Pollen allergy/salt therapy

[AWinter]

Has anyone had any experience with salt therapy helping a horse that coughs with a pollen allergy? It started for him 2 years ago, he was coughing badly out of the blue in the spring, had vet, ventipulmin which improved him then he went straight back to coughing when it had finished. I was recommended Trinity consultants AH181 which was incredible for him, he stopped coughing completely and I kept him on it all summer, and all of last summer, with no issues. This year it’s not quite doing the job, I know it’s a terrible year for pollen and we have a bunch of horses on the yard having trouble. We have one very badly asthmatic horse that had salt therapy and it seemed to make him worse, but he’s struggling so much anyway on all of his medications it’s hard to say.

My horse seems fine in himself, doesn’t cough more with work, just frequently does one dry cough as if he’s irritated. I’m going to speak to the vet tomorrow but I’m wondering about salt therapy as I had heard good things about it in the past? Any other thoughts welcome but it is 100% a pollen allergy he doesn’t cough at all in the winter and he lives out 24/7 so no dusty bedding/bad ventilation etc.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Mine was diagnosed with Equine Asthma last June and we'd been having Salt Therapy (£40 a pop) for the 9 months or so since the initial diagnosis. A friend had recommended it for hers (not asthma) and so I thought OK let's see if there's any improvement.

TBH I can't say there WAS this huge improvement. The sessions did perhaps give a little temporary relief, but it was short-lived. We were having treatments every month, and tbh I wasn't seeing any real concrete "improvement" over the time-span, so a month or two ago sadly decided to discontinue the sessions.

Friend still maintains it does hers the world of good.

Think you'd need to perhaps get a vet's diagnosis (if not established already) of what exactly yours is allergic to before you started any treatments. It may be that diet and/or management might go a long way towards eliminating the triggers?? Or anti-hist's??

With mine, we found that switching to haylage (and only haylage) was fundamental in managing her condition. Personally I'd rather spend the money on something that showed an almost immediate improvement; than spending out £££ on something that "might" have been making a difference. That said, I AM a "believer" in the benefits of salt therapy, and it is a pity that mine did not seem to benefit from it.

 

[palo1]

Has anyone had any experience with salt therapy helping a horse that coughs with a pollen allergy? It started for him 2 years ago, he was coughing badly out of the blue in the spring, had vet, ventipulmin which improved him then he went straight back to coughing when it had finished. I was recommended Trinity consultants AH181 which was incredible for him, he stopped coughing completely and I kept him on it all summer, and all of last summer, with no issues. This year it’s not quite doing the job, I know it’s a terrible year for pollen and we have a bunch of horses on the yard having trouble. We have one very badly asthmatic horse that had salt therapy and it seemed to make him worse, but he’s struggling so much anyway on all of his medications it’s hard to say.

My horse seems fine in himself, doesn’t cough more with work, just frequently does one dry cough as if he’s irritated. I’m going to speak to the vet tomorrow but I’m wondering about salt therapy as I had heard good things about it in the past? Any other thoughts welcome but it is 100% a pollen allergy he doesn’t cough at all in the winter and he lives out 24/7 so no dusty bedding/bad ventilation etc.

I have a horse with a pollen allergy (as diagnosed via scope and BAL). I haven't tried salt therapy - mostly because it is too expensive to be sustainable and there are no reasonably local facilities. My vet has advised that nebulised saline my help though I haven't tried it over a consistent period of time. What has/does help is inhaled medication when needed and using a clinically trialled supplement. (Science Supplements Respiraid DHA). Interestingly, this year my mare is not showing any symptoms at all yet and I have put her on a trial dose of antihistamines. There may be a number of reasons why my mare is currently symptom free though, including the use of anti-histamines. One vet I have spoken to has advised caution with salt therapy as it can cause additional sensitivity though it clearly helps some horses. Sorry I can't be more help but I have found it useful to hear lots of different experiences along the way.

 

[GoldenWillow]

I have a pony with equine asthma, diagnosed by a BAL, he is fine with dust free management until pollen season then needs nebulised meds. I've tried an awful lot of supplements over the years and only two made a slight improvement, winergy ventilate and to a lesser degree NAF respirator but neither did enough to stop him needing meds. I am very wary of salt therapy as have known no one in person that has had success with it and I am not happy with their use on social media claiming "successes"

 

[RHM]

Salt therapy works as a mucolytic allowing the horse to cough up any mucus in their lungs. If your horse hasn’t got much then it won’t be of any benefit and vice versa. So, I would imagine it would be more beneficial for horses with COPD rather than allergies.

 

[palo1]

Salt therapy works as a mucolytic allowing the horse to cough up any mucus in their lungs. If your horse hasn’t got much then it won’t be of any benefit and vice versa. So, I would imagine it would be more beneficial for horses with COPD rather than allergies.

This! It is really important to know exactly what is causing the problems and how that is for each horse/pony otherwise you are heading down the wrong track very easily!

 

[rabatsa]

What works for one will not work for another.

I developed bad asthma in my 20's and was told that a holiday by the sea would help me. It made me a lot worse, yet for other people the sea air helps them a lot.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

As far as I’m aware there is no robust evidence that salt therapy does anything at all. I’ve asked a couple of practitioners who are constantly posting about it on a sweet itch Facebook group I’m on to point me towards the evidence base for their claims but I’m still waiting …

 

[blood_magik]

The only thing that’s worked for mine is immunotherapy

 

[AWinter]

Interesting thanks, I’m going to have the vet to come and have a look at him again this week.