Asthmatic horses, inhalers?

[poiuytrewq]

Does anyone use inhalers for their horses?
How does it work out dosage/cost/administering? How effective is it?
My old horse had always had bit of a dust allergy. It’s manageable and he only really coughs if I (stupidly in a hurry etc) give dry hay or if some bedding gets dusty, things I can usually pin point.
This summer he started the most awful cough, it was terrible and he couldn’t stop but wasn’t responding to his usual pick me up Naf Respirator Neither was there a reason for it.
We tried ventipulmin but it didn’t touch it. So he had a course of steroids to hit it hard and within 3 days he was totally back to normal. Continued the course but sadly within a few weeks it was back, I can also hear him wheezing and his respiration rate is high.
Back into the steroids, vet said he probably isn’t going to be manageable off them so it’s a long term thing.
I’ve just realised how much that costs ? ive actually had to decline my livery space for my other horse because until this is sorted one way or the other I can’t afford it.
The difference the steroids make is honestly miraculous.
I see some people use ventolin inhalers for horses and wondered if this may be a viable cheaper option?

 

[Red-1]

I know you can get a steroidal nebuliser. Sadly, mine is metabolic so can't have steroids of any types as the risk of (returning) lami would be too great.

Interested in other responses!

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I have a Flexineb for my horse with primarily dust allergies. Ironically the Neb is collecting dust because I haven't had to use it in a year. Mostly due to management and luck. Interestingly, Balsamic Air given orally (I just syringe it in) for a day or two has done the trick if I give it to him the minute I hear one cough during exercise.

I have used steroids and brochodilators in my Flexineb. I will only use steroids via inhalation with this horse because the risk of laminitis is much less, and the dosage for the steroid is also quite low. Plus, it goes directly to the airway.

There is some sort of attachment for an inhaler, but I've not used that. The Flexineb is easy to use and clean. Also good to hand walk with it on.

 

[palo1]

I have a Flexineb for my horse with primarily dust allergies. Ironically the Neb is collecting dust because I haven't had to use it in a year. Mostly due to management and luck. Interestingly, Balsamic Air given orally (I just syringe it in) for a day or two has done the trick if I give it to him the minute I hear one cough during exercise.

I have used steroids and brochodilators in my Flexineb. I will only use steroids via inhalation with this horse because the risk of laminitis is much less, and the dosage for the steroid is also quite low. Plus, it goes directly to the airway.

There is some sort of attachment for an inhaler, but I've not used that. The Flexineb is easy to use and clean. Also good to hand walk with it on.

I used a flexineb mask with inhalers (rather than with the nebuliser attachment which is more expensive) for my mare who had an allergy and respiratory issue this summer. I bought the flexineb mask with inhaler attachment (that is the basic set up in fact) s/h for £90. The inhalers are human ones - you just stick them into the attachment - they are designed to work with these and use as 'normal'. Depending on what you need the vet can give you a prescription for the supermarket pharmacy and they are pretty cheap - around £7-12 if I remember rightly. I couldn't use the baby inhaler in fact (v cheap) as I am not an octopus...but if you have help or can close one nostril as well as hold the horse and apply the spacer and click the inhaler whilst being prepared to also walk round then that is the cheaper option!! The flexineb mask is blooming brilliant and the meds sorted my mare very quickly. The mask could be sold now possibly but I will be keeping it; I think every tack room should have one just in case!! If you can buy s/h (or possibly make) an inhaler mask for your horse of this type then it won't be hugely expensive to medicate using inhalers.

The nebulising system is more expensive (much more ) but you may not need that. I was prepared to go for that but in view of not being insured my vet advised going for inhaled meds first. Worked perfectly and I am delighted with that system. If my mare needs inhaled meds again it will be very cheap now I have the mask and a diagnosis. Hope that helps!

ETA - we used the inhalers for 10 days so there is still medication left in them (we had blue and pink!). Vet said we can use them again if need be.

 

[Milliechaz]

my companion pony had mild copd and we used to use human asthma inhalers that we purchased from Tesco chemist via a prescription from the vet. We used a baby spacer to administer. It was really easy, pony got used to it very easily

 

[PurBee]

Have you tried mullein plant leaves for equine respiratory issues? First thing i thought of when you mentioned chronic issues…..its good for humans.
I’ve personally never used it for horses yet, It’s seemingly well known in herbal horse world for that use:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mul...hUKEwjSj6iajP7yAhXEQUEAHbUxDxUQ4dUDCAo&uact=5

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Does anyone use inhalers for their horses?
How does it work out dosage/cost/administering? How effective is it?
My old horse had always had bit of a dust allergy. It’s manageable and he only really coughs if I (stupidly in a hurry etc) give dry hay or if some bedding gets dusty, things I can usually pin point.
This summer he started the most awful cough, it was terrible and he couldn’t stop but wasn’t responding to his usual pick me up Naf Respirator Neither was there a reason for it.
We tried ventipulmin but it didn’t touch it. So he had a course of steroids to hit it hard and within 3 days he was totally back to normal. Continued the course but sadly within a few weeks it was back, I can also hear him wheezing and his respiration rate is high.
Back into the steroids, vet said he probably isn’t going to be manageable off them so it’s a long term thing.
I’ve just realised how much that costs ? ive actually had to decline my livery space for my other horse because until this is sorted one way or the other I can’t afford it.
The difference the steroids make is honestly miraculous.
I see some people use ventolin inhalers for horses and wondered if this may be a viable cheaper option?

I used one on my late mare and also my pony. I had it sent from Australia and really happy with it.

 

[dorsetladette]

I used one on my old boy. He had COPD from been stabled in a dusty environment. Steroid's didn't touch it.

We turned him out 24/7, fed him wet feeds with garlic powder and fenagreek leaves and he had his inhaler 3 times a day. He had a brown and a blue one (was 20yrs ago) the vet gave us a baby 'spacer' to put over a nostril and hold it there while he inhaled the 'stuff' you could physically see him relax and his breathing calm. He was very very head shy but he always accepted his inhaler. Once we over came the worst his inhaler hang in the feed room and we always kept in date inhalers just in case. But he had to remain out 24/7 and fed haylage not hay.

I've seen the nebuliser's for horses advertised which are quite expensive. I think you can pick up a baby spacer for about £20

Something like this - although the one we had seemed alot bigger.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Respironics-OptiChamber-Diamond-Chamber-Inhalers/dp/B017QKYOSK/ref=sr_1_22?dchild=1&keywords=baby+spacer&qid=1631613454&qsid=261-9776742-2209700&sr=8-22&sres=B002ZEVVAC,B08KF5ZGZN,B08KSK1XKG,B00K5T6M94,B0913BRYBQ,B09377D3VZ,B00FVWJ4A4,B093HR9XK2,B08KSKTVSN,B01CKWFZYG,B001KC05PM,B01CJFIXKM,B07RW8ZM6W,B072F1Y397,B0885X4X6X,B073XNMDNX,B07PFGNC96,B017QKYOSK,B091H7DQ2J,B089WCC1MN

 

[HelenBack]

I use an inhaler for my horse now and then when he needs it. I use a Babyhaler spacer thingy and find it really easy to administer the drugs with this. It took my horse a couple of days to get used to it initially but now I can go ages between uses and he's fine.

My vet prescribes Clenil Modulite as the steroid and Atrovent as the airway opener. I haven't bought for a while but I think the Clenil costs about £45 and one of those would last me 20 days if used every day. The Atrovent I think was only about £20 but I would only use that before riding so it lasts longer.

I found with my horse that I don't have to use the inhalers all the time and can just give them for a couple of weeks when he has a flair up. I suppose that all depends on the individual horse and their triggers though.

I do also give a respiratory supplement on a permanent basis which I think does help. I've heard good things about the Balsamic Air that somebody else mentioned too, although I've not tried that myself.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

We used a flexineb nebuliser last summer/autumn for a horse with quite severe, sudden onset asthma. Oral ventipulmin made no difference at all and our vet didn't want to use oral steroids for longer than a few days as the risk of laminitis was too great (very good do-er, puts on weight just looking at food ...).

The nebuliser was great, he got used to it extremely quickly although it did take up quite a chunk of the day as we had to walk him around while it was running - good both from an efficacy point of view and also meant he couldn't knock the mask off when he was tied up. He started off with ventipulmin followed by dexamethasone, then just dex for a few weeks and then just saline for the last couple of weeks.

His breathing had been 3-4 times faster than normal and he had loads of mucus in his airways - weirdly didn't start coughing until he'd started treatment. After 2-3 weeks his breathing was much better and by the time we'd weaned him off the steroids he was completely back to normal.

The nebuliser was (extremely) expensive but worth it .. unfortunately he had to be retired for unrelated reasons later on in the winter and his asthma has come back in the last few days (no idea what's triggered it) and I don't know how I'm going to manage nebulising him this time as his retirement yard is quite a bit further away and there's no way I'm going to be able to manage 2 visits a day ...

 

[nutjob]

I have had 3 horses which have at times had to have inhaled steriods. I have used the plastic baby inhaler for each. Two of these only needed inhaled steroids, clenil, for a relatively short term and were then OK. One was very poorly for a while and I was advised to rent a nebulizer from the vet. The noise and possibly the vapour coming out of the mask panicked him so I couldn't use it. The other was an older horse which had a heart condition as well as some type of respiratory allergy. He was on the inhaler (cannot remember which one but some type of steroid) for about 3 years. For the price I have had much better results with steroid inhalers than oral ventipulmin which I think works out twice as expensive and has never been enough for any of mine.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Thank you everyone, so many replies and ideas. I am going to go through and make a list to look up all suggestions.
Really appreciate it as I’m very very stressed out about this!

He’s already on Balsamic air as a few have suggested.

 

[Mule]

Mine takes steroids using the flexineb nebuliser. I've found it fantastic. He was on oral steroids for about 9 months prior to getting the nebuliser. The tablets aren't great health wise to be on long term and they cost an absolute fortune. The initial outlay for the nebuliser is very big but for a horse that has to be on steroids full time it works out much cheaper than oral steroids.

 

[Winters100]

I also use the flexineb, although I have not needed it for some time now. Have used ventolin, pulmicort and atrovent, as well as simple saline inhalations. Very easy to use and got one of mine over a rough patch. Now he seems fine with steamed hay, very clean pellet bed and keeping his weight to a healthy level. He was rather 'round' when he came to me, and I believe that correcting this plays a part in keeping him off medication.

 

[honetpot]

I was having a clear out today for a rug rummage sale, and found an equine spacer I used on my pony. Can not say she really got on with it, I do not know why equine specific ones are so expensive.

 

[palo1]

I wouldn't necessarily think it 'best' but you can certainly make a basic inhaler/nebuliser using a variety of easily found and cheap materials. I mocked up a feed supplement tub/bucket with swimming noodle (to provide an appropriate and comfy fit round a muzzle) and could see exactly how you could add inhaler/spacer or nebuliser kit to that but then I saw the s/h flexineb for sale which reduced my stress and uncertainty about it all. There are, however, youtube videos for DIY nebulisers and it is clearly not unknown...Vets also rent them.

 

[GoldenWillow]

I've used both a babyhaler which is, or was this was 2006-2010, used with human asthma inhalers. I got a prescription from vet and bought from pharmacy as it worked out the cheapest way but they were much more expensive than 7-12. The babyhaler is awkward to use, there is a definite knack to it, and four years of using it has left me with chronic tennis and golfers elbow in both arms. My mare was initially upset by the 'puff' of the inhaler but dis accept it with some work.

I cried when my current cob was diagnosed with equine asthma aged 6 but the flexineb has been fantastic. The initial cost is expensive although horses insurance paid for it for me, but I find the running costs are much lower, it will have cost me less than £200 this year, and it is so easy to use. I cross tie in doorway and do jobs whilst it's running. I think there is information that the vapour from nebuliser is absorbed better by the lungs.

I think it it was just occasional courses of treatment I would try the babyhaler route and see how I got on with it but for long term medication I would try and get a flexineb.

 

[Esmae]

I used a human inhaler thingy for my old boy. I used half of it with the puffer thing in the end and closed his other nostril with my hand and said "breathe in matey" which he did. Vet gave me a prescription and I bought everything from the chemist. It did rather floor the chemist when she came to instruct me how to use the inhaler and I said it was for my horse! Hilarious. I always soaked his hay and used straw for bedding. Far less dusty than anything else. Be careful with the steroids, can bring on laminitis.

 

[mustardsmum]

Another using Clenil Modulite and a baby spacer. One inhaler has 200 puffs, and costs about £25. At his worst he has 8 puffs a day, when he’s good I can drop it to only when I ride. This summer he was much better than last. I also put Vaseline in his nostrils and he has a full face mask with an integral nose mesh when he’s turned out. No idea if this really helps but on days when I haven’t done this I always feel he’s a bit more wheezy. He also has Inflacam, primarily it was for his arthritis but it does help with the breathing.