CHOKING, the obstruction of the gullet, or of the passage leading to it, by morsels of food imperfectly chewed, or other substances accidentally swallowed. The consequences of C. in the human subject are serious, and will be best considered in connection with the parts concerned. See PHARYNX and (Esomiaous. What follows relates to the C. of cattle.
Causes.—These may be classified under two heads: 1. Those that depend on the material swallowed; and 2. Those that depend on the animal swallowing. Under the first head we find sharp-pointed objects which become fixed into or entangled in the membrane lining the throat and gullet; solid masses too large to pass on to the stomach ; dry farinaceous materials which clog in the passage. The second class of causes consists in inflammation of the throat, or irritation of the organs of deglutition; constrictions of the passage, as in crib-biting horses; ulceration of the oesophagus, which is apt to run after C., and is the cause of a relapse; lastly, without any disease of the deglutating organs, an animal may be choked by eating too greedily, and imperfectly masticating or salivating its food.
vary according to the, position of the obstruction. If high up in the pharynx, the animal cannot swallow, evinces great distress, and attempts to cough up the object. Saliva drivels from the mouth, the animal chews. and makes an ocasional ineffectual effort to swallow. The breathing is very greatly disturbed. In some cases a large lump of food has become fixed in the larynx or upper part of the windpipe, and has suddenly suffocated the animal. When the obstruction is in the course of the gullet
down the neck, the symptoms are very similar, though less urgent, and there is addition all the local sign of swelling, with the peculiar hardness or softness of the substance indicating its nature. When an animal is choked by a substance lodging in the gullet within the chest, the symptoms are more mysterious, and likely to mislead. The animal swallows; a considerable quantity of liquid may enter the gullet, but it regurgitated or thrown up, as in the act of vomiting. The distress is great; and in the course of three or four days, unless the animal is relieved, it dies of prostration. In the ox, sheep, and goat, the most alarming symptoms, in any case of C. arise from the paunch becoming distended by gas. This condition will be treated under the head HovEN.
Treatment—Remove the obstruction with the hand, when you can. Cause the animal to swallow the substance, if possible, by giving it water or oil. Carefully push the offending agent down by a probing, if it is possible to effect this, and if withdrawal by the mouth is impracticable. In some cases, the gullet has to be cut into by a qualified surgeon. After a case of C., keep the animal on soft fond, and attend to its general health, in order to avoid a relapse, which is of frequent occurrence in cattle.