horse coughing... COPD?

princestar

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My horse has had a week off ridden work, due to the cough he has had this week.

I put him out all day to graze (he goes out everyday 7am-7pm) and have started to soaked the hay and made him wetter feeds. No change and he didn't seem himself the past couple of days.

He was really coughing as though he needed to bring up some phlem, but he didn't bring anything up. He'd even be coughing standing out in the field, so even at rest he would start coughing. Then when he was coughing it was like he sucked air through his nose, but other times his breathing is fine. He wasn't coughing all the time, it was like he'd have a few coughs then not do it for an hour or so.

I didn't have the vet out before because he was very bright, his usual self and the coughing wasn't as bad as it was today and I wasn't happy with him, as he was quieter than usual. I'd spoken to the vet in the week and she said as long as he was fine in himself to*keep him out and not work him.
So called the vet and she came within 15 mins. Breathing fine, lungs and heart fine. Temperature normal. No heave lines, no weight loss. She even said he was a credit to me, and he is, he was so well behaved for her too. I was sure I'd get the vet out and he wouldn't even cough, but he did start when the vet was listening to his lungs, so she got a good listen to him whilst he did it.

She prescribed him equipalazone and norodine, 7-10 days rest and if there is no improvement she will be coming back out in 10 days. I'm calling her Tuesday (5 days after first visit) to update her.

I asked her what could be the problem if the
equipalazone and norodine didn't work and she said worst case scenario it could be COPD. Any advice as I know about the condition in people (my nan suffered with the condition for 15 years) so know the effects on people, what are the equine effects? She did say worst case but now I'm seriously worrying.

Thank u x
 

googol

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My horse was diagnosed with RAO(think that's the new name for COPD) I thought it was gonna be the end of the world cos I had to give him 2 weeks off and I only just got him and didn't have any experience with it. My vet gave me VERY strict instructions about managing it!he can NEVER eat Hay again,he must be out as much as possible(vet said the ideal place for him to live would be top of a mountain!)No cobwebs in the stable,no food in the horse box,absolutely everything he eats to be dampened,and keep an eye outfor him getting puffed more/quicker than his peers!after his first treatment(about a year ago)I did all of that and brought him back into work. Absolutely no problems. Just before winter ended he was coughing a bit more than normal(sometimes coughs at start of exercise)so I got the vet to check him just incase-i had got a bit complacent with soaking Hayledge and clearing cobwebs so it had flared up a bit-vet gave me a strict talking to,but 1 injection later he was completely fine. (Bad owner I know) So basically the moral of the story is. . ur horse Def sounds no worse than mine so if it is rao u will be able to find ways of managing it(u need to identify the irritant and remove it!) And u and ur horse should live normal happy lives :)
 

rosiesmumof4

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gogogol seems to have have had a good experience. My mare started coughing 7 weeks ago, on vets advice she is out 24/24, she gets no hay/hayledge anyway when out, has had an extended course of antibiotics and is on ventipulmin. She still is not right, not coughing but puffing and out of breath after very little work.
I'm ringing the vet again on monday but very depressed about ti all
 

Baluga

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My cob was diagnosed with COPD when she was 7. She's now 18, in full work and has a very active life. Most people are surprised when I tell them she has it.
She's stabled at night during the winter months and is out 24/7 in the summer. She gets fed haylege rather than hay, as even if I where to soak the hay she would start coughing. She has to have her feeds wet.
I do have to keep her fit, otherwise she can't walk one long side of the school without sounding like she's about to drop dead.

It's about finding what routine suits your horse.
 

Box_Of_Frogs

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Providing it isn't a bacterial/viral infection of some sort, a horse that starts coughing this time of year is commonly RAO/COPD but the allergen is pollen rather than hay. No amount of soaking the hay will help as the pollen is in every breath the horse breathes in. Have you counted his breaths per minute whilst at complete rest? Should be 8 - 12 (1 in and 1 out counts as 1 breath). My severely lung-damaged Summer Pasture Associated RAO (proper name for it) veteran now has at rest bpms of 35 - 40. Ventipulmin can help in some cases as it relaxes the airways. Sputolosin can sometimes help a little as it breaks up the sticky mucus deep in the horse's lungs. Steroids can occasionally help though vast numbers are required and they bring the added risk of laminitis. Inhalers can help although some horses don't tolerate this. Vet may wish to conduct an endoscopic examination of the lungs, done under standing sedation in a crush, just to make sure there isn't anything more sinister happening. Sadly, none of this may help at all. The only thing that brings my veteran relief is the arrival of December. Takes that long to stop coughing as the cells that produce the clogging mucus have a 3 month life span once kicked into activity. Every summer that it is uncontrolled will damage the lungs further. How old is your horse? If over 15 it's worth getting him tested for Cushings as that can affect immune systems. The lab test is free at the moment. Good luck
 

princestar

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Thank u all for replying. Im stressing myself silly about this, its now Monday and he's still coughing as regular as before. I dont expect that the meds will clear this up unfortunately.

Googol, Rosie and Baluga: have your horses lived a normal life? Denny is only 6, so I am praying this doesn't affect him massively. Do your horses still enjoy ridden work, can they hack, compete, do in hand shows or are they only able to be field companions.

Box of Frogs: thanks for your reply that is a lot of info, Denny is 6, has never been poorly before this and is always happy. He's less chirpy, a bit down in himself but eating and drinking fine. Not so interested in hay, likely its scratches his throat and if he's already sore it won't be helping. I'll be putting him onto haylage in the hope it helps some way. Not too much of a problem now as he's out with plenty of grazing but more for the winter when grass is less. Im hopefully that because he is otherwise fit and healthy, he will in some way recover. I haven't checked his breaths per minute, I'll be checking today, although vet checked on Friday and said breaths were normal rate, so I will keep a continued eye on it.

Sadly, losing my Nan to COPD in October last year and then finding Denny after months of searching within a few days - for him to possibly have the same condition, is a bit of a kick in the teeth. But makes me more determined to get him better if at all possible. I don't think it will just be a cough or virus. But fingers crossed for him.

Thank You All x
 

Baluga

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Mines living a very normal and active life. We regularly go out competing - all disciplines. But I had to build her fitness up slowly and keep it there.

Have you tried cough medicine? Benalyn (sp?)
 

Gorgeous George

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Hi try not to panic, I suspect that your experience with human COPD is making you worry even more. The equine condition is now called RAO due to the confusion between equine COPD and human COPD as they are not the same and the symptoms and outcomes are not the same - so try not to worry too much.

I found this out as my boy was diagnosed with RAO in Jan last year, he was scoped and had a tracheal wash and the samples sent off to the lab for testing - the vet told me this is the only way to definately confirm it is RAO. He had a course of a very high dose inhaler (which he tolerated very well) and then went onto a weaker inhaler of which he had to have 20 puffs a day! This really helped, but when the rapeseed and hawthorn flowered in the spring he went a bit downhill and ended up having a course of steriod injections followed by tablets (I was still able to ride during this time as keeping him fit and his weight down is vital). These did the trick and over the summer I got him off the inhaler completely.

Winter is his biggest problem as dust aggravates him and he is stabled overnight, but he went through winter with just 2 puffs of his inhaler a day and he was as right as rain, he was a bit sniffy/coughy with the spring pollen so he had 4 puffs a day for that time.

Like others have said I changed his management, he was moved from a barn stable to an outdoor one and he is bedded on woodchips and rubber matting and always has soaked hay fed from a hay bar. There are no horses near him stabled on straw or with dry hay and his stable is nowhere near the muck heap. I always try to groom him standing outside his stable so as not to create dust inside and also damp down his feeds.

It hasn't stopped us doing anything, he does novice dressage, hacking, sj and xc.

Good luck :)
 

Wagtail

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gogogol seems to have have had a good experience. My mare started coughing 7 weeks ago, on vets advice she is out 24/24, she gets no hay/hayledge anyway when out, has had an extended course of antibiotics and is on ventipulmin. She still is not right, not coughing but puffing and out of breath after very little work.
I'm ringing the vet again on monday but very depressed about ti all

It could be a pollen allergy. My mare suffers dreadfully at certain times of the year. One year she was really weak with it. I found she really improved with 10 cetirizine hydrochloride tablets a day in her feed, that can be bought for as little as £1.50 for a pack of 30. Much cheaper than the vet, which was a waste of time in her case.
 
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princestar

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Gorgeous George - thank you, I think as soon as the vet said 'worst case is copd' I totally panicked.

Im having the vet back on Friday, he finishes his meds and still coughing so called vet and she said finish the course and she'll be out Friday. She has said he can go onto ventipulmin or steroids. Im worried about steroids as hes a very good doer and steroids and laminitis risk put me off...

Would you go for the ventipulmin or straight to the scope?

Thanks everyone, my poor boy seems a bit down, but eating and drinking so hopefully he'll feel better soon :)
 
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