Asthma update - positive progress

[palo1]

I've been wondering about posting this but it might be useful for others so here goes....

A few years ago, following a respiratory virus in our herd my youngest horse developed 'mild' seasonal asthma. It really didn't feel mild at all with my poor mare clearly wheezing at times in the field and having exercise intolerance and poor recovery rates. It was very distressing and I followed my equine specialist vets advice to use a nebulizer with a variety of steroids until we found something that worked 'quite'well that year. Things continued to be pretty variable tbh until we moved home when they temporarily got much worse!

I switched vets and my new vet advised a different protocol, including trying to carefully manage a kind of pulmonary rehab (I posted about this last summer in relation to fast work - how much etc). This, and an earlier loss of weight made a huge difference to my horse. I also removed all and any alfalfa, beet, linseed, carrots and a few other things from her diet. These were really marginal gains but genuinely helped. I also committed to a high MSM, Vit C, DHA and Vit E supplement at the right dose. Finally I added probiotics and oily herbs.

Last winter my sweet horse was able to drag hunt long days, keeping up with bigger, smarter horses and jumping very happily (where I felt happy to lol). So far this Spring/early summer she has had no symptoms of asthma at all. Sadly she is currently on yard rest & I imagined that this might impact negatively on her respiratory function even though the yard is open all round (including to any pollen!) but 10 days in, she seems completely normal in respiratory terms. I'm delighted but slightly baffled though I know there is plenty of summer left for things to get worse.

I'm really wondering if the oily herbs and probiotics in addition to exercise can have made quite such a big difference? I'll be keeping her on this protocol unless something changes.

 

[GoldenWillow]

Lovely update but sorry to hear that she is now on yard rest.

I've also noticed a big improvement the last two summers on very similar regime. I discovered around 5 years ago the fitter I could get J, especially doing 1 minute canter intervals made a big difference, the better he coped and for us the addition of vitamin C, MSM and oily herbs have meant for the last two summers he's needed nebulised steroids less than half the time of previous years. Throughout the winter he doesn't need nebuliser at all.

 

[dixie]

Very interesting.

Can you expand on the levels of MSM etc please.

I have a horse with an irritating cough. He’s had it two years now and I’ve tried everything including steroids & nebuliser, antihistamines, various supplements and nothing particularly helped.

Not come across feeding MSM before and what type of herbs?

I’ve also changed from hay to haylage. He’s currently out nearly 24/7. The stable environment has improved as have moved to my own yard.

 

[palo1]

Very interesting.

Can you expand on the levels of MSM etc please.

I have a horse with an irritating cough. He’s had it two years now and I’ve tried everything including steroids & nebuliser, antihistamines, various supplements and nothing particularly helped.

Not come across feeding MSM before and what type of herbs?

I’ve also changed from hay to haylage. He’s currently out nearly 24/7. The stable environment has improved as have moved to my own yard.

I actually feed Science Supplements Respiraid at the recommended dose now as that contains the DHA that I can't really source separately. I add in oily herbs: thyme, rosemary and oregano and a probiotic from equibiome. That, alongside exercise, has really transformed things. This summer, so far, my mare has been like a normal horse though she is now sadly injured .

 

[Highmileagereindeer]

The exercise and fitness levels played a huge part in keeping Old Dobbin from heaving - hence the user name! Switching to pelleted sugar beet instead of Speedibeet, and withdrawing ryegrass has virtually eliminated winter coughing, and last summer I started him on loratadine antihistamine during turn out season. Fingers crossed he has hardly coughed for two years, and whilst his breathing is deeper than in his younger days, he hasn't had an attack requiring veterinary intervention since 2018.