copd

[whiteclover]

Can you tell me your experiences of it. Ive just got a horse that might have it. Ive had one other horse who had it chronically bad. Im just hoping its not that bad or that he might have a virus/allergy to something.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

have a look here under asthma , there are loads of things.

http://equinecare-and-control.weebly.com/a.html

My mare has Asthma / COPD it I use the Era Mask - soaked hay- Airways + by gold label. .

I also use a nose net when pollen is high.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

It depends what's causing it. Allergy to hay spores and dust is relatively easy to manage. Allergy to pollen isn't. Sadly, since you're asking at this time of year, my guess is that it's pollen related in which case it's an absolute bugger to manage because you can't shut your horse away in a hermetically sealed room from now til September. Stabling doesn't help since the horse is still breathing pollen laden air in every breath. Do a search on pollen allergy on the Forum and you'll get a ton of info but basically your vet will probably prescribe Ventipulmin to relax the airways at first. From then s/he may precribe Sputolosin which breaks up the sticky strands of mucus that cause the lung damage. Both these drugs can be given orally or through an inhaler. Don't buy a horse one at £250! Buy a Boots baby one at £13.50! If things get steadily worse, your vet may want to do an endoscope and wash and from there may prescribe steroids. There are a host of expensive supplements you can waste your money on but if you read the small print, they all only promise to keep your horse healthy so his immune system is as strong as possible. You're almost certainly already doing this so I'd save your money for the prescription drugs. Don't waste your money on NostrilVet. It goes without saying that you should aim to keep your horse fit and at a correct weight but do take care because severely COPD/RAO affected horses will develop exercise intolerance over time. If you ignore this you risk giving your horse a heart attack.

 

[whiteclover]

thanks box of frogs. Hes actually started with this when he was turned out. I think theres afield with rapeseed in it about a mile away. Could it be a virus? Hes been in for two weeks but it started when he went out. I had another horse last summer that was like this. I moved yards and it cleared up straightaway. His breathing was a lot worse than my current horses.