Respirator supplement

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Caffrey6590

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Morning all
My 17 year old welshxcob suffers April to august with respiratory issues. After 5 years of the same issues at this time of year (worse May and August) and suffering from cushings I am looking to find a respiratory supplement that might help ease his discomfort. I’ve tried naff and hack up air, both didn’t work. The vet is coming for the first time this year, tomorrow, and will probably prescribe ventipulmin and Bute like previous years! but in the meantime wondering if anyone could recommend a good supplement for allergy time respiratory issues?
 
Antihistamines may be the best route if it is seasonal rather than dust related, I have used piriton with success although there are several similar but with different drugs so you may need to try a few before you find the right one.
 
We started using Science Supplements RespirAid on a horse at work nearly 4 weeks ago. He had major breathing issues whilst galloping that a wind op wouldn't sort. About 2 weeks in we noticed a difference in his breathing. Yesterday you barely heard a peep out of him when he would normally sound like a dying T-Rex! Whether it would work for allergies I don't know but it has certainly settled this lads breathing right down during his galloping work.
 
be positive said:
Antihistamines may be the best route if it is seasonal rather than dust related, I have used piriton with success although there are several similar but with different drugs so you may need to try a few before you find the right one.
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He’s been in on pellets and haylage all winter and been brilliant. Now out and coughing 😱. It’s been the same last 5 years. I might go down that route and give it a go...how much piriton do you know how to give? He’s 517kg in weight.
 
If you go down the antihistamine route, check out the SweetItch FB pages for places to buy cheaply and in bulk. IIRC citirizine is recommended more often than piriton because it doesn't make them drowsy.
 
Mine often ends up with a cough over the summer starting March/April time so I think it is the pollen. The year before last I had him on Piriton all through the summer and he did't get a cough at all. He had 20 a day! They don't make him drowsy. You can buy bottles of 500 online for not very much money. I did speak to the vet before putting him on it.

I have also used the NAF respirator boost in the short term which seems to help. I usually have him on Global Herbs Airways plus.

Last year he was fine - I think because of the crazy weather. He has just started coughing this year and I'm kicking myself for not picking up the signs earlier and starting him on Piriton :-/
 
Caffrey6590 said:
He’s been in on pellets and haylage all winter and been brilliant. Now out and coughing 😱. It’s been the same last 5 years. I might go down that route and give it a go...how much piriton do you know how to give? He’s 517kg in weight.
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The thing is that, even if it is allergy related (which it sound like it may well be), it’s inflammation in the airways or lungs that causes the cough and the only way to deal with that, unfortunately, is steroids.

You could talk to the vet about the possibility of steroid inhalers or a nebuliser (worked wonders for my horse). Understand that you might be reluctant to go down the oral steroid route with a horse with Cushings but, apparently, inhalers and nebulisers deliver steroids directly to the lungs with very little risk of it leaking into the blood stream.

As far as I know, Ventipulmin, ventolin etc work to open the airways (the way I imagine supplements try to work), whereas steroids act on the inflammation at the route. I did have to use Ventolin at one point with my horse to open the airways to allow delivery of the steroids but, alone, it didn’t have much effect.

I suppose anti-histamines might stop the inflammation developing in the first place if used quickly enough (although I don’t think they’ve ever been proven for use in horses) but once the inflammation has developed, it’s that that needs dealing with.

Hope you find a solution: breathing difficulties are awful to deal with.
 
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Balsamic air is what my vet recommended. Respirator Boost worked initially but after a particularly bad month a couple of years back I switched on their recommendation and he's been mostly good (touch wood!) since.
 
My Ally seems to suffer from seasonal allergies - we use PollenX and she hasn't had a problem since! We had a couple of episodes previously where she needed a course of Vetipulmin.
 
I've used Winergy Ventilate on two horses, one is sensitive to dust, the other would otherwise have been given ventipulmin. It worked well on both and all symptoms went when using it.
 
Do you know what his allergies are to, and what are his symptoms?

We have one with COPD - main symptoms were coughing, trouble breathing and a high respiratory rate - and unfortunately that took a nebuliser with dexamethasone steroids inside. He also had haylage and dust free shavings.

Current one has a pollen allergy and head shakes - we find pollenex (and brewers yeast) to really help!
 
Mine seems to have reacted moving onto dry hay the last 2 winters (She now only gets wet hay or haylage)
I tried energy ventilate the first time and saw no difference but to my bank account. Tried the NAF respirator this winter and she cleared up within a week. Could just have been coincidence of course but it wasn't expensive so if consider it worth trying again.
 
Fiona36 said:
The thing is that, even if it is allergy related (which it sound like it may well be), it’s inflammation in the airways or lungs that causes the cough and the only way to deal with that, unfortunately, is steroids.
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Histamine is a part of the allergic inflammatory response in the airways (and elsewhere). Depending on severity of reaction, antihistamines may be sufficient to relieve inflammation. Cetirizine in particular affects prostaglandin D2, which is a major role player in allergic inflammation and recruitment of inflammatory cells to the airways. It also binds to receptors (H1R) on smooth muscle cells, so results in bronchodilation.

If you're going to try anti-histamines, OP, this would be the one I'd choose.

Inhaled steroids are able to cross the airways to the bloodstream. They've actually been used to control system inflammation in asthma patients. ;-)

ETA: Expression of the receptors varies between species (so they vary massively in terms of effectiveness and you might need steroids as well/instead of), so liaise with your vet if you want to try anti-histamines for a starting point and max dose. They aren't licensed for equine use, though. Your vet can check with VMD for off-license use.

[context: I research inflammatory airway disease!]

Example Refs for the geeks :p :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14530789
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8939275
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28612233
 
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On my big lad I used Piriton last year with Equine America Coff-Less in his feeds and Equimins Air Boost before exercise.
He has a season related cough and the year before Ventipulmin worked but because of the expense I tried the antihistamine / supplement route the following year and that seemed to work fine.
He wasn't noticeably drowsy on the piriton. I take piriton myself and it doesn't make me drowsy although if my husband takes it he's out for the count!
 
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