Cheshire Chestnut
Well-Known Member
Posted about my horse before, it's a long story. Please bear with me as I really need help and a friendly word. So here it is in a nutshell:
My lovely 8 year old Welsh D got a cough in May 2015 along with other horses on the yard. Cough stayed and vet called. 3 scopes, a tonne of steroids, a nebuliser, a lung biopsy, £5k and several months later, he's been diagnosed with severe COPD/RAO having never had it before or even a slight symptom of it in the past. His lung biopsy showed chronic lung disease with scarring and fibrosis. The fibrosis was mild but would more than likely get worse in time.
I basically nursed him carefully; did his nebuliser with dexamethasone twice a day for the first 5 months, then once a day every day since. I've ensured his bedding is dust free and stable always fresh and super clean. His feed is carefully selected, he's on a structured fitness program, he has expensive supplements for his immune system etc. I keep a thorough diary every day on his resp rate, exercise and general health every single day. Everthing I can do, I will do. He's never come off the steroids and 100% cannot, however the dose had been very low and via his nebusiler. He was that fit this summer he was at cross country and all sorts of shows, we had a blast!
I'm always nervous of weather change. Seasons change and feel stressed the whole time. This winter cold spell has really set his lungs off again. After a wonderful summer together he's now relapsed in a big way. Even the oral steroids that saved his life last time aren't helping him now. Tonight the vet came, he had coughed his head off all weekend with today being the worst day by far. The vet has told me to up his oral steroids even more and put I'm on antibiotics too. She thinks that it probably won't help but we're going to give it a go for 5 days. His resp rate is spot on and normal, his temp is normal and his lungs only have a very slight wheeze, but he's coughing a lot (which was his symptom last time), which could mean there's more than meets the eye. Who knows, I'm not putting him through all the scoping and tests again, he deserves rest and peace now.
He cannot just be put out to grass and retire, he's steroid dependant and he'd suffer a lot without them.
Suppose I feel I owe him a chance at getting better again... but where do I draw the line? I have no insurance left, he's got a chronic lung condition and he's never going to recover from it, but hes a happy boy. Do I keep going again until next time he has a relapse (it has taken over a year for a relapse to happen)? Or do I make the decision to have him PTS now?
I've been in tears all night, he's my best friend and I love him dearly. I can't imagine my life without his furry little ears and goregous fluffy face. Someone please tell me what to do
I've had over a year of managing this next to impossible situation of a horse that's allergic to straw, dust and hay, and now I'm exhausted.
My lovely 8 year old Welsh D got a cough in May 2015 along with other horses on the yard. Cough stayed and vet called. 3 scopes, a tonne of steroids, a nebuliser, a lung biopsy, £5k and several months later, he's been diagnosed with severe COPD/RAO having never had it before or even a slight symptom of it in the past. His lung biopsy showed chronic lung disease with scarring and fibrosis. The fibrosis was mild but would more than likely get worse in time.
I basically nursed him carefully; did his nebuliser with dexamethasone twice a day for the first 5 months, then once a day every day since. I've ensured his bedding is dust free and stable always fresh and super clean. His feed is carefully selected, he's on a structured fitness program, he has expensive supplements for his immune system etc. I keep a thorough diary every day on his resp rate, exercise and general health every single day. Everthing I can do, I will do. He's never come off the steroids and 100% cannot, however the dose had been very low and via his nebusiler. He was that fit this summer he was at cross country and all sorts of shows, we had a blast!
I'm always nervous of weather change. Seasons change and feel stressed the whole time. This winter cold spell has really set his lungs off again. After a wonderful summer together he's now relapsed in a big way. Even the oral steroids that saved his life last time aren't helping him now. Tonight the vet came, he had coughed his head off all weekend with today being the worst day by far. The vet has told me to up his oral steroids even more and put I'm on antibiotics too. She thinks that it probably won't help but we're going to give it a go for 5 days. His resp rate is spot on and normal, his temp is normal and his lungs only have a very slight wheeze, but he's coughing a lot (which was his symptom last time), which could mean there's more than meets the eye. Who knows, I'm not putting him through all the scoping and tests again, he deserves rest and peace now.
He cannot just be put out to grass and retire, he's steroid dependant and he'd suffer a lot without them.
Suppose I feel I owe him a chance at getting better again... but where do I draw the line? I have no insurance left, he's got a chronic lung condition and he's never going to recover from it, but hes a happy boy. Do I keep going again until next time he has a relapse (it has taken over a year for a relapse to happen)? Or do I make the decision to have him PTS now?
I've been in tears all night, he's my best friend and I love him dearly. I can't imagine my life without his furry little ears and goregous fluffy face. Someone please tell me what to do
I've had over a year of managing this next to impossible situation of a horse that's allergic to straw, dust and hay, and now I'm exhausted.
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