Well. When Georgia was 10 days old, she had a Choke. I found her in the morning, laying in a puddle of froth and struggling to breathe. I immediately called the vet and we spent all day with her. There was not much we could do though. This little horse was 30 pounds and about the size of a Cocker Spaniel, so we needed specialized equipment! Finally, we found a mobile canine endoscope specialist who was willing to come out at 7 o'clock at night. Miracle #1. This persistent vet spent two more hours working on her, figured out how to thread things to her esophagus via her mouth, rather than nose, and proposed that we just ram the blockage through to her stomach. She was dead if we didn't try this, but it was very risky too. A very stressful situation, to say the least.
So, we went for it. There was nothing to lose at that point. He used a plastic dowel and basically rammed a plug of shavings, pine needles and whatnot from just past her pharynx all the way to her stomach. Georgia was knocked out - don't worry. And, it worked. The Choke was done. She woke up and started nursing immediately. Miracle #2.
Georgia was far from out of the woods though. After aspirating foam for many hours, she was at a very high risk for pneumonia. Then, if she got through that, there was also a very high risk of esophageal stricture. This would mean that scar tissue would form and constrict her esophagus and she would not be able to eat. She was immediately placed on antibiotics for the inevitable pneumonia, and all we could do was wait the two weeks to see how her esophagus would heal. She was a trooper for her twice daily shots and did NOT get ill. Miracle #3.
Then, exactly two weeks after the Choke, she had a repeat. I was there to witness it and my heart plummeted. She cleared the blockage herself this time though. Phewf. She Choked off an on for a few days, but always managed to clear them herself. I had taken EVERYTHING out of her paddock that I could, but of course she still managed to find things to try to eat. The wonderful endoscope specialist heard that she wasn't doing so great and offered a free re-check to view the esophagus and see exactly what was going on. Georgia seemed to stop getting blocked by the time that appointment rolled around and he was quite happy to announce that he could see NO stricture at all! Miracle #4!
So, now after letting her heal from the re-check, I am slowly introducing mushy foods to Georgia and she has not had a Choke yet... not even a cough. We will take this VERY slow, but I am cautiously optimistic that this crazy little foal has done it again! She certainly likes to keep me on my toes! Peaches was a star through it all. We are so lucky that she is such a mellow mom. As long as she knew where Georgia was, she did not care at all what we were doing to her. Such a sweet mare!
So, we went for it. There was nothing to lose at that point. He used a plastic dowel and basically rammed a plug of shavings, pine needles and whatnot from just past her pharynx all the way to her stomach. Georgia was knocked out - don't worry. And, it worked. The Choke was done. She woke up and started nursing immediately. Miracle #2.
Georgia was far from out of the woods though. After aspirating foam for many hours, she was at a very high risk for pneumonia. Then, if she got through that, there was also a very high risk of esophageal stricture. This would mean that scar tissue would form and constrict her esophagus and she would not be able to eat. She was immediately placed on antibiotics for the inevitable pneumonia, and all we could do was wait the two weeks to see how her esophagus would heal. She was a trooper for her twice daily shots and did NOT get ill. Miracle #3.
Then, exactly two weeks after the Choke, she had a repeat. I was there to witness it and my heart plummeted. She cleared the blockage herself this time though. Phewf. She Choked off an on for a few days, but always managed to clear them herself. I had taken EVERYTHING out of her paddock that I could, but of course she still managed to find things to try to eat. The wonderful endoscope specialist heard that she wasn't doing so great and offered a free re-check to view the esophagus and see exactly what was going on. Georgia seemed to stop getting blocked by the time that appointment rolled around and he was quite happy to announce that he could see NO stricture at all! Miracle #4!
So, now after letting her heal from the re-check, I am slowly introducing mushy foods to Georgia and she has not had a Choke yet... not even a cough. We will take this VERY slow, but I am cautiously optimistic that this crazy little foal has done it again! She certainly likes to keep me on my toes! Peaches was a star through it all. We are so lucky that she is such a mellow mom. As long as she knew where Georgia was, she did not care at all what we were doing to her. Such a sweet mare!
