Not COPD, but possibaly laryngeal paralysis. Info please!

[Saxon_Jasmine]

I thought my horse could have COPD, however it seems more likely to be laryngeal paralysis. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Can I still excercise and compete my horse? Should I manage her any differently? Is it progressive? Is it heredotary?

If she does have laryngeal paralysis I think it is a very minor case as she only whistles very occasionally, eg when she does her first canter in a warm up or when she tries really hard over a jump. When she does whistle it's once, not continuus. Her heart rate is normal (checked by a heart rate moniter in slow and fast work) and she doesn't appear to have any breathing difficulty or performance problems. Appart from the whistling she is fit and healthy.

Thank you.

 

[alfiesmum]

my boy had a complet paralysis on one side. he was hobdayed and tiebacked in the one op.
he healed well and you would never have known he had it done.
he cant neigh or whinny now but sounds like an old man with a sore throat now! its quite sad lol x
he also has to have all food and water from the ground so no more haynets.
some i believe have the odd complication of coughing but i was lucky and this has never been an issue.
cant say much more as i only have my own experience -but if needed i would do it again (he also stopped sweating so much after it was done??)
good luck with whatever you decide x

 

[mon]

my mare a a slight roar and talks sometimes just got use to it when she was doing lessons kept her on respiatory supplements but is 15 and just a happy hacker and nothing stops her do use a nosenet on her as a headshaker but she is lovely and fit mare.

 

[cptrayes]

Mine has also had a tie back and hobday but he is able to be fed completely normally, and he still neighs, with a deeper and more manly neigh than he used to have!

I would advise you not to go anywhere near an operating theatre unless you have performance issues. The op will probably not cure the noise, and is incredibly stressful for the owner, if not the horse. And the horse has a 1 in 100 chance of dying just because of the anaesthetic.

To cure a bit of noise it would be pointless. You will know if your horse needs it done - she won't be able to keep up with her friends if you go for a whizz and may grind to a complete halt. It can be progessive, mine's was, but I would advise you to wait until she really needs it before you have it done. But it is an expensive operation, so you'll need to keep an eye on the insurance situation - if you are making a claim for the work so far and your vet mentions laryngeal paralysis then I think you have only 12 months to claim for the operation and that they will exclude it on the renewal of your policy. You may be between a rock and a hard place on that one.

 

[Saxon_Jasmine]

Thank you for your replies. I'm not going to have her operated on as she is happlily working and competing, so I don't see the need at the moment. If it gets worse I may consider it, or may just lessen her work.

I haven't had a vet assess her I'm making an educated guess from the symptoms that she has it. If it gets worse I will have a vet assess her, and then possibaly claim on insurance to have her operated on.

Thank you for your help

 

[cptrayes]

That sounds great. You'll probably never have a problem except the noise - I've had several big horses with noises (it goes with big horse territory!) who hunted and evented. The fitter she gets the less noise she'll make.

I doubt if she has it badly, if at all (might just be a loose flap in her throat) if she is not doing it continuously. I've had two scoped, both with partial but serious paralysis and they both made a noise continuously when working hard enough to start it off.

You will be able to feel it if she is running out of air - you'll get half way up a gallop that she normally copes with fine, and she will start to slow up. Then you can get her scoped and operated on under your insurance if you need it. If she does run out of breath I would recommend it, with a laser hobday (no hole in the throat) because it transformed the horse I had it done to.

Good luck.