Copd/ spaopd

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Hazel and Arnold

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Hi Everyone, this is my first time on the forum but I've been reading through and you all seem very helpful. I've got a 16 year old Arab gelding who has never had any kind of breathing problems before but after a very long winter and some really bad hay he developed a cough. I thought it was because of the hay and that it would go as soon as it was warm enough for him to live out 24/7. Well, the cough didn't go and he started losing weight. There was no grass in the field so I looked at moving him to a different livery yard as he had never been so skinny - I didn't want to bring him in at night because I thought this would exacerbate the cough. I had the vet out and on that day his breathing was quite labored and had flared nostrils. The vet prescribed him ventipulmin which made no difference and still hasn't - he has been on this since 22nd July (which is only 2 and a half weeks). His breathing is a little better (just) but his cough is getting worse. I have moved him to a different yard and cough is just the same. He's losing even more weight. I believe it must be the pollen/ grass that is causing him a problem. I have been in contact with the vet regularly. I tried to leave him in during the day to see if this would help but he's a crazy boxwalker so even with dust extracted shavings he managed to create dust and he started coughing really bad so I took him out. This week I've been leaving him on the yard during the day which is about the size of 4 average stables and no grass with soaked hay. He has been so much better when I go down at about 4/5pm but is back to really bad coughing in the morning. He also makes a noise which I am really struggling to describe but its like rattling or as if phlegm/mucous is moving around in his throat. He is eating ok but weight is dropping off - I don't think he's eating much grass. What do you think I should do with him? I'm just hoping that when the winter comes he will improve. Do you think I should get him scoped to see if something else is going on or should I have blood tests done? Vet has suggested both of these but has kind of left it up to me but I have no idea. Sorry this is such a long post but I hate to see him like this and I've not rode him for months so all of these issues are when he is just standing around or walking round the field - nothing strenuous.
 
Welcome!

My boy has confirmed COPD and although he may have an intermittent cough in the winter it had stayed into the summer months as well (and I have never had this in summer before0.

I tried ventipulmin but it didn't help.....I thought also it might be a pollen issue so I tried putting Vaseline on the inside of his nose (as this is what I had been advised when speaking to my vet) but it didn't work either. I then went back to using inhalers (he was not very keen on these) and I have cracked his coughing using them twice a day (with soaked hay, dust free bedding etc)....

If everything you are doing is not working, then I would probably go with your vets suggestion of scoping or blood test to see if there is anything else going on, particularly if he is continuing to lose weight....and then at least you will have more of an indication of what might be going on and working out what the best method of treatment will be...

That's what I do if my boy was in your situation....
 
Have you discussed the use of i.v. steroids with the vet, rather than oral or inhaler? The problem with inhaled drugs is that excess mucus affects the deposition in the lung and so the drug doesn't reach the sites where it's most needed, as mucus accumulates most where the trachea divides into the bronchii. Be aware that you will need to feed more, as ventipulmin is a beta-2 agonist and increases the metabolism of fat, so if your boy is already lean, he needs a bit extra (I'd go with micronised linseed).

Oh and b2-receptors downregulate (the number of them lowers) when drugs that bind to them are used for long periods, so your vet needs to bear that in mind, too (My PhD is in Respiratory medicine - I don't read this stuff for fun, lol!), so if there is no noticeable effect now, it's unlikely to help in the future, as the number of receptors for the drug will only decrease (it takes a few weeks for this to happen, but your boy has already been on it for 3).

Just had a thought. What about anti-histamines? Has the vet mentioned those, at all? They're used successfully to treat asthma in humans, in conjunction with the human version of ventipulmin,
 
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I have just been through the same, the ventipulmin didn't work, one inhaler did (took a while to get her used to it!) she didn't have steroids as she'd recently had some over the winter, but that would have been the next step. Her cough has gone and she's off the inhaler. I have another for when I need it (I steam her hay but in summer I think it's pollen related as she lives out and has no hay) she had 6 'puffs' twice a day for a couple of weeks, then down to 4 then 2 and now nothing. For the 1st week she hated the spacer, it flew across the stable! After some help on here (well loads of help and suggestions!) I started squirt it into the spacer away from her (it makes a noise) and then put it over her nose. The initial 15 minutes it took quickly went down to 3! All the best hope you sort it
 
The vet did tell me but I can't quite remember, I've just had insurance payout about £350 and my excess is £150 that's for 2 inhalers, one spacer, 2 vets call out fees, 2 tubs of ventipulmin. I'd say the inhaler are maybe £40 each? The ventipulmin is expensive. Going to claim a few more inhalers whilst her insurance covers it :-) I'll try and work out the itemised vets bill for u when I'm home and let you know more specifically
 
My horse has partially closed larynx (left side is paralysed) since he was broken at about 3/4yrs, his breething had been fine until we had an awful winter which ended up with his breething being awful and not being able to do one lap around the arena with out his breething being awful, showed signs of Heeve lines so had the vet out April time, he had an infection in his throat and COPD, was prescribed dannilon and ventipulmin, the ventipulmin didn't make any difference to his breething, had the vet back pit after about a month who put him on antihistamine tablets, once they kicked in he has been able to be ridden and jumped weather dependant And in a controlled manner due to having both COPD and partially closed larynx.
I'd defornatly ask the vet About antihistamines and if they don't work, as the vet said have him scoped :)
Hope you find a cure soon :)
 
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