tbracer65 reminded me of a filly I had at Keeneland a few years ago. Had the snots and coughing, tried every antibiotic, bloodwork WNL, BAL, trach washes, etc, etc. Had Dr. Woodie (breathing specialist) from R&R come look at her several times. He thought maybe an allergy, so we treated for that and swapped out all of the variables (straw to shavings, changed feed types, etc). Still couldn’t figure out what it was. So, sent her to R&R for a treadmill scope (twice). Still think it’s an allergy, coughing w/snots, bloodwork is now a little low WBCs, no hives or anything. Turns out it ended up being the SweetPDZ powder. Over $5,000 in vet bills and 2-3 months training lost to figure that one out, and it ended up being something simple and obvious.
A friend of mine is earning her PhD (she’s already a board certified horse surgeon) doing a study right now on racing Tb’s and IAD–she’s starting with yearlings and will follow them through training and racing. It’s too early in the study to have much information, but if anyone is interested I can direct you to her research.
Hi guys!
tbracer, yes, he was evaluated with an ultrasound and the result was “comet trails left ventral” My vet said horses with pneumonia typically have more. The xrays also pointed to some “pneumonia,” but they really though IAD was the culprit.
Laz, I would be interested in her research.
Ventipulim: the dosage WAS 2x5cc a day, and the assumption was that the effects should be immediate, not require a build-up over time. nada, had no effect after four days.
At the hospital, 2 hours away, he cough cleared up spontaneously within two days; also leading them to believe it was the air. They did not wet his hay and he was kept in a sandy pen. (I, of course, thought the improvement could also be due to the effect of the more aggressive antibiotic!)
I brought him home and did not wet his hay either, wanting to see if his recovery would stick. Now two days later, his cough is returning. Arrgh. It is either the air or the hay. Equine hospitals always have great hay, so I will pursue that next.
I will take him off of hay today and hopefully find the bagged (kaching!) substitute so I don’t have to trust the barn to soak his food. I will also begin the prednisilone. My human doctor friends suggest I need to get the inflammation down, and figure out how to improve the condition later.
thanks for the feedback on the hard to diagnose filly w pneumonia, and the sweet pdz story. gives me some hope that there might be a crazy answer to this that is not IAD. Because it just floors me that it could come on this fast!
Anyone hear of using DMG or spirulina for this? I have added MSM (6g) and Ester-C. And has anyone ever heard of them “growing out of it,” like human kids do?
Once again, your input has been very helpful in giving me a perspective.
jan
