Coughing Horse

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timeandchance

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My boss' horse has quite a bad cough and I was hoping that someone on here might be able to give me a few words of advice that I can pass on. We are trying to prevent his coughing int he following ways:

We thoroughly soak his hay.
We soak his feed before he is given it.
He is left out in the field for as long as possible (turned out soon as it's light and comes in as it's getting dark).
He is turned out in a barn over night rather than shut up in a stable.

He's been like it for a while and my boss is considering getting the vet out, but all they'll do is give him some Vetipulmen or something like it and she's a very natural remedy type person so we were wondering if there is anything anyone knows that might help without medical drugs.

Thanks in advance!
 
The vet would scope and blood and find out exactly what is wrong. It may be a virus, it may be allergy related.
If your boss is so against antibiotics (which is daft) there is a product on the market called Secreta Pro, which is natural Sputolosin (sp).
 
She would not let the horse suffer at all. If she felt that it would be a bad move to try a natural remedy first then she would not put him through it...we have introduced soaked hay and made sure his feed is even wetter than usual. We have also changed to reduced dust straw. His cough has improved but it hasn't gone completely....if for example she tried something and it obviously wasn't working she'd stop right away and get onto the vet.

I am merely asking to see if anyone else had any other opinions on other products...possibly anything they may have used themselves as I know there are a lot of other things you can do without medicines.
 
I never claimed that we knew what we were treating, I was merely asking for other opinions....which is what forums are for no?

Like I said, she would not let her horse suffer and may well decided just to call the vet anyway....we were just trying to see what opinions we could gather before hand.
 
Hi Kitty. If it is COPD then it might be better to put the horse on a dust free bedding. He is obviously in a well ventilated area and you are soaking his feed and hay. Does his bed get properly mucked out every day and any pee removed? If not COPD then as above thread it could well be viral. Does he have a runny nose? Have you taken his temperature? Are his glands up? These are all a few things to check out, but if it was me a call to the vets would be the best option. Hope you get it sorted.
 
Thanks!

We don't think that is it COPD but it was something that I did cross my mind! He is on a dust free bed in an open barn of about 30x30 atleast (it used to be a small indoor arena). His bed gets cleaned daily (at worst every other day) and he is turned out for as long as possible every day (sadly we don't have any lighting to the field so he has to come in when it starts to get dark). He doesn't have a runny nose, his glands are normal and his temperature isn't up at all. I appreciate the reply though...so thank you!
 
Seriously though...most coughs are caused by dust allergies and you need to rule that out...in order for all your efforts at soaking hay and feed to have benefit, your horse needs to be on dust free bedding...and straw is not...no matter how low dust it claims to be. You have to have dust free everything if the horse has an allergy to dust...dust free shavings, clear all cobwebs out on a regular basis, soaked hay and feed, clean all wet and poo out of stable every day because the ammonia affects them too. If that does not make a big difference after a week, then you need to get the vet to see what is going on. This is the only way I can control my boys cough.
Also, if the horse is not running a temperature...that to me would also indicate it is more of an allergy problem.
 
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