Inhaler for horse

scats

scats

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Little vet check-up for Diva yesterday and we are so pleased with how well she has done over the winter. However, summer is a different story. She seems to suffer from summer pasture associated OPD, which on top of her normal problems, causes her some major difficulties. The farmer who rents some of the farmland warned us that he has planted rapeseed this year so while the vet was out for jabs yesterday, we had a chat about what to do with the Diva to keep her as comfortable as possible. Vet has suggested she has steroids via an inhaler during the summer. If she really struggles with that, she can have some in her feed, but ideally the inhaler would be best.

Does anyone’s horse use an inhaler and how have they adapted to it?
 
yes, I have a wee chap who has had his inhalers for Around two years now for summer related asthma. He has a baby's mask that the inhaler slots into, you put it over one nostril and cover the other with your hand and he has adapted to this very well despite being an opioniated wee one.

He was initially given just the purple/red steroid inhaller by one vet and this just wasnt working but then getting another vet out for a second opinion who had a huge amount of experience of respiratory conditions (worked in race industry for years and specialised in respiratory), he couldn't believe he hadn't been prescribed Salamol (Blue inhaler) as well, the blue inhaler open she the airways so allows the steroids to actually go in and he gets his blue inhaler first, wait ten mins and then has his steroids. I've used the blue inhaler a couple of timescale for my old boy and it's worked just as well with him (he's 15hh but can be a bit of a brute. I found the easiest way was to headcollar, rope on the floor with your foot on just enough to stop him turning away, shoulder under his jaw line with your back to the horse and administering from that position with your hand a around the nose. The good thing about the blue inhaler is its a breath activated one so doesn't sound loud when it's activated so they get used to that easily and then the steroid inhaler doesn't scare them when you press to activate.

If you get just the steroid inhaler ask your vet for the blue one also, I have a friend with a horse also with summer asthma and diagnosed last summer and her vet also hadn't thought about the fact that the steroids weren't actually getting into him and she now has a blue inhaler to give first and he's now coping much better too.
 
Just another thought, someone mentioned to me last year that they had a horse who reacted badly to clover and it resulted in breathing issues, we did have clover in our paddocks when our wee one started with his issues and I am watching this with interest as we have one paddock with a bit of clover growing in. Don't know if there is anything in this but I will be keeping an eye on as we haven't got to the bottom of the cause (we don't have any oil seed rape around).
 
I used a babyhaler inhaler on my mare, she generally tolerated it well although the puff from the inhaler or closing one nostril would occasionally worry her. We mainly used brown ( beclametasone I think? ) inhalers and found that it was cheaper to get a prescription from my vets then buy them from a pharmacy. Twelve years on I have a pony with COPD which seems to be pollen triggered, I have problems with my arms and elbows and would struggle to use an inhaler so went for a flexineb nebuliser. I've found very easy to use and the steroids work out cheaper than using inhalers although the initial cost is an awful lot more.
 
All I can say is good luck!

Having been through the palaver of trying to get my previous horse to accept using an inhaler, I'd say go with the putting it in feed option.
 
We had a couple on them years ago, when it was less common and I don't think the nostril covers used now were invented/freely available. I do remember using some large bore hosepipe and watching the horse breath for timing (this must have been the vets instructions at the time!). Horses weren't bothered at all.
 
I used a babyhaler on a 15.2 chunky cob mare. It took two of us the first couple of times I used it, but once she realised that was ok I could do it on my own.
 
My big mare loves it! Baby inhaler over one nostril and hand over the other and off she goes with deep breathing and a delighted expression on her face. Friends horse sticks to the ceiling if she even sees it. :)
 
scats said:
Little vet check-up for Diva yesterday and we are so pleased with how well she has done over the winter. However, summer is a different story. She seems to suffer from summer pasture associated OPD, which on top of her normal problems, causes her some major difficulties. The farmer who rents some of the farmland warned us that he has planted rapeseed this year so while the vet was out for jabs yesterday, we had a chat about what to do with the Diva to keep her as comfortable as possible. Vet has suggested she has steroids via an inhaler during the summer. If she really struggles with that, she can have some in her feed, but ideally the inhaler would be best.

Does anyone’s horse use an inhaler and how have they adapted to it?
Click to expand...

My late mare and her son have a Era mask and coped quite well with it. http://www.eramask.com/shop/index.php
 
I’ve used them. Agree a baby spacer helps. (Basic children’s spacer with silicone end that’s big enough to cover a nostril) I found it helps if you place the spacer over one nostril, cover the other with one hand and wait for a few breaths to get the rhythm of the click of the valve so you can time depressing the inhaler with the valve opening for maximum effect.

I also agree about using a blue ventolin inhaler before the steroid one to open the airways and getting a written prescription form your vet. The blue ventolin inhalers are only two or three pounds but the Beclemetazone steroid ones are over twenty. I found Asda Pharmacy to be the cheapest.

My horse eventually went on to a nebuliser as, although the inhaled steroid helped, he needed a bit more and the nebulised steroid made a huge difference.
 
Flexinebs are brilliant pieces of kit. You can put so many different drugs and things through them. The inital outlay is expensive but in the long run it works out well.
 
If you end up with a flexineb one unexpected bonus I found is that I can cross tie J in his stable doorway, put the nebuliser on set it off and although I stay reasonably close and keep my eye on him I can get on with other jobs while it gives him the steroids.
 
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