COPD and Steroids

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DougalJ

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My friends cob has been diagnosed with COPD about 8 weeks ago and has been on ventipulmin since then and for the last 3 weeks on 2 steriod puffers. This has been a massive cost to her and she is currently sorting through a lengthy claim with her insurer. The steriods have just run out after 3 weeks with a cost of £160.00.... Obvioulsy the cost is an issue but what is the long term effect of using steriods with regards to COPD. We think he has had a heavy dose and are under the impression from the vet that we should continue with the steriod treatment for longer period. At the moment the hay is being soaked for him ( a costly steamer is on order), his stable has been cleared and more added ventilation with a low dust bedding. He is being kept out as much as we can. We think he has improved, no coughing or weezing but he has only had gentle exercise. Anybody who has had experience of COPD and give advice would be great!
 
My horse was diagnosed with COPD last week but he cant have the steroids as he is just recovering from a bad bout of lammi. I believe that there is a risk of laminitis when using steroids so maybe this is something your friend needs to speak to the vet about if they are looking at longer term use. I have found that my horse has massively improved with the ventipulmin and managing his environment. I have the added difficulty that mine is only out for 2 hours a day due to the lammi! Has the vet been back and checked his chest recently as if the coughing and wheezing has stopped then i'm surprised he is staying on the inhaler. My boy was checked by the vet yesterday (1 week after diagnosis) and his chest is clear. I am to reduce the dose of ventipulim and administer it for another week then he is to come off it if all is well and just keeping ventipulmin in just in case of another attack. It sounds like your friends horse was worse than mine although every breathe was a wheeze last week, very scary! I hope your friends horse improves soon.
 
find an asth]










/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/find an asthmatic friend either over 65 or under 16 and
get them to get repeat prescriptions, as long as you have a spacial inhaler!
 
Steroid inhalers are the best way of treating COPD without a doubt, and the risk of laminitis is negligable as there is very little systemic uptake.

£160 sounds very expensive to me. Might be worth asking for a prescription- beclometasone inhalers cost about £20 each from Boots.
 
The spacer was £60 with £100 for both inhalers..... Could be an option to find a human asthmatic and rob their perscriptions! We are concerned over long term use though. He is not a lammy horse and our grass is bad but could trigger a bout? I have spoken to a friend today who's friend pony had a 3 month course of steriod - no different and because of ££ issues it is now on NAF Respirator, outside and on soaked hay. Apparantly much better with those changes. Every breath with this horse is not a wheeze so Im not too sure he is as bad as vet is making out??? But then Im not a vet!
 
My pony was diagnosed with COPD the first winter I had him. Had ventipulmin initially to open up air ways and initially a really high dose of the steroids. Once the condition stablised and with appropriate management we reduced and reduced the steroid dose.

Now (8 years later) he occasionally has his inhaler in the winter (or very dry conditions in the summer) to give his system a boost but this is usually only necessary for about a week/ten days.

So - yes it will cost a LOT to start off with but hopefully the insurance will cover that. I currently pay about £60 for a steroid inhaler from my vet but that lasts at least 6 months if not longer
 
My cob has had COPD and SPACOPD for 8 yrs. She has been on the lot preds, ventipaulmin, inhalers etc all were costing me up to £350 a month! and her lungs were still too weak to ride / lunge her
The preds made her gain 150kg in weight, she was lucky not to get lami, but has since always had a tendency to put weight on with the drop of a hat
I've tried herbal suppliments the best IMO are winergy ventilate and Global herbs pollen X, but they have there limits
Her breath rate at worst has hit 55 BPM instead of the normal 10-12

The only thing that has kept her alive (literally) is antihistimines ! My old vets said they wouldnt work, but I started giving her them a few yrs back, and within a few weeks I was able to take her off the preds, ventipaulmin etc

I've reciently changed vets, and this vet has 100's of customers using antihistimies on horses, for all sorts of allergies. They cost me about £16 for 3000 tablets from the vet and they can last my girl between 75 - 150 days depending on her dosage / time of yr.

As I said shes been on them for yrs with no side effects and no sign of her body getting used to them, shes not on anything else to help her lungs, her resps are normal, and she can do anything exercise wise, 15 miles with ease

There are 14 chemical types of antihistimines, so there are a few to try, but I've found ceterizine the best

I know I'm very pro antihistimines, and dont want to preach but they do work, most vets say they dont and its infuriating, I've spent thousands over the yrs, on vets bills, and considered PTS many times, as my girls lungs were that bad. And theres a cheap, alternative, that has no side effects

I hope I dont sound too preachy and hope they help someone

Jill
 
Thanks all for your advice. I will definately relay the antihistimine tip when I go down the yard tomorrow. The more advice we have got over the last few days is that the steroids are big ££££ and dont always seem to work? However, any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
I will definitely consider antihistamines in the future, really helpful advice (even though its not my post!!) Its good to be able to share positive experiences. I trust my vet implicitly however they dont always offer you every option!
 
You can buy a paediatric spacer over the counter from any chemist for about a fiver that does the job just as well as a specific horsey one.
 
What an interesting post, I do hope Box_of_Frogs has read this after her FOECs (fat one eyed cob) visit to the horsepital yesterday. This may be worth a try before spending the £1k quoted?

Just a comment on the Preds - there was a pony on the yard with lympho sarcoma who started on 80 tabs per day which were reduced gradually over a period of time (its important not to stop suddenly). These cost 8p per tablet from the vet. There is always a risk of laminitis with steroids, however the vets told us that the tablet doseage was small so the risk was minimal.

Scallywags - what doseage did you start your mare on and did you have to go through all 14 types of antihistimines before you found the one which worked (Ceterizine) ?
 
Llwyncwn your very right about coming of preds slowly, you cant just come off them one day. When bliss was on them I had to cut her dosage down by 5 tabs a week, to wean them out slowly. She did have 'roid rage' with them anyway but she was on high dose's

Before I changed vets, and got a proper dosage off them. I gave her a max of 20 tablets a day (split between 2 meals). This is the max dosage I've used for yrs
This yr (because of not being able to exercise her at all, due to my hip op) and particularly high pollen levels, her lungs were chronic again, so she was put on the highest dose of 50 tablets a day (split again, into 2 feeds)
Now the pollen levels have lowered, I've lowered her dosage to 30 tabs a day, and I'll keep cutting them out, as much as I can. Then raise the dose when she has her bad spells, when stabled at night, and march to oct (pollen) So as you can see shes on them pretty much all yr round
Shes about 500 - 550kg
I tried the main chemical names used by people for hayfever, Chorphenamine (Piriton), Loratadine (Claritin) and Cetrizine (Zirtek) I found the ceterizine 10mg worked best, so have stuck with it

Jill
 
If you have a good enough relationship with your vet he should be honest enough to give you the full story on the steroids I would have though? they'd value the long term relationship with you and your horse. my horse was diagnosed with COPD and was on ventipulmin for a while, which worked great, but as you say is very expensive. i've eventually developed a regime where he manages brilliantly with no medication, he's out as much as possible and all hay he has is steamed when he's in his stable. i also have him on wood pellet bedding which is great. has your steamer arrived yet? Good luck with him - it's not the end!
 
My mare is a COPD sufferer but I keep it under control as best I can. I always have a tub of ventipulmin in my feed room, any signs of her breathing becoming abnormal etc and I whack some in her feed. I also feed (via my vets) something called Respimin which she has daily added into her feed - I am now able to give her less than the recommended amount but it works for her. The Respimin is a large tub than Ventipulmin, but costs about £52 and lasts about 3 months at the rate I feed it - sounds alot but given the cost of supplements it's actually quite reasonable.
 
My mare has recently had a problem with a recurrent upper respiratory tract infection. She has had to be treated as though she has COPD during her recovery.

The spacer is a paediatric one and was £ 2 something, the steroids were £ 10 ish. It sounds like your friend is being ripped off.

Incidentally I was a steamed hay feeder and it still m,ade her cough. I have changed to Haylage and she is 100% good now.
 
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