Heavy Breathing.....Also in CR

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Mabel98

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My mare has been breathing heavily for a couple of months. She is in good, fit condition and is currently eventing at BE90 level with no problems. The puffing started following a sudden bout of lymphangitis and may or may not be connected.
I have had her blood tested, scoped and a tracheal wash done and all tests came back totally normal. So now, what do I do? My vet says as she is insured I ought to try more tests i.e an exercise tolerance test in case she is in low grade pain and go from there.
I'm not sure.........she has no problems galloping and jumping and it is obviously nothing major, she just sounds very noisy!
Any words of wisdom please? I am aiming to do a BE100 soon and am not sure what to do

Thanks
 
When does she breathe heavily? Is it after exertion or in canter? If canter could be roaring but if in general work i.e. horse starts pratting around and breathing gets heavier it could be COPD even though tracheal wash came back clear. Another thing, does it get worse during exercise? You really either need more investigation or get a second opinion from another vet.

It will be interesting to see what other HHOers say on here.
 
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She sounds more puffy just coming in from the field or walking down the road, not worse with exercise. She does seem worse on warm, sultry days but I tried her on NAF Respirator Boost with no difference. The vet also said that COPD/allergic condition would show up on the wash?
 
I've recently lost a horse to respiratory problems (interstitial pneumonia - very rare) who underwent various exploratory procedures in an attempt to make a diagnosis.

Scoping and lab cultures will show if the horse has COPD, a bacterial infection or if there are lung tumour(s) shedding cells.

I would definitely want to pursue an investigation whilst the vet fees cover is available.

My horse was hospitalised for 4 days and was scoped, x-rayed and had ultrasound scan. In addition had oodles of steroids/ventilation drugs and antibiotics. The bill (excluding the pts) came to £1200.

Good luck getting this sorted.
 
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