Billowing/bellowing soft palate (also in CR)

[BeckyD]

Ron was diagnosed with this bellowing soft palate back in March 2009, and I was told that it will affect his competition prospects, but that in gentle work it'll probably not even notice. I was told that people who race or compete will be familiar with this problem.

If anyone knows anything about this condition, please would you enlighten me? Ron has good days where I can't perceive any breathing problem, to bad days when he seems to be struggling to breathe even in walk. We've had quite a few of the latter lately, and he gets himself in a right tizz struggling to breathe (understandably I think) and we end up in a vicious circle of him getting more stressed so finding it harder to breathe etc etc.

He is still being rehabbed following numerous injuries/surgery/lameness problems and this is just one part of a very broken whole, really. But if there was some way of helping him I would, I just don't know what to do for the best (and vets aren't very helpful, they say it's something we've just got to live with and to press on). Can anyone offer any advice?

Thank you very much.

 

[cptrayes]

If this is also known as dorsal displacement of the soft palate, then had one that very luckily grew out of it by the time he was five. How old is Ron?

I did a lot of research at the time, as my horse was worth a lot of money and had been bought to event or sell. It all indicated that there was really no satisfactory surgical treatment for it. I just had to stand still and wait and let him cough it back into place when he had a problem. He also spat food down his nose when he was anxious, but that didn't seem to cause him any problems.

My advice would probably be to have him as fit as you can, so that a temporary shortage of breath causes him less stress. Not easy if he has lameness issues. I hope you find a way to manage it.

 

[chestnut cob]

My Sec D (sold last year) has / had it. It started as him seeming to be generally unfit, progressed to noticing that during schooling, he would canter around for a circle in an outline then lift his head, take a huge breath then drop back down again. It got worse fairly quickly, had vet out who ummed and ahhed about it. He scoped him and couldn't see anything so prescribed ventipulmin as it might be COPD (which it wasn't). I then took him for a second opinion at a referral practice. He was absolutely terrible when I worked him there for the vets, really struggled to breathe. After working him there, he was scoped standing normally and again with bridle on and basically pulled into an outline. Under the latter condition, the soft palate displacement really showed up.

At that point, I was told I could send him to the RVC or Hartpury for further investigation, which would be a week of work on a treadmill with scope down his throat while they worked out exactly what point at which his soft palate displaced. My vet said the treatment is the same whether it displaces in walk, trot, canter or whatever, so didn't recommend it. Treatment options were:
1. Rest for 12-18 months in the hope it might sort itself out, which the vet said only really works for v young racehorses and rarely in those cases.
2. Cauterise the palate (firing along the lines of muscle), creating scar tissue during healing which is less elastic than the palate itself so helps to hold it in place.
3. There is supposed to be a new treatment being tested in the US which is a bit like a tie back (tie forward possibly?) but AFAIK there's no one performing this in the UK yet.

I did a lot of research into it before deciding what to do and I got a LOT of stick on here for electing to have my horse's soft palate cauterised. I was generally told how incredibly cruel I was because firing is archaic, that I should insist my vet perform a procedure that he wasn't trained to do (the tie forward), or that I should just not treat at all (not an option, it is a degenerative problem). Another forum user sent me a few scientific papers to read which showed that in race horses who have been treated by cauterisation for this condition, something like 60% of them showed a significant improvement in their race winnings afterwards.

Mine had his performed in Jan 2007 I think. He went in to the practise on the sunday evening, had the procedure on Monday morning and I collected him on Weds morning I think. The next few days were horrid because he really struggled to eat or drink but with plenty of bute the swelling went down and he got back to normal quickly. He got back to full fitness and better fairly quickly, and I saw a massive improvement in every aspect of his work. I sold him last year but (touch wood) he hasn't had any problems since the op.

He isn't a high level competition horse, just an all rounder who hacks, was competing at Nov dressage (and doing ok) with me after the op, jumping courses up to 3ft (when he felt like it but that was a Welsh cob thing rather than a breathing thing

). He now has a showing career and I think they're aiming him at County level this year.

PM if you want to know anymore

 

[cptrayes]

I would have that op done like a shot if it was my horse Chesnut-cob. If mine had not grown out of it, he would have been there. There's no comparison between firing a tendon and burning the palate so it stiffens and actually allows the horse to breathe. Your critics were out of order. I guess you have to be on a horse choking on its own throat to understand, eh?

 

[chestnut cob]

Thanks CPT, I thought the same at the time. In 20 years time when there is a better solution to the problem then we can look back on the practise as barbaric, fine, but ATM there is no other treatment so it has to suffice.

RE. the OP. Have a look on the RVC's website, I'm pretty sure they're the leading authority on this condition in the UK. There might be something on there worth a read.

 

[BeckyD]

Hi There, glad to hear yours grew out of it. Ron is 6 - he seems to have grown IN to it, since having to be box-rested with another condition. I had hoped it would improve with fitness, but it's still very bad at some times, and I worry that he's just going to expire on me!

Maybe it will pass as he gets fitter. I suppose he's only been in work 3 months, after over a year off (of which 8 months was fully stabled, mostly box-rested or cross-tied). Maybe it's just a very slow improvement in fitness.

 

[BeckyD]

I'm sorry to hear you were criticised for your decision. I know how distressing it is when they're struggling to breathe, so I would be prepared to take fairly drastic action myself. I'm not sure Ron is going to be worth it, ultimately, due to all his other conditions limiting his use. In the meantime, I must try to manage it as best I can.

I am very encouraged by your horse's story though, and am grateful for your sharing your knowledge - I feel a bit more clued up now!

 

[chestnut cob]

Well the op isn't expensive, I think it cost me (well, my insurance co!) £1,300 in total including 3 days at the vet's, medication for after the op and the initial diagnostic visits. If your insurance will cover it and your vet recommends the op, you've nothing to lose.

 

[BeckyD]

That's not so bad. Unfortunately the insurers may not cover it - it was diagnosed in March last year so we may be running out of time. He hasn't recovered from other conditions yet - he's also got a sarcoid on his girth line that needs treating, plus he's still lame from PSD and SI issues, which have been treated/operated on as far as possible. Poor horse is falling apart.

Was it gone under general anaesthetic? He didn't do well in recovering from his last GA, and they got very worried.

What was post-operative care like?

 

[cptrayes]

You can have a laser op done under local anaesthetic and probably take him home the same day RT. My current horse's hobday was done by laser under a local. It's much more precise and controllable, though the machines are pretty scarce still, I think. There's only one guy in the whole of Cheshire that seems to have one, but he does travel all over the country with it. His name is Cedric Chan and you can Google him, he's got a website, why don't you email him?

 

[chestnut cob]

Mine had his op done with a laser (O'Gorman, Slater & Main Vet practise in Newbury, if you are in that area). Someone compared it to the horsey equivalent of having your tonsils out, which I think is a fair comparison. His was done under heavy sedation and local anaethetic I think, and he came home 2 days later. Poorly for a few days but just because it was sore. Once I managed to get enough bute syringed down his throat, he was fine. He ate just sloppy bran mash for a few days as he couldn't manage anything else and had to be box rested for I think 7 days, but it really wasn't all that bad.

 

[cptrayes]

The laser is good isn't it CC - apparently it smells just like bacon cooking ... too much detail ????

 

[chestnut cob]

Eugh!!! Must admit I've no idea whether the laser is good because I don't know what he would have been like if the procedure had been performed a different way.

 

[cptrayes]

Ah that's the difference with a hobday. Without the laser he would have had to have a hole cut right through his neck which takes weeks and weeks to heal, so it was brilliant to have it done with a laser instead. I'm glad your operation worked for your boy.