Pollen Allergy?

[mcnaughty]

Hi - I have a 9 year old welsh B gelding who exactly this time last year developed a very nasty cough which was treated with ventapulmin and antibiotics. Cleared up after approx 3/4 weeks and has been fine all winter. This first bout we put down to a very dodgy large round bale in the field. It was an end of season bale that none of us noticed was bad until most of the ponies stopped eating it but the grass starting to come through at this point. Fast forward to this year and the pony has been out all winter and fared quite well for a thin skinned princess pony. He is exercised regularly and attends quite a few shows, all jabs up to date but suddenly developed the same hacking cough, no mucus (well a tiny bit but really nothing much). He has been in for the odd hour or so and has been in the lorry with dry hay too. Vet has been and has administered antibiotics as he had a swab (just to make sure it wasn't the dreaded flu!!) and although clear of flu it came back with a tiny infection.

Anyway, question is - has anyone else experienced something like this? I'm thinking fast forward another year and is there anything I can do to prevent 4 weeks off work and tonne of wasted entry fees?? He is supposed to be going to Royal Windsor but that looks unlikely at the moment!

 

[Frumpoon]

Yes! The last 2 years, this being the third my mare has developed a horrendous cough on exercise. Vet more than convinced it's a kind of hay fever

 

[Abby-Lou]

Mine started again today defo pollen related with temps rising & it will be hitting me any day now

 

[xxcharlottexx]

Yes, mine is very similar. Developed a cough when on a yard with shocking quality hay. Moved yards as soon as I could and all seemed ok until the last 12-18 months, he has had a slight cough. Ended up putting him on a supplement- equine America ventilator have very rarely heard him cough. Had a very check in March for teeth and vaccinations. Mentioned he had the occasional cough again when exercising (only light hacking) and seemed a bit more lethargic, around the time of the warm weather in Feb. Tested for cushings and he is board line, so could be low level infection. He seems worse when the weather gets warmer so I have decided to take him off the supplement, see what happens and get the vet to investigate properly if the cough returns.

 

[Mule]

Mine gets headshaking. It's caused by an allergy (thought to be pollen) that leads to sinusitis. The headshaking is a symptom of the sinusitis. It's different than your situation but it is an allergy.
Last year he got it at the end of February. It hasn't come on yet this year. The one thing I changed was feeding him haylege instead of hay over the winter. It might be worth trying this.

 

[Shilasdair]

My old mare used to always start headshaking in response to a pollen allergy starting around Easter, stopping by the beginning of June. It was either oil seed rape or tree pollen.
The cough may be due to the pollen, but it would probably be wise to soak hay, as a precaution.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

My IDx gets a seasonal cough - so I've just ordered piriton and Equine America Coff-Less which he will get for the next few months. I will also use Equimins Air boost liquid before exercise.

 

[sychnant]

Sounds just like one of mine!

She's on PollenX and hasn't had a problem since starting it. She had to have Ventipulmin twice before that!