Choke
Choke is a life threatening condition that can affect horses of any age. It occurs when the horse tries to swallow feed before it is properly chewed and mixed with saliva. The throat (esophagus) of
the horse is incredibly long, which can lead to oversized feed segments or dry feed becoming stuck in the throat and blocking further
passage of food.
The signs of this condition include signs of distress with gagging,
what appears to be attempts to throw up, large amounts of drool and food particles pouring from the mouth and nose, coughing, and
at times (in conjunction with these signs) lying down.
The condition becomes life
threatening due to the potential to aspirate (breathing in) of the feed that is being regurgitated, which can cause aspiration pneumonia. If the blockage is not removed, the pressure of the mass can cause breakdown of the throat (esophagus) itself, which can cause death
directly or as a result of the inability eat afterwards.
The correction of this condition
involves heavily sedating the horse, using a compound that relaxes the muscles of the throat and then - with a stomach tube – using
large volumes of water to rehydrate and soften the blockage so it can be removed. As you can imagine, this is not often easy,
but by having the horse sedated the fluid and feed particles can run out without the horse breathing them in. After clearing
the obstruction, the horse is kept on anti-inflammatory medication (phenylbutazone or flunixin) and antibiotics to protect against
pneumonia.
There are a number of predisposing factors in this condition.
This is often an age related problem.
Young horses may experience this when first learning to eat forage. As they
become juveniles, the problem can occur again during the time when each set of deciduous teeth (“baby teeth” or caps) are being shed. These teeth can become loose or break inside the mouth, leaving sharp edges that impair chewing. This can lead to attempts to
swallow feed too quickly.
Geriatric horses (the most common group affected) start shedding molars sometime after 20 years of
age. This leads to the inability to properly break down feed in particular forages. Long hay, especially the kind found
in round bales or overgrown pastures, are almost impossible for these horses to chew. Frustration and/or hunger lead them to
try to swallow these large, un-chewed balls of hay which then become stuck in the throat.
too much feed at once, only to try to swallow too quickly. Horses startled when eating may try to swallow what is
in their mouth before it has been chewed.
Certain feed stuffs are more likely play a part in this condition.
Beet pulp is the worst of these. Beet pulp is a good source of calories and is often used to supplement other feeds in underweight
and geriatric horses. After the sugar is removed from the sugar beets, the plant product is dehydrated into flakes or
pellets. When these are fed dry, sometimes the horse does not produce enough saliva to properly rehydrate the beet pulp, resulting
in the lump of food becoming lodged in the throat. This situation can be prevented by adequately rehydrating it before feeding
(simply place the beet pulp in a container and cover with water and wait until the water is absorbed before adding to the other feeds).
Pelleted
feeds are an excellent form of horse feed, but if the horse tries to take too much in its mouth or swallows too quickly, these can
become lodged as well. Sometimes placing something in the feed bucket to make it more difficult to take these large mouthfuls
can help (try breaking small salt blocks into chunks, or large rocks). This type of feed can be wetted as well to prevent it
from being swallowed too dry.
Alfalfa cubes probably should be wetted before feeding for at least the first several times to
rehydrate them (and start to break the cubes down) until the horse becomes used to this type of forage. In older horses that
are being fed cubes to replace other forage types, the cubes should always be fed wet.
Lastly, be careful with treats – excitement
over medium-sized pieces of apples, carrots, etc. can lead to trying to swallow them before they are properly chewed.
If these
suggestions are followed, you can greatly lessen your horse’s chances of suffering this problem.
Remember if you see these symptoms
in your horse, this is a life threatening condition and should be dealt with quickly. Call your veterinarian immediately, do
not offer any further feed, and keep the horse quiet until the horse can be seen.
If you have any questions, or you wish to have
a complete dental examination and consultation about feeds and feeding, please contact our office and we will be happy to assist you.