Following on from the Ventilate thread..

[mattilda]

I am losing the will to live with my big lad. He has been coughing since late March. Has had 2 courses of Ventipulmin which stopped him coughing but once finished the cough creeps back. He is also on Clenil Modulate inhaler at 12 puffs twice daily. Imo they are doing nowt!!
So do you think the Winergy Ventilate would help? I am also considering trying Maxabreathe, I had great results with my old lads arthritis with their stuff. Any tried it/using it?

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Hi Mattilda - at the risk of being controversial, I'd save your money on any over the counter supplement. If you read the tubs/leaflets they all say waffle stuff about supporting your horse's body blah blah blah. They do nothing to address the underlying cause. If your horse is already having a balanced diet, shovelling expensive herbs into him won't make the blindest bit of difference. So-called good results can be mistaken for 2 things: 1 is the awesome power of a placebo and 2 is that the condition would have been self limiting anyway.

My veteran, Sunny, has been deteriorating every year with a severe pollen allergy. We've tried just about everything the vets had to throw at it, all to no avail. The only thing that gives him a temporary remission is the onset of winter. I'm guessing your horse has a pollen allergy too if he started coughing late March. That's a bit earlier than Sunny who starts coughing in time with the hawthorn blossom, usually mid to late May. Sunny is now on a last-hope drugs trial, through my equine vets. Do a search on my user name and you'll find a ton of stuff. He's on a newish product called Cavalesse which is sold through vets only, as a sweet itch product. There is no mention either on their website or in the literature that comes with the packs to say it works for Sunny's condition which is summer pasture associated COPD (SPACOPD). But my vets went to a talk by the mfrs and the rep advised it would work just as well on SPACOPD. They gave my vets 3 packs to trial. Two packs went to sweet itch patients and they gave 1 to me for Sunny. You have to start it 3 weeks before you expect the symptoms to begin and it has to be given every day at the same time. If you miss a day, the suppressing action on the mast cells that produce the histamine that triggers the mucus producing cells that eventually cause the lung damage and coughing is lost and you might just as well not have bothered. To date, it has been a miraculous cure for Sunny but I hesitate to say that for another week or so because I've been caught out early in the season before. From the end of March this year until yesterday, Sunny has only had a total of a couple of dozen coughs (that I've heard). Today, he coughed a dozen times in my hearing and it's frightened the life out of me! His lungs are permanently damaged though so it may just be one of those things. Watch this space and I'll give a definitive verdict in a week or so. PM me if you need any more info x

 

[laura7981]

Have you tried him on piriton? These work in the sense that you are preventing any irritation of the lungs..... The steroid inhaler reduces any inflammation in the lungs while ventapulmin opens the airways. My pony started off with 30 piriton per day, with vent and steroid inhaler. Shes now on 10 piriton per day and a ventolin inhaler as and when she needs it which isn't often. Has your vet not offered you steroid tablets for him? These do have a better effect than than the steroid inhaler but they can trigger laminitus. I buy my piriton online, it's really cheap and defo worth a shot.

 

[laura7981]

Can I just mention that are you sure your horse isn't reacting to something in your field? Just my pony had all the symptos of spcopd... It turns out she's allergic to certain weeds in my field which trigger everything off.

 

[varkie]

While I would generally agree that you have to be cautious about how effective over the counter products are, I think Winergy Ventilate is the exception.

Years ago, I had a mare who developed major respiratory problems, and it was actually my vet who recommended Ventilate, saying it had been truly independantly tested in veterinary tests, and had been proven effective.

I used it on my mare, and it took her from a mare who used to have episodes so bad that we thought we might lose her, to a mare who would just have slightly raised breathing, and could even stay in light work until complete recovery - and with no more ventipulmin or sputolosin.

I totally recommend it.

 

[Gorgeous George]

George has had a low grade cough for a few weeks mainly when he canters, pretty sure it is pollen related as if we go somewhere else/indoors he is fine. On vets suggestion tried him on ventilate and it didn't make a blind bit of difference and neither did piriton. I have just bought a bottle of NAF respirator boost as they do a money back guarantee, he's been on it 4 days and i've been able to jump and school him without any coughing So keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[mattilda]

Thanks for all your replies. He has been scoped and it showed a severe inflammation which could be attributed to an allergy of some description, hence the steroid inhaler. He is a very good doer so would be wary of any other type of steroid...lammi possibilities are too high for my boy. Rode him today albeit at walk and he "only" coughed 3 times. His breathing is fine, no heaving or struggling. It is purely the coughing and even that isn't horrific but it is still there. He is a dressage horse yet hasn't seen the school in weeks so hence my frustration.

 

[horselove]

I have good results with Winergy Ventilate...mine stops cough when feeded

 

[horselove]

While I would generally agree that you have to be cautious about how effective over the counter products are, I think Winergy Ventilate is the exception.

Years ago, I had a mare who developed major respiratory problems, and it was actually my vet who recommended Ventilate, saying it had been truly independantly tested in veterinary tests, and had been proven effective.

I used it on my mare, and it took her from a mare who used to have episodes so bad that we thought we might lose her, to a mare who would just have slightly raised breathing, and could even stay in light work until complete recovery - and with no more ventipulmin or sputolosin.

I totally recommend it.

Sorry Varkie..I understand you fed her on ventilate until she recovered completely??
You dont know how happy it makes me

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Like I said, my equine vets have thrown everything at Sunny to no avail. Last autumn, he was so ill that we had no option but to give him oral steroids. Oral steroids are a laminitis risk and at the levels my vets wanted to dose Sunny it would have been very risky and very expensive for a very guarded prognosis. They didn't make the slightest difference. Sunny is 27. My vets refuse to prescribe antihistamines and have consistently told me that they don't work for horses. Talk about mixed messages! Anyway, Sunny fine today, not a single cough (in my hearing). I'm away from 7th to 14th June and when I come back, if Sunny is still cough free, I'm absolutely determined to get H&H to run a high profile article, with input from Fidavet and my vets and Sunny as a case study. If Cavalesse is a reliable preventative product then it could save hundreds or even thousands of horses from being unable to work because of exercise intolerance from damaged lungs or from being put down due to quality of life issues.

Watch this space.

 

[varkie]

Sorry Varkie..I understand you fed her on ventilate until she recovered completely??
You dont know how happy it makes me

I started her on Ventilate for the first time when she was seriously ill, it was about her second or third episode like this, when we were worried we might lose her. She was on so many drugs, and so ill. She was being kept out, as it was better for her than being stabled. We'd had her scoped & everything - nothing major showed on the scope, just some inflammation. But she used to go out & just lay flat out in the field, gasping for breath. Very scary.

She recovered from that episode and went on to be generally much healthier. She did generally have two episodes a year after that - always in March & September. But her future episodes would just involve a minor raised breathing rate - not major, just slight. Vet would give her some drugs, and she'd recover and go back to normal. During these episodes, she would be well enough to stay in walk hacking work, rather than be completely laid off, fighting for breath & life, as previously. After a couple of years, even these episodes ceased completely. A couple of years after that, we allowed her sharer to buy her, and they retired down to Devon together. Her new owner kept her on Ventilate for a while, but then took her off it, and she has never (that I know of) had a respiratory episode since.

She was permanantly on Ventilate while we owned her, and did very well on it. I've since recommended it to many people, and the above poster is the first person that I know of who hasn't had great results from it. Virtually everyone I've recommended it to has then gone on to recommend it to others.

 

[Deemoo]

I didn't have much luck with the ventilate either and have tried a lot of brands on the market with not much better results but the Airways by Equine America (powder form) seams to have a positive effect at the mo!, My boy has inhalers which I now use only when necessary. He has to be kept fit to aid his breathing and I have had to change the times I ride him esp in the high pollen or dusty days. Good luck and I hope you find what works for you!

 

[SO1]

ventilate did not work for my pony either. however what did work was think clear and since he has been on that he has not needed the vet at all for his breathing difficulties in previous years he had need antibiotics and bute as well long term ventipulmin to control the condition.

Last year it was controlled by think clear and I used ventipulmin only a handful of times when I would give it to him "just in case " on the day if he was doing quite hard work such as an hours jumping lesson or if I was competiting as I was a bit paranoid, but at the moment he does not need it all. My pony I think is allergic to fungal spores as his breathing difficulties start in late august - he lives out and I also soak his hay too.