Treatment for sheep who choked on pellets

[StinkyAcres]

We had a close call this evening - I made the mistake of not soaking the hay extender pellets and one of my sheep choked on them. For about 15 30 minutes she was coughing up foam and mucus and was gargling when she took a breath. She looks okay now and went back to eating hay. Can anyone recommend preventative treatment for things like bloat and pneumonia that could be caused by this episode? She is a 15-year-old Katahdin with severe arthritis and is my other sheep's only friend. We will be calling the vet in the morning for more advice. Thanks!

 

[sourland]

My guess is that she is fine this morning - hoping so for sure.

 

[StinkyAcres]

My guess is that she is fine this morning - hoping so for sure.

Thanks, @sourland She is acting fine but her breathing still seems slightly rough. Currently waiting for a call from the vet.

 

[Percheron chick]

No experience with sheep but plenty with horses.
With horses it usually is poor teeth and bolting their feed. If their teeth (molars) are sharp and do not have a flat grinding surface then when they swallow,they do not masticate enough to incorporate sufficient saliva to make a nice soft bolus. Bolting is just eating too fast and not chewing sufficiently.
Pellets are mostly made from lower quality stemmy hay so this contributes to the problem. Size of the pellets also. Rabbit pellets are 1/3 the size of horse pellets.
She more than likely aspirated some fluids and that's what you are hearing. It's harder for her to breathe. It can be a problem and antibiotics are often warranted.

 

[StinkyAcres]

No experience with sheep but plenty with horses.
With horses it usually is poor teeth and bolting their feed. If their teeth (molars) are sharp and do not have a flat grinding surface then when they swallow,they do not masticate enough to incorporate sufficient saliva to make a nice soft bolus. Bolting is just eating too fast and not chewing sufficiently.
Pellets are mostly made from lower quality stemmy hay so this contributes to the problem. Size of the pellets also. Rabbit pellets are 1/3 the size of horse pellets.
She more than likely aspirated some fluids and that's what you are hearing. It's harder for her to breathe. It can be a problem and antibiotics are often warranted.

Thank you very much! My mom was worried she was having trouble chewing. Next time the vet comes I'll try to remember to have them look at her teeth.

 

[StinkyAcres]

The vet got back to us and did not recommend we start antibiotics yet. I'm a little concerned about that approach as my last sheep died of pneumonia and we caught it too late. Anyway, we'll be watching Zinnia closely in the coming days. She looked good this evening - she was walking and ate her grain (not the hay extender) no problem.

 

[Percheron chick]

Pneumonia is exactly what you need to be thinking if it continues. Does she drop feed? Does she drool? Does she quid? (Wads of chewed long stem forage that are spit out, not swallowed. Often find them floating in the water trough). From what I've read, sheep and horses are very similar in how they chew their feeds. It's a crushing of the feeds with their molars so they basically need flat opposing molars to do the job. A good visual is to make a fist and rub the knuckles together. If she has lost teeth and the opposing tooth is long and ragged the upper jaw can't slide over the lower one. Another sign of ineffective chewing is weight loss and long stem fibers in her poop.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Pneumonia is exactly what you need to be thinking if it continues.

Yeah, aspiration pneumonia was the first thing that came to my mind when she started choking.

Does she drop feed? Does she drool? Does she quid? (Wads of chewed long stem forage that are spit out, not swallowed. Often find them floating in the water trough). From what I've read, sheep and horses are very similar in how they chew their feeds. It's a crushing of the feeds with their molars so they basically need flat opposing molars to do the job. A good visual is to make a fist and rub the knuckles together. If she has lost teeth and the opposing tooth is long and gagged the upper jaw can't slide over the lower one. Another sign of ineffective chewing is weight loss and long stem fibers in her poop.

She is kind of sloppy when it comes to eating her grain (just a handful with her meds in it) and quite a bit of it ends up on the floor. I haven't noticed any of the other signs except the weight loss which the vet says is mostly muscle loss due to her arthritis and not moving as much.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I just wanted to give an update on Zinnia. She is still with us and seems to be doing fine as far as her breathing goes. No antibiotics were needed. Very relieved about that!