Coughing - any good ideas for relieving ?

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Izzwizz

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My horse is on box rest and has developed a cough. Shes on shavings and I have soaked her hay but its still there. No snotty stuff and not all the time, its just as if shes trying to clear her throat. Theres horses either side of her stable and I stand her outside when theres hay and straw being shaken. Given her some Venos cough medicine today x 2 amounts. Anyone got any other ideas please?

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Sounds like low grade RAO (COPD) exacerbated by being stabled. Does the yard have a different stable she could move to because as you have discovered, even if you are careful with your horse's environment, you can't control the environment on the other sides. Standard management would include exactly what you're doing ie groom her when she's outside, take her outside while you muck out and give it all a chance to settle before she comes back in, haylage might be better than hay + you don't have to soak, keep her on shavings. Other people's straw and unsoaked hay will be triggering her allergy to dust and the spores in hay. My veteran has developed the same problem. He was quite ill over the summer because he got a chest infection virus on top of everything else. It's better managed now because he's stabled in the day and out overnight from about 4pm to 9am. Sounds harsh but it's much better for his health.

If your girl has to be on box rest, could she have a field shelter with a teeny bit of fenced off field in front? That would be much better for her. Otherwise, cough mixture won't really help her because her real problem is the allergy. Sunny had to have Ventipulmin to relax his airways and Sputolosin to make the mucus in his chest less viscous. Worth talking to your vets about but managing RAO is mostly about dealing with the symptoms rather than addressing the underlying problem.
 
I know I always bang on about them (and no they don't give me freebies) but Global Herbs are really good and they will discuss it on the phone with you and recommend which product would work best
 
As BoF said, it sounds like RAO and no amount of cough mixture will be of use, until either the conditions are improved (not your fault by all accounts)or the box rest ends and your horse can be turned out again.
It may be that you will need to give Ventipulmin until the box rest ends.
 
I had this trouble when my lad went onto box rest for laminitis...to be fair he has copd problems anyway but had always been managable with turnout. But within 3 weeks he was so bad I had to turn him out into a small area in front of his field stable on vets advice...or risk him not being able to breathe one night.
I have tried all manner or lotions and potions but realise now that nothing will help...take away the dust and he is fine...to the point where - again on vets advice - despite the laminitis issues I have put him onto smallamounts of high fibre haylage in a bid to lesen the amount of soaked hay he is having.
 
Totally agree with Mother Hen, Global Herbs are brilliant. Also when my mare had a cough whilst I was away (I think the girls hadn't soaked her hay properly) I gave her NAF Respirator and that cleared it.

Everyone who comes to me gets their hay soaked as a matter of course, I dont wait for the problem to start.
 
Just a note from another point of view.....

Yes Global herbs are very helpful. But their products didn't help my horse at all.

Knowing now what I didn't know then I would get your vet out before trying to treat it yourself!
 
Problem with coughs is that they seem harmless but if not treated early can develop into full blown RAO before you know it. Then there is no going back.

I would honestly get the vet as the last thing you want is a horse with RAO it is horrible and can really limit everything you do.

My old horse had it and it made him so lethargic a lot of the time. However the only thing that made much difference was Naf Respirator, I only gave him 3 tubs and it was then the best it had ever been!!
 
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