Equine Asthma prognosis

[The Trooper]

Afternoon,

Ok, I'm just gonna be honest here, I am writing this thread in the hope of getting some replies that will put my mind to rest.

In July Bonnie was attending local rideouts and I believe she may have been exposed to the Flu, she is vaccinated so the symptoms were relatively mild (slightly snotty, coughing etc). She was getting better in time so I thought no more of it however the cough did not disappear entirely...

Now, last week my vets put on a talk about the horse cough, I attended as I love that sort of thing for increasing knowledge etc. I'm not going to lie though, it has put the fear of god into me!

Bonnie is presenting with alot of symptoms for equine asthma (now I know what to look for). She has heave lines, laboured breathing after extended fast work (canter/gallop), coughing after her first canter, very flared nostrils, extremely sweaty and seems to take alot longer than other horses to recover from hard work.

I have the vet coming out a week tomorrow to check her out but I'm seriously worried about her. She's only 7 and I'm dreading her not being rideable...

Does anyone have any experience with horse asthma and any reassurance to offer as to her prognosis IF she does have it?

No horror stories please, I've had enough of those from a lass I ride with who had a COPD mare that had to be PTS 😭.

Thanks all.

 

[Red-1]

I had a respiratory infection personally when I was doing some running. There was a 10K run coming up, with pretty steep hills, but I had trained, entered and was looking forward to it. The worst of the infection had gone, but I still coughed a bit when I started running.

On the day, it was snowing, but I went and ran. I obviously did far too much in cold air with a compromised system. It took 18 months to get over it, but I would say I am back to normal now.

I think if the horse were mine, I would keep as dust free as possible as horses do have to cope with an awful lot of dust when stabled. I would also lay off any canter work this winter, to give the system chance to properly repair. If it was a sudden onset after an infection though, I would expect a full recovery.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Get the vet out and see what they say. A course of ventapulmin might be all she needs. Especially as it seems linked to her being ill before. She might just need a drug boost!

Make sure your management is respiratory friendly.

Sounds more acute than chronic to me if she wasn't like this before the flu-like illness.

 

[ester]

There are a lots of treatment options available these days which means that most can be well managed and it doesn't effect their work. I have fond memories of using a foot pump to nebulise for a RS pony - we used to take it in turns as it was so tiring and thankfully unnecessary now!

So no catastrophising until the vet has seen her.

 

[twiggy2]

With a suspected respiratory issue I would have the vet asap, much can be prevented but some damage cannot be rectified.
As for asthma our old out on loan pony has it, she has dust allergies and we believe some tree pollen allergies too. She is not stabled, has a field shelter with an open side, is bedded on rubber chips/strips, fed soaked hay and I am not sure if she is currently on medication. She has had episodes when she has needed medication since being on loan but she is in her 20's and still in full work.

 

[The Trooper]

I think if the horse were mine, I would keep as dust free as possible as horses do have to cope with an awful lot of dust when stabled. I would also lay off any canter work this winter, to give the system chance to properly repair. If it was a sudden onset after an infection though, I would expect a full recovery.

Thanks Red, I'm letting her take things easy for the next wee while until the vet comes out to see her.

Get the vet out and see what they say. A course of ventapulmin might be all she needs. Especially as it seems linked to her being ill before. She might just need a drug boost!

Make sure your management is respiratory friendly.

Sounds more acute than chronic to me if she wasn't like this before the flu-like illness.

I have today gotten ride of her straw bedding and think we are going to use wood pellets but if I can help it she will not be stabled at all over the winter. I really do hope it is a case of a course of meds and then she's right as rain.

There are a lots of treatment options available these days which means that most can be well managed and it doesn't effect their work. I have fond memories of using a foot pump to nebulise for a RS pony - we used to take it in turns as it was so tiring and thankfully unnecessary now!

So no catastrophising until the vet has seen her.

It was Boehringer Ingelheim who spoke at the talk and they mentioned all the options and reassured all there that there are others in the pipeline too.

With a suspected respiratory issue I would have the vet asap, much can be prevented but some damage cannot be rectified.
As for asthma our old out on loan pony has it, she has dust allergies and we believe some tree pollen allergies too. She is not stabled, has a field shelter with an open side, is bedded on rubber chips/strips, fed soaked hay and I am not sure if she is currently on medication. She has had episodes when she has needed medication since being on loan but she is in her 20's and still in full work.

ASAP is next Monday, not even a zone visit but it's my next week day off work. I kind of regret not getting the vet out before now but we live and learn. I have changed her bedding from straw and hope not to winter her that often, I may even stop using my stable unless it's horrible weather for tacking up etc and just do it outside.



I was thinking it may be seasonal which is why I haven't called the vet yet, I have some regrets like i've said but atleast it's arranged now.

Thanks everyone for your positive vibes! I am still interested to hear more from others though


Here's a picture from today after a wee play with the clippers.

 

[TPO]

My horse has mild asthma. I manage it via management and haven't needed medication.

I was on a yard with three coughing deliveries that were coughing up gunk and no one got a vet out 😏 my horse picked up a cough so I got the vet straight out. The vets done some tests and came back out to scope and take a sample from his lungs for testing.

As expected he had a respiratory infection from the other horses so that was treated with antibiotics. He was still a little wheezy so the vet was back out and the horse was diagnosed with asthma. That was April- June 2018 so I'm a little hazy on details now.

Unfortunately the yard I was on was really dusty, no air flow, infected and untreated horses and they had to come in at night year round so it was almost impossible to manage.

Thankfully moved to our own place in July and the horses could live out 24/7. I had the vet out a fortnight later and my horse's breathing got the all clear.

I bought a haygain so he only ever has steamed hay. They are all bedded on bedmax to minimise dust and are out as much as possible. I also feed him the Science Supplements RespirAir and I really think that helps.

The vet has lots of options should they be needed. Ventipulmin, nebuliser etc so please try not to stress.

 

[twiggy2]

I found wood pellets very dusty when the stable was only used occassionaly, they dried out and everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. There great if you keep the bed damp though.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

I agree with Twiggy about pellets. I have a some in my spare stable and it's definitely more dusty than it would be if it was shavings.

 

[Highflinger]

I think you may find a dose of ventapulmin sorts things as sounds to me more of a short term infection rather than a long term problem. You may need to change bedding etc or if possible 24/7 turnout. My boy has had asthma for 15 years - now 29 and still ridden so with careful management not necessarily a major issue. He did have a bad attack a few years ago and a steroid injection sorted him out within literally minutes. He has a human asthma inhaler which I use as and when ( hot dry weather mainly). Good luck she looks lovely.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I preferred Easibed for my COPD mare. She did much better in outdoor stables rather than barn stables and as much turnout as possible. And I found a herbal breathing supplement was actually quite effective for maintenance. And normally I'm a "pass the proper drugs" type!

 

[The Trooper]

If I can get away with it, this winter she will not be in at all if I can keep weight on her. Only worry is mixed turnout and round bales in the field. I'm feeling alot better off the back of this thread though so thank you very much everyone for your experiences.

I'm open to using something other than wood pellets if it will be better for her IF i need to winter her in.

 

[The Trooper]

Nothing had changed husbandrywise but her cough is back....

 

[Auslander]

I've got one here who was recently diagnosed with RAO. She lives out as much as possible, is kept well away from dry hay (we bought her a steamer) and is bedded on dust extracted chopped rape straw (incidentally, this is instead of wood pellets, which the rest of the yard is on - because of the pellet dust). She has a nebuliser, and is on 1mg of dexamethasone twice a day, plus 4 puffs of salbutamol twice a day - we're hoping to reduce this to "when needed" once the initial treatment phase is over.

 

[The Trooper]

I'm planning to bin the bedding this week and see if it clears up. I may also get the vet back out as it is worse now than it has ever been. I almost want a diagnoses so I can manage accordingly...

 

[The Trooper]

Hi all,

Vet was out last week, he thinks the bedding I use should be OK as it is not dusty at all, has suggested soaking hay (lives out so not really required so much) and has prescribed Ventapulmin. She needs 4 scoops 2x per day (8 scoops total per day), my bank balance and wallet and quacking in fear ?.

Hopefully this clears it up, I have 2 tubs so enough for approx 2 weeks. Currently waiting to hear back as to how long I should give her it for, I was only expecting 1 tub when I picked the meds up yesterday.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I have a horse that has equine asthma and running an allergy test has helped with his management immensly. Since he is quite sensitive to dust, flax straw works best for him as wood shavings can be too dusty for him, and forget about straw. He lives in a box that has access to a small paddock, so it is a lot better than being in a typical enclosed stable arrangement. I also soak his hay or feed haylage.

Keeping him in regular exercise helps. He also gets plently of Omega 3's in his diet and some MSM.

If he does cough (been awhile) I use a Flexineb nebulizer for him. Expensive, yes, but I did get 10% off during one of their sales. However, it is worth it as I can use it for a week and it clears things up. It delivers medication directly to the source (airway) and if steroids are used in it the dose is much less and therefore the risk of laminitis decreases - with meds such as Dexamethasone. He just wears it while I get him ready for riding.

The issues that can occur is when left untreated or unmanaged - then you can get scarring in the lungs. That is a problem. Managing environment is key. My guy eats his soaked hay out of a net and likes that arrangement. He is no longer allowed to bury his head into a dry roundbale.

His condition really hasn't effected his work significantly (dressage and trails). Perhaps it would if he had extended time off, but I really think keeping his fitness up helps.