SPAOPD and feeding honey

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lucy007

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Does feeding localy sourced honey to a pony that suffers from summer pasture associated obstuctive pulmonary disease really make a difference to their sensitivity to pollens/triggers?

I have cob pony that suffers from copd and spaopd. Copd is managed during winter when stabled over night, spaopd in summer while living out is not so easy to manage. Used ventapulmin summer 09 and inhaler therapy summer 10, but not 100% happy that she is well managed. Would like to avoid steriod tabs if possible.

Experiences of this good or bad please.
 
lucy007 said:
Does feeding localy sourced honey to a pony that suffers from summer pasture associated obstuctive pulmonary disease really make a difference to their sensitivity to pollens/triggers?

I have cob pony that suffers from copd and spaopd. Copd is managed during winter when stabled over night, spaopd in summer while living out is not so easy to manage. Used ventapulmin summer 09 and inhaler therapy summer 10, but not 100% happy that she is well managed. Would like to avoid steriod tabs if possible.

Experiences of this good or bad please.
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No experience of ,but on the scale of accepted equine lunacy this is positively sane and worth a try. Put it this way "magnetic boots" or localy sourced honey . I know which gets my vote as having some sort of scientific rationale.:D
 
My pony has suffered with this for the past 5 summers, he has a pollen allergy and starts coughing about May. I tried feeding local honey, fed it from February one year so that it would build up in his system but it made no difference at all and he still had to have vet meds (ventopulmin, steriods, sputilosin etc). He is fine in the winter, no breathing problems at all. It may be worth a try for yours though, it may work.
 
My veteran Sunny has very severe SPAOPD and it's got worse over the last few years. Last summer was the worst ever. He was endoscoped again and couldn't have sedation because the vets were afraid he'd stop breathing. Very distressing - never again. We've tried everything under the sun (not honey!) but nothing has worked. It's impossible to keep a horse in a pollen-free environment. He's had to be retired and this winter he's had the best time of his life (he goes into partial remission every winter) because I fear that his quality of life this coming spring/summer will be too poor. BUT...my vets (they are absolutely superb and treat every horse as if it were their own) have been given 3 packs of Cavaselle to trial. Whilst it is sold as a treatment for sweet itch, my vets have spoken to the manufacturers who advise that it works is by preventing the mast cells (?sp) from releasing histamines that then kick the cells lining the airways into producing gallons of mucus to counteract the supposed "attack" by (harmless) pollen grains. It's not cheap - about £90 I think for 3 months supply. You make up a small bottle by adding the sachets to water then apply 2mls of the solution daily on a sugar lump or treat. It has to be strictly given at the same time every day and if you miss a day, you might as well not have bothered because the process that ends in damage to the horse's lungs will start and is unstoppable. Sunny will be starting on this in April, ready for the May tree pollen. I'll be keeping a diary in the hope that it might be useful to my vets and other SPAOPD horses so watch this space and I'll let everyone know.
 
Whoops, meant Cavalesse. Picked it up from my vets today. Sunny will be started on it mid April. I'll do a taste test before he starts on it, so I know whether it's bitter or unpalatable. The things we do for our horses eh?
 
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