Quidding question

[MartysMom]

Hi everyone,
I know I have mentioned our beloved Marty's dental woes in the past, but I'd love to hear opinions on quidding. He has had several floats this year, most recently October, but this is after a lifetime of no dental care according to the rescue. He did choke once in rescue but they anecdotally said they thought it was because when his teeth finally weren't painful he was so starved that he just went crazy on the alfalfa hay, but they recommended a soaked diet going forward.

He does get all the calories he needs from soaked food (timothy cubes and senior feed 3 times a day, and a little bowl of chopped forage at night in his stall). I've gotten a little more casual about letting him be around long stem hay in turnout with his friend now that we have no grass. He noses around and munches on it happily but drops quids everywhere. We tried putting out chopped hay for the both since his friend's teeth are quite bad, too, but the friend didn't like it and it mostly got wasted.

How much do you all worry about quidding? Our vet said if we saw quids it was a choking risk, and I do generally trust them, but see other people who are less concerned and/or even say if the horses are quidding they know to spit the chewy food out and will be fine. I just feel bad for little guy when he's got nothing to chew on all day.

Thanks!

 

[MartysMom]

Hi everyone,
I know I have mentioned our beloved Marty's dental woes in the past, but I'd love to hear opinions on quidding. He has had several floats this year, most recently October, but this is after a lifetime of no dental care according to the rescue. He did choke once in rescue but they anecdotally said they thought it was because when his teeth finally weren't painful he was so starved that he just went crazy on the alfalfa hay, but they recommended a soaked diet going forward.

He does get all the calories he needs from soaked food (timothy cubes and senior feed 3 times a day, and a little bowl of chopped forage at night in his stall). I've gotten a little more casual about letting him be around long stem hay in turnout with his friend now that we have no grass. He noses around and munches on it happily but drops quids everywhere. We tried putting out chopped hay for the both since his friend's teeth are quite bad, too, but the friend didn't like it and it mostly got wasted.

How much do you all worry about quidding? Our vet said if we saw quids it was a choking risk, and I do generally trust them, but see other people who are less concerned and/or even say if the horses are quidding they know to spit the chewy food out and will be fine. I just feel bad for little guy when he's got nothing to chew on all day.

Thanks!

p.s. Happy New Year to all!

 

[Dragon Hill]

My oldie is 27 this year. She choked badly a few years ago. She started quidding hay last winter. She doesn't really get feed hay anymore although she has access to it. She lives in the field my round bales are stored in. She gets soaked senior, alfalfa/bermuda pellets, beet pulp. She eats grass without a problem unless she finds a lush spot, and then she quid that too. I'm glad she's figured out if she spits it out she won't choke. Because before she started quidding I believe she was having mild choking incidents just eating grass. I say this because she would have green fluid coming out her nose (like she did when she choked-but not as much) every so often. She doesn't have any back molars anymore, just the front ones. But my vet says for her age and history she's in good shape. She does live by herself, but but all the minis spend the day together every so often.

 

[MartysMom]

Funny you say that, Marty also leaks green out his nose - left nostril only - when he eats grass. They did an endoscopy before he came to us to make sure there wasn't a fistula etc and found his esophagus was a little "floppy" but otherwise fine. Just one of his many quirks, it doesn't seem to bother him at all!

 

[chandab]

My senior with crappy teeth quids long-stem forage, mostly regular hay and fresh grass, but occasionally the chopped forage he gets. So far, he has never choked. the majority of his diet is soaked senior and hay pellets.

 

[LostandFound]

I had an older gelding that started dropping occasional hay wads. Had him floated, then again in 6 months. Then I got irritated and had a different vet float him which fixed the issue. If he has all his teeth, I'd probably try someone else. If he's missing teeth it probably won't make a difference. I do think your vet is right, it's probably a choking risk, especially with a history of choke.

 

[MartysMom]

I had an older gelding that started dropping occasional hay wads. Had him floated, then again in 6 months. Then I got irritated and had a different vet float him which fixed the issue. If he has all his teeth, I'd probably try someone else. If he's missing teeth it probably won't make a difference. I do think your vet is right, it's probably a choking risk, especially with a history of choke.

Thanks - he's been done by two different vets now, so I think this is what we're stuck with, more of just a loss of grinding surface than anything fixable. We're going to experiment with some tubs for the chopped forage in turnout or possibly hay pillow to slow him down. Just a few more months until spring and green grass and I wont worry as much about his daytime nibbling.