Horse with a cough

[LuckyRed]

Hi guys

I bought a new horse a couple of weeks ago and he has a slight cough. The vet commented on it when I got him vetted and said that it was of no clinical signifcance but after 2 weeks it's getting a bit more obvious and noticable. Its a dry cough with no discharge and he's not coughing anything up. Typically he does a few when we start trotting, then nothing until the end of the session when he does a few more. He lives out 24/7 at the moment and only comes in to be tacked up - and I've not heard him coughing in the stable or out in the field

One of my instructors said that it was probably just a result of all the travelling over from Ireland and that I probably didn't need to worry but to just keep an eye on it. I'm now starting to wonder if I should be calling in a vet given that he's been doing it for a couple of weeks

Any thoughts?

 

[canteron]

Probably totally unrelated, but my horse coughs when warming up.

He went really laxlustre once and I had him scoped. It showed very mild asthma. As I don't want to go down the drug route unless absolutely necessary (and it doesn't hinder him at all) then I just live with it and try and keep him out of unnecesarily dusty situations.

He too came across from Ireland!

 

[soulfull]

you are right to be concerned. coughing can be a sign of COPD/RAO

my last horse used to cough and not bring anything up, until I gave him ventiplulim or NAFs respirator that seemed to loosen up whatever was irritating him and he would clear his system

He was also less forward during these times or seemed to get out of breath more easily

Problem with coughs is they can cause long term problems if not cleared up asap I would get vet to scope him see what is going on. he may need antibiotics to clear it up