Respiratory Issues- Still no change !? :(

[Dressage Monster]

Hello

I posted a while ago about my 12 year old mare having some respiratory issues. The problem being that during schooling ( Dressage) she seems to struggle with breathing and has a wheeze ? she also has the same issue when she is eating her dinner ? She has been on Ventapulmin, no change. She has had a scope which showed slight inflammation of the Larynx so we had a course of steroids, still no change. I have hoovered (yes hoovered!!0 her stable so there is no dust, she’s on soaked hay and newspaper bedding. She has had 3 weeks off and still no change. It does effect her way of going as she becomes very lethargic and heavy in the hand obviously as she is finding it hard to breath. The scope showed no sign of her being a roarer. We are having an active scope done in the new year ( should be fun !!) where i work her in an outline whilst they look to see if there is any obstructions. She has had this problem now for around 2 months and did seem to start with a cough but you would have thought that the steroids would clear up any inflammation left ? Any ideas anyone ?? other that putting her in foal ! -just to clarify she doesn’t have the problem when in the field or when hacking out.

 

[Ludi-doodi]

Sounds a lot like my lad over the Autumn of 2010. I was given steriod powders to give him along with an inhaler - I had to buy a baby spacer/inhaler device and give him 5 squirts 20 mins before riding! It was a normal human inhaler, but off the top of my head, i can't remember which one! He also had some antibiotics.

It took about 6 weeks before I had a clear scope (we had to go 3 times only because the vet or lab lost the second set of samples). I do think his breathing is slightly compromised since then, but at 18 I don't expect him to be totally without an issue.

Since then I have kept him on a Respirator Boost at 30mls a day (1/2 the recommended dose) and I do think it makes a difference. He struggles a tiny bit more in very warm weather but so far very cold hasn't caused an issue.

The active scope will definately be interesting and fingers x'd will also provide an answer and a solution! Good luck

 

[be positive]

One of mine only got better once I changed to haylage, no amount of soaking seemed to completely remove the spores that caused his breathing issues. He can now, several years later, eat hay for a while without it causing problems, but it seems to build up over time and get worse again.

 

[Fransurrey]

What surface is the school? Sounds like that's the source of the problem to me, in which case you'll never cure it - you'll need to school outside.