HI Dr Dan, Do you have any experience with a horse with choke? I have a 14 y.o. T.B. with type ‘A’ personality that has had bouts of ulcers off and on for years. A couple of months ago, of course when I was away, my helper found him with his head hanging down and thick sticky saliva coming out his mouth and nose. The vet came out and said he was choking and dislodged a wad of food from his esophagus. He initially lost a lot of weight but I went ahead and tried his suggestion of giving him some “Ulcerguard” and making sure his already wet feed remained even soupier. I did that, the horse seemed to correct, (gained the weight back, stopped choking) but is now having problems again. The vet suspected a diverticula in the esophagus, which didn’t pan out under a scope BUT he was regurgitating into his esophagus (NOT normal). He didn’t want to say the big “C” but said it still COULD be the diverticula or an exacerbated ulcers OR something else very bad… Feed-wise we have been all over the board with him. Never processed (pelleted) foods, oats then soaked oats/flaxseed/rice bran then no oats and instead beet pulp/rice bran only (the vet said sometimes oats can exacerbate ulcers, so I thought to try NO oats – and he DID gain his weight back, but…) Sheesh! Do you have any thoughts?
Kim W.
botulism toxins most likely (Not from dead contaminants as we were taught in vet school either, but rather excess potassium.. sudden overload , causing already present organisms in the gut to become potentially deadly) see page 21 and why the RED CAL in a free choice all they can eat all the time availability, is so very important in helping to prevent this and so many more issues
the fact that you have had some improvement is very good BUT this is could be potentially very bad and the cases I have seen (before I really knew the cause and even after) have not done so good..
I would load this horse up on our weight Check oil.. any neurological issue must have loads of fat. — good fat though,, very good fat.. all nerve membranes (actually all membranes are surrounded by fat.. the brain is even 60% fat by dry weight. some nerves more… see the article on fats in the magazine too)… so within reason .. up to 8 oz per day get all in you can.
I WOULD Give OATS,, They are the best and better than hydrogenated processed junk. They are broken down more in the forgut by the way- not the stomach.Also to the oats, I would add our Just Add Oats – Double Strength formula supplement. I would also give our Gut Check to help get more out of what is eaten and to restore the gut (much cheaper than the other product mentioned and actually has enzymes, probiotics etc.) Our Aller Check is really good for the gut (all allregies essentiall start in the gut so this is why we focus on the gut with Aller Check)
I would also give our RED CAL free choice product.
Hang in there… I have seen them recover … please keep me posted!
