How to feed my COPD laminitic

[unbalanced]

So, as of yesterday, my pony now has COPD or whatever it is called these days, RAO I think. She gets horribly sweated up in her stable and wheezes and coughs and it is very unpleasant to watch. The vet has seen her and prescribed ventopulmin and I have to change her bed from straw to rubber mats and shavings, but feeding her is proving to be a bit of a dilemma.
The vet ideally wants her out, but that isn't possible for the next month minimum as the farmer is resting the fields. She is therefore in unless I am doing something with her. I am not allowed to turn out in the school as it damages the surface.
The vet said to steam rather than soak hay as soaking just damps down particles whereas steaming kills them. As I can only feed her twice a day she felt that hay would have too much chance to dry out and get dusty again.
I have been steaming it this week with a kettle in a feed bin but it isn't very effective. Only the top bit seems to get steamed and the bottom stays cold and dusty. I looked at fancy haygain steamers but I can't afford them. I asked Petplan to buy me one and they laughed. They suggested making one out of a wallpaper stripper and big bin. I put this to the farmer that that was what I was going to do. The reply I got back said er no, you should feed her hay nuts or haylage (try the low sugar blue bag one). Trouble is, she has got laminitis from the blue bag one before.
I know her cushings is diagnosed and under control now but she was always a laminitic since she was about ten and had several negative cushings tests between the haylage lami incident and the positive cushings test. I'm not really happy to put her on haylage but I'm beginning to think it's my only option.
Or is there such thing as an affordable battery operated hay steamer?

 

[juliette]

Why did the farmer say you could not steam hay? This is the best option for your pony. Does he understand the complications of having COPD and a laminitic?

You could get a wheelie bin and a wall paper steamer, put a grill across the bottom of the wheelie bin, hole in the side at the bottom, put the head of the steamer under the grill, feed the pipe through the hole. This would create a very efficient steamer, allowing a couple of large hay nets to be steamed at once. 30 minutes plugged in to steam may well be sufficient.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Your change of bedding is a good idea and will help, however, in my experience, turn out is the best help for a COPD sufferer.

If the Ventapulmin is not effective ask your vet about the inhalers, they are not cheap but i found them very effective for my cob.

 

[unbalanced]

His wife said she would ask him so I didn't actually speak to him. When I spoke to her she asked me how long it would take and where I would be - I said it would run while I was mucking out. She said he probably wouldn't like it being in the barn (the only power point is in the cattle feed shed where he does a lot of his work) and that it would be a fire risk.
I don't suppose they make battery operated wall paper steamers that I can use outdoors as apart from the not being allowed to problem the wheeliebin steamer solution sounds ideal. I am actually considering bringing my hay home, keeping it under a tarp in the garden and steaming it there at the moment. Only I have to get the hay through the house and I rent. Back to square one.

 

[criso]

I know people who have had good results with Timothy haylage for laminitics. Horsehage make one in a purple bag or you can sometimes get it from local farmers but make sure it is just Timothy, not a Timothy/Ryegrass mix.

 

[Rollin]

An English friend here in France has exactly the same problem. She is using a wallpaper steamer with a dustbin to good effect.

I used to steam small quantities of hay with boiling water in a sealed plastic bag, this worked well.

Here in France my sugar beet is non-molassed and very cheap. I can give a wet feed of s/b and lucerne and hi-fi pellets all soaked together.

 

[Shadow the Reindeer]

What a difficult combination.. one requires out, the other requires restricted turnout..
I can make suggestions for alternative medicines for the COPD, but not for the laminitis.. Feel good 30, or Naf respirator for when she finishes her ventipulmin course, haylage does tend to be better for the cough wise, but won't help her feet, unless the timothy could work for her?
Where is her stable situated? Is she at the end of a block? If not, could you move her? I feel for you, it can't be easy being dealt a double whammy

 

[unbalanced]

i feed speedibeet now which is unmolassed - not sure how much of her diet I can replace with that. She is a good weight now - 2.5/5 condition score.
I am going to try the plastic bags idea today - I am putting the shavings in today so I will have some big bags and I'm allowed a kettle so that should be possible
It might have to come to haylage although I'm really reluctant as she got laminitis off the laminitis trust approved blue bag one before and I'm scared she will again. It was a few years ago - perhaps they've changed the grass in it? I am clutching at straws I know. My trimmer suggested haylage and sodium bicarb to neutralise the acid from feeding it.
Shadeyoak - yes, this horse is ridiculous. So far this year, we have had hepatitis, cushings disease, an episode of laminitis (with no actual cause), an abscess and now COPD. She also has arthritis. I am starting to wonder if I should just give up but she is my best friend and 90% of the time she is sound, happy, in work and we have fun together.
The stable fortunately is outdoors - it is between another pony that is on straw and unsoaked hay, and my personal hay and straw barn, but I will be clearing that out today. She used to have one of those stall guard things but she kept escaping into the cattle feed barn so now she's not allowed it anymore and has to have the door closed. It's a shame because the door is quite high and she doesn't like to put her head out that much (she's only 14hh) but you can see why we aren't allowed the stall guard. She just wants to stress me out.

 

[Slightly Foxed]

Unless you're using a commercial steamer I would have thought that soaking the hay will be more effective at controlling dust than steaming; if you're just using a kettle, the steam's not going to get to the middle of the hay.

Oh, and make sure your stable is as ammonia free as possible and well ventilated.

For the laminitis, you need to soak the hay for more than three hours to leach out as much as possible of the water soluble carbohydrates.

Good luck.

 

[landyandy]

my mare is prone to laminitis, as copd, and cushings, for the last 2 years she as lived out, the grazing is very poor, I feed speedibeet, high fibre nuts and molasses free chop. I have hay In the field, but again this is not top quality but suits my mare.

 

[LauraWheeler]

I feel your pain. Lucy had all sorts of problems including Laminitis and COPD I used to steam her hay by putting a net of hay in a shavings bag, pouring a kettle of boiling water in and tying the top as tight as I could with bailertwine and leaving it to steam. It worked realy realy well. She did get horsehage blue or the timothy one when she was in work. I used to double net it so it lasted her longer.
I found Global herbs airways was a very good suplement so that may be worth a try.
I have recently started feeding Merryn (who is laminitic) Bailys highfiber nuggets as a partial hay replacer. He also gets fed speedybeet and hifi mollases free.
I hope you find what works best for your girl. If I can be of any help just give me a shout. After 12 years of dealing with all of Lucys verious problems I know how tough it is when each issue needs to be delt with diffrently. Ponies who'd have em.

 

[unbalanced]

Thanks guys. I put in a cardboard bed today (nice lady in shop told me this was the most dust-free) and have bought some blue bag haylage to see how she goes on that. Some nights if I am late from work the barn with the power point is locked so that will eliminate that problem, as long as she doesn't go footy on it. So fingers crossed.
The other livery who works for YO told me today that the reason she got COPD was from escaping into the barn and eating the cattle feed .

 

[Shadow the Reindeer]

Maybe the answer is just to find a yard with grazing that suits her needs, rather than trying to make a square fit a circle?

 

[unbalanced]

My yard is USUALLY really good for grazing - I have been there for about a year and a half, and this is the first time the fields have been completely closed (and we were told it would only be for six weeks). Last summer I was allowed a track system up so she could live out as she won't wear a muzzle. Around here (based on my research when I was moving here) most yards seem to either close their fields completely for winter, only have daytime turnout in summer, or only have herd turnout with no special option for laminitics, or a combination of all three.
This winter we had 24hr turnout until new year, then all day (7am-7pm) until mid Feb - I feel like if I can get through until the fields open then it will be ok. But that means the forage/bedding/stabling combination has to work well enough for me to get her out and work her - I did mention her arthritis, didn't I?
I haven't ruled out moving yet though. Blummin horses, all they do is worry us and cause us heartache

 

[pottamus]

My lad has had laminitis and has a dust allergy (COPD). I have to stable him at night to keep his weight in check. I have him on rubber mats, bliss bedding (I found shavings too dusty). I keep the cobwebs out of his stable and always turn him out on limited grass each day for a good 11 hours. I wet my hay rather than steam - literally dunk each pad in water and hold it there for a couple of mins.
I have found this to work well for my lad until I have him nearer home and can use a steamer instead - I have no elec or water where he is currently.
I now seem to the added complication of him having arthritis too....but that is another story!