# Help please!! sick donkey



## yarrow

I have a 2 year old gelded mini donkey, named Howard. Until sunday he was the picture of health. He began to drool sunday afternoon... not all the time, but off & on... he was still eating hay and acting like he felt fine.. same on monday & tuesday (we thought maybe there was a plant in the hay causing the drooling) BUT.. today he is off feed.. still on his feet/looking around and all... but not his self... I've looked all thru his mouth. I can't find a sticker/thorn.. his tongue looks pale to me (but I'm a goat gal and this is my first donkey mouth to dig around in... so that might be normal? (his eye rims are nice and dark pink.. he was wormed about a month ago)..
he is NOT running a fever.. doesn't look to really be in pain.. just drooly and not eating.. we all love Howard deeply and are very concerned... I've been on the phone all morning, trying to find a vet who will come out and help us.. we are in the Ozarks/in a vet poor area.. there just isn't anyone who will come out. 
So... please anyone have any ideas what could possibly be wrong and how we can help him (I keep a VERY well stocked medical cabinet... I do ALL my own vetting with the goats, due to the lack of area vets... BUT.. my equine knowledge is nil.. I have Howard and his friend Evelynn.. that's it.. (she by the way is eating exactly the same hay/water/ect... show NO signs of distress/not feeling goo)... is there some horrid, drooling donkey disease I'm just not aware of??? (I've been online for hours and can't find anything that matches his symptoms...) I wish I could give you more details.. but aside from the drooling off & on, just out of his mouth, nice dry nose... his not wanting to eat and acting sort of flat this morning is the only other symptom..

thank you all so much in advance
susie, mo ozarks


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## mamahen

Sounds like Choke to me. Or possibly a bad tooth? Infected?

You really need a vet to treat, if it is.

Article: http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/first_aid/choke010404/

snippet from article: _*As soon as you suspect your horse is choking, remove all feed and hay, so he can't eat anything else, adding to the problem. Call the vet immediately. 

While you're waiting for the vet, encourage the horse to stand quietly, with his head down. This will lessen the chance that anything he coughs up will find it's way into his trachea and lungs and possibly cause aspiration pneumonia, a complication that sometimes arises after a choke has cleared*_


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## lamoncha lover

clover can make my horses drool, but it has never gotten them flat or off feed.what kind of pasture do you have? could he have eaten something that made him ill> Sorry I can't be of help, but if he has access to pasture, I would pull him off and just hay him, until you can be sure there isn't something toxic in his field. If the good grass is falling away because of fall..he may be eating something he would normally pass on.
goodluck and hope others reply soon.


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## lamoncha lover

oh yes. it could be choke. notice any water coming out his nose after he drinks? or clear slimey thin snot in his water trough? If its choke you really ned to get him to the vet unless u canpass a tube(Icant)


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## SFM in KY

It does, in fact, sound like choke. I've had to deal with it four times in my life, so not that common, but it does happen. Take them off feed (you don't want more food on top of the obstruction) though they should have access to water.

The only time I could not get vet help immediately (he was just starting a surgery that would take several hours) and told me to hook the hose up, turn the water on and put the end of the hose in the horse's mouth, with the stream of water aimed at the back of the throat. He said this would cause a mild "choke" which would make the horse cough and that, as well as massaging the windpipe gently, might dislodge whatever had caused the choke.

In this case, it worked, but if it does not, the only way to deal with it is to pass a nasal tube into the stomach and dislodge the obstruction.


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## yarrow

I was thinking choke too.. but there has been NOTHING out of his nose.. not when he eats, not when he drinks.. there could be some clover in the grass hay he's eating... his pasture is almost all bermuda (with some clover when it's wet, but most of it has dried up this late in the year)... I'm on hold right now with a messaging center for an equine vet to our north.. hoping someone answers... 
thank you all (it's nice knowing there is someone else trying to help Howard... I just wish I had more equine knowledge...)

susie, mo ozarks


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## yarrow

FINALLY got a hold of an equine vet that will see him today... getting ready to load poor little Howard up and head down the road.... wish us luck.
susie


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## jill.costello

Praying for Howard!


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## farmergirl

Poor Howard. We love donkeys and even my DH, who doesn't post on this board, is worried about him!
Hope the vet gets him sorted out in a jiff.

Blessings dear Howard


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## Common Tator

I can't offer any words of advice, but I do hope he gets better soon!


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## SDjulieinSC

We are all waiting for an update.......good news we hope


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## Cannon_Farms

red clover will cause drooling but wont put them off their feed. Normally with a dry choke you will see them retching like they are trying to throw up, which unfortunately they cant, stretching the neck. If you where to feel down his throat you should be able to feel something or find a tender spot.
Is your hay very coarse or does he chew wood? if so look at the potential of a splinter in the throat.
I know your vet has seen him by now, but I like to throw a few things in just in case some one comes up with this on a search.

The last time I delt with choke I had gotten it loose just as the vet pulled up by massaging, it still cost me $175


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## mariaricarto

I have a donkey that drools when she is colicy. I give her an injection of Banamine and she has always come out of it. Check with your vet for the dosage. She doesn't display the typical horse signs of colic like pawing, looking at her flank or laying down and getting back up. Just drooling and not eating. I hope your donkey recovers quickly.


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## beccachow

Update????


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## yarrow

sorry about the slow update... but Howard is still of a bit of an on-going case. Last time I posted we were getting ready to make the trip to the vet that I had finally found that could see him. Well... all best laid plans LOL... the trailer I was going to borrow has issues and wasn't road worthy... so we borrowed the only other *thing* I could find with such short notice... an open at the top small livestock rack (needed something that would fit into my ranger)... somehow we got Howard loaded (pulled into the ditch and walked/drug/begged, pleaded & prodded him up my tail gate and into the *cage*... all was fine for about 2miles. Then Howard untied himself and proceeded to climb up and almost out of the rack.. we were still 15 or so miles from the highway at this point (trip was another 25 with highway traffic).. turned around went home and let poor Howie jump out and back to his pasture. BUT.... all things for a reason. The equine vet that I had really wanted to see him (but hadn't been able to get a hold of, just able to leave a message).. called me back. He arrived here on Thurs. We all thought Choke. so tube was passed.. NOTHING.. :shocked:
Turns out that Howard has a mouth full of FULL sized donkey teeth jammed/crammed into his little MINI donkey head. SO...monday morning Howard will be spending time in the donkey dental chair.. more then likely along with lots of filing, he will also need 2 to 4 extracted to make room for the other teeth... (we got lucky and all the human kids had decent teeth.. now it's donkey orthodontics here on the farm)...

thank you all the well wishes & ideas & helpful suggestions... I'm just happy it's something *fixable* Howard is very much, a big part of our family... 

susie & howard


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## jill.costello

OMG! tried to climb out of the livestock hauler......<shudder> Thank goodness you noticed in time!


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## SFM in KY

yarrow said:


> Then Howard untied himself and proceeded to climb up and almost out of the rack.. susie & howard


Scary! When I was still in high school, we didn't have a trailer, just a stock rack on the back of the pickup. Were going to a local rodeo, loaded my mare and she tried to climb out over the front.

She managed to splinter the corner post and impale herself with it, deep slash/puncture wound through the muscle of the chest. Obviously couldn't get her in to the vet, so my Dad and I drove in, the vet told me what to do and sent me home with what I needed. Put in several stitches in the center of the wound, then hosed it daily by putting the nozzle of the hose in the top opening and letting the water flush everything out the bottom opening. 

Healed fine ... but we never tried to haul her in the pickup again ...


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## snowshoehair

"donkey orthodontics" ..... well, that's much better than what you thought it might be. Now you just need to recover from the excitement of that short trip down the road! omg...that would have given me a heart attack!


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