So fed up I could cry again! Horses with allergies

Keltic

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Im just about at the end of my tether now, I dont know what to do next so any advice or a general kick up the bum (yes i do feel sorry for myself!)
Katie my cob had from April - Nov off last year due to a breathing condition, she has had EVERY test available and every drug possible plus a whole host of homeopathic meds, inhalors etc etc. Her breathing is now starting up again, she shallow breathes and pants her respiratory rae can go any where between 14 - 42 per min. Ive spoken to the vets this morning and she is to be scoped again next week to see if any changes or infection etc. Its been a year now and the insurance runs out so anything after the end of this month will be self funded. Im gutted as we are no futher on than we were a year ago!
I just dont know what else to do! between her and Kelly they are a pair of walking vetbills!! Kelly's vet bill for her facial injuries last month was £900!! Kelly is fully retired and is now 31 and Katie is now broken so thats them both on the injury bench!! I think i might have my wages paid via direct debit straight to me vet in future!
Sorry pointless post but im so down i could cry and i just dont know what to do or try next?
 

classicalfan

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So sorry to hear your problems. You don't mention whether you have ever had a diagnosis or when she starts to breathe this way. Is it at rest or when she is exercising? Just also noticed that you appear to have alot of oilseed rape around you (judging by the photos). We have often found that horses can be very sensitive to this plant and now is about the time that head-shaking, breathing problems,etc, can start.
 

Keltic

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Hi thank you for your reply, her breathing is just as bad at rest aswell as working, but I cant work her now as she is panting again. Sorry the pics are misleading but someone made me a siggy and put my girls on that background. We havent had any definitive diagnosis at all despite numerous test scopes etc etc
 

McNally

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I lost my precious girl last year to this so cant help you- I guess you tried Prednisolene?

Just wanted to send love and best wishes I really understand the hell your going through right now xxxxxx
 

dianeholmes

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I too lost my lovely andalucian boy in January as a result of breathing allergies, so my heart goes out to you - I did cry, and often, at the frustration and the waste of an able and lovely horse.

Winston had allergy tests but they did not pinpoint anything significant. His problems always started in April and lasted until October. The allergy panel did not hightlight a tree as being involved but there had to be at least one - nothing much else is producing pollen then. The crocus, daffodil etc tests were all negative. It did show a few other things that flowered much later. We stabled him during the day to try to protect him, especially on high pollen days but it did not make him rideable. I had fantastic support from the yard manager and her staff but it is a frustrating condition to deal with.

We ran out of insurance and I ran out of money - the vet could only suggest oral steroids as the inhaled ones were no good for him. I simply did not have the quoted £15 a day for dexamethasone. I made a difficult and heartbreaking decision to have him PTS. He could not just be turned away as without treatment he could not breathe. We also had an opinion from a consultant vet the his condition was a deteriorating one.

I hope things turn out differently for you, I really do.
 

devilwoman

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I feel for you, my mare has a frustrating allergy too, although it doesn't put her out of work, it looks horrendous, she loses all the pigmentation round her eyes and muzzle, happens every year for 4 or 5 months of the year, wev'e done allergy testing and she's been on piriton, worn fly masks etc, nothing seems to help, eventually it usually comes back, although this year it hasn't and she is still without her pigmentation round her eyes and muzzle is all patchy, its so upseting when you just dont know what the problem is.

Hope you get to the bottom of your girls issues and get her sorted. Not sure who your insurance is with but a while back I had a claim going on which carried on long after insurance renewal but because the condition was an ongoing one the insurance continued to fund it until it ran to the vet fee limit. Not sure if they all do that though.
 

cm2581

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I know this is really basic but have you tried your horse on piriton?

I also know a few people who have had success with global herbs products, but you do need to phone them for acurate advice. One of these was possibly worse than yours sounds.

Best of luck. It must be awful for you both.
 

Pedantic

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If you go the Piriton route, try different independant Chemist/Pharmacys, as you can get LARGE amounts without prescription, it's not "branded" Piriton but is exactly the same stuff, it's cheaper and your not paying for the name, don't be put off if some pharsamists try to tell you you cant get it, shop around.

Hope you get sorted.
 

Keltic

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Thanks guys, im so frustrated I wish I could find something that works and will keep her comfortable, the vets are not too keen on steroids because of the risk of laminitis, will look into the piriton and also nostrilvet.

Thank you for your kind wishes and im sorry Diane and McNally for the loss of your horses xx
 

SO1

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My pony has an allergy that effects his breathing and I have him on Think Clear and last year was the first year he did not need the vet for his breathing. I had tried all different supplements and none worked.

He also had ventipulmin which worked as well but I did not want to give him that for long periods of time so now he has the Think Clear in the allergy season which for him is August-Jan and then he will have some ventipulmin occasionally if the weather is unusually hot. Being really hot seems to trigger it for him, so he is clipped early which made a big difference.
 

Chocy

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Not much more to add but had horse with similar problems (unfortunately PTS in Nov for diff reason but had decided i was having it done before this spring)

I used to find Global Herbs pollenX fairly helpful to begin with (in much bigger qtys than on tub) but it gets really expensive
Also tried steroids (inhaled & oral) ventipulmin, sputolosin(sp), Steroid nasal sprays (like beconase) antihistamines
Unfortunately (as you'll find!!) with meds it can be a case of trial & error to find what suits your horse
Regards steroids & lami-My horse had large doses steroids from April 2 Aug (approx) & no probs wit lami but i did find it made her manic bout always having 2 be eating (was v distressed if nothing 2 eat even for 5 mins)
If you want more info etc about any treatments or anything else PM -i did A LOT of research into drugs/treatments etc with my mare & had a v good vet who lket me try what i wanted with her!!
 

0ldmare

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So sorry to hear about the awful problems your horse has.

I haven't personally had a horse with allergy problems but a good friend of mine had a gelding that mysteriously became a head shaker and even at that level it was very distressing to watch him.

This is just a thought. I was looking into mesh fabrics as we were going to make a range of fly masks. One of the mesh fabrics I found was mostly used as windows/door covers and was specifically designed to help people with hay fever. So basically the mesh stopped the pollen getting into the house. It was very soft and flexible, like fly mesh for masks. I played around a bit to see if we could make it into a nose net that could be grazed in but couldn't figure out how to do it (the horses nose is positioned in a most unhelpful place lol). Anyway I just thought it might be worth trying to make something for your chap to see if it would help? It may be the same fabric that they use for the nosebag things you can put on when riding, I'm really not sure. Anyway just a thought
 

Shilasdair

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I've got two with allergies - and one of them is very, very allergic and has cost me 10k plus in vet bills in the last year as a consequence.
I found that oral Prednisolone works for the very allergic one (grass allergy, we think) and have managed to reduce her dose by more than half since she was first on it. I know there are risks involved, but in her case it was Preds or PTS.
My other mare is a headshaker ('allergic rhinitis') to pollen from now til the middle of June - probably tree pollen. It doesn't affect her lungs, just makes her eyes/nostrils weepy and sneezy and gives her involuntary headshakes. I'm going to put her on Atarax, which is the best antihistamine for horses - by oral syringe probably this week.
It may be worth asking your vet if you can use either Atarax or Preds (I know you aren't keen on corticosteroids, but you could start her on them, and reduce them down to the end of the summer).
Good luck with your girl.
S :D
 

Box_Of_Frogs

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Hi Hun. If your ned has just started with a regular, seasonal breathing problem, it's almost certainly pollen allergy COPD. COPD/RAO when it's caused by a dust or hay allergy is much easier to manage but from now til about October, every breath of air every human or horse takes in the UK will be full of pollen grains. The problem with managing a pollen allergy is that it's almost UNmanageable so the horse's lungs get more and more damaged every year. My veteran Sunny is in the same boat. Further endoscopy is probably pointless - I'd save my money. Sunny couldn't be sedated when he was endoscoped again last October because his breathing was so appalling that the vets thought he would go blue and stop breathing altogether. An average horse's breaths per minute at rest is 8 - 12. Sunny's shot up to over 65. He was handling the pain by taking tiny shallow breaths which meant a) the inhaled drugs weren't reaching the place they needed to be and b) the lack of deep breathing will eventually lead to pneumonia (which would have killed him). I thought last winter would be Sunny's last due to quality of life issues in the spring/summer. No drugs help Sunny - the only thing that gives him partial remission is the changing of the seasons. However, vets from my wonderful equine vet practice went to a talk by Fidavet who make a product called Cavalesse. Cavalesse is designed for sweetitch horses but the rep advised my vets that it would be as effective for pollen allergy COPD horses. They were given 3 packs of Cavalesse to trial (each pack is 3 months supply) and they gave 1 pack to me to trial for Sunny. It works by preventing the release of histamines by the mast cells (not by dulling the body's response to histamines). I'm not 100% certain this will work for Sunny but tbh we've really got no options left. You have to give Cavalesse at the same time every day - it's quite bitter tasting but 3mls dripped onto a slice of bread is wolfed down by Sunny! He's been on it now for 3 weeks but it's far too soon to pronounce it a success. He usually starts coughing his lungs up mid May when the hawthorn comes into blossom. I'm keeping a diary in the hope it might help other horses but it might be worth you trying it. It's £90 for 3 months supply but I've found it on line for £68.

Watch this space because if it helps Sunny I'll be shouting it from the rooftops!

PS: my vets told me that NostrilVet is a nice idea but a total waste of money. Might possibly work for humans who only have a relatively narrow nose where the air rushes past on each breath. But horses have broad, wide nostrils and they take in gallons of air at every breath. I doubt that as much as 1% of this air would pass close enough to the sides of the horse's nostrils for any pollen grains to be trapped.
 
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