7233645]
Simkie, we did have subsequent choke episode, recently. But this time it was from eating hay. Had the vet out to look at his teeth and she didn’t find anything obvious. Thought I’d come back and read through this thread, and it may be worth looking further into the issue, based on your experience. I can’t imagine not being able to feed hay all winter, just for the boredom aspect of living indoors at night. I bought one of those NibbleNets for him, but I may end up camping out the first night we try to use it :eek:
Choke just plain sucks, I was really hoping we could find an answer, but maybe we just need to delve a little deeper…[/QUOTE]
Sounds like it is seriously time to scope the horse. And draw some blood–CBC, chemistry and make sure fibrinogen is in there, too. (Not sure if it is part of the standard package.)
Good luck! I have a thread about my filly around here somewhere…let me go find it. Here it is:
Had another episode last night, much worse than before. Scoping and bloodwork being scheduled today…fingers crossed that we find something that’s fixable. Poor guy, this is no fun.
Worst case is megaesophagus–which is a flacid enlargement of the esophagus that traps food. This is usually genetic & gets worse with time. Some breeds (small gene pool) are prone to this, and I’ve read that it is somewhat prevalent in dogs.
I’ve never heard of any TBs being so afflicted, but keep it way back in your mind.
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