COPD/Inflamed Airways/Heaves - Need Help

[MsJump21]

Hey everyone, I recently purchased a 3yr old unstarted horse that arrived off the trailer with the worst cough I’ve ever seen/heard. Horse was vetted prior to arrival and there was nothing concerning or abnormal according to the vet. Originally thought it was a virus picked up from the trailer ride and quarantined her in a stall. After multiple vet visits, it was determined that she has either COPD or heaves. She now lives out 24/7 and was given a round of dex and ventipulman. Cough went away for awhile but occasionally flares up when brought into the barn despite breeze and doors being open. The vet isn’t entirely sure what condition she has and I’m starting to think I need a second opinion. From my research, I find it hard to believe that a 3 yr old would show symptoms of COPD or heaves being that she’s so young. She does exhibit early symptoms of COPD like a bilateral clear nasal discharge, occasional belly breathing, and the coughing fits he’s had before.

Could this be a different condition? If not, how can I manage this? My hope was for her to be my show horse but I’m worried that it won’t be good for her considering shows tend to be dusty. I want to make her as comfortable as possible but I’m not entirely sure how to do so (vet is not very clear).

I’m feeling a bit defeated as I’m not sure what I can do

[HPFarmette]

Sorry you are dealing with this, so worrisome. Are allergies possible?

[MsJump21]

I haven’t had her allergy tested. Is that something that you would recommend?

[HPFarmette]

I would ask the vet if that could be part of the picture. I hope you find out that it is something simple and easy to treat. A lot of people seem to do the testing.
Meanwhile do all the anti heaves things. You are already keeping her out. Avoid round bales if possible. And so on.

[Pehsness]

I would also look in to allergies. She’s so young.

Coming off the trailer could have been exposure to dust etc from the bedding. I once hauled from a lesson to the vet because my horse was struggling hard. The culprit was the shavings I had just put down in the trailer. He also can’t tolerate anything but the cleanest of hay (bought a steamer) and seasonal allergies are an annual battle.

It’s now very under control.

[MsJump21]

Do you compete with your horse? Thats where I’m struggling right now since she was bred to be a hunter and the goal was to show.

[Pehsness]

Not currently. My goal is to compete next year but I’m talking super low level stuff. Nothing big.

I DID take him to a show a few years ago, and we regularly haul out for lessons and other rides. It took some time but I hit on the management we need to keep his breathing perfectly clear. I would say he’s treated like the upper level horse he most certainly is not, lol.

• Hay Gain Steamer. This thing was a god send. I no longer panic if I can’t find excellent hay. I don’t have to use it nearly as much as I did, but I will always keep it for the peace of mind
• Clean hay. This seems a no-brainer, but for a few years I was getting large rounds or large squares because it was easier and cheaper. It was a bad idea because it eventually inevitably molded. We just couldn’t use it fast enough. I found a different supplier and just pay the extra money and won’t make that mistake again. It was a dumb idea in hindsight, but it seems all the big barns just put round bales in the turnouts so I thought we could too. But no, we can not.
• Spirulina - it makes a really big difference during allergy season. He’s currently on strike from it, but it really helps in the summer when pollen is at its worst
• Straw boss bedding. Totally dust free. I do put bedding pellets underneath because he pees SOOO much in his matted run in he leaves daily puddles and the straw doesn’t absorb it very well. So I have to be careful that the pellets don’t stay in there too long, or they create dust
• no shavings in the trailer. Bare floor or straw boss

So it’s nothing earth shattering. Really all just good horse management. But there was a period where he looked very, very heavey and had a terrible cough. Couldn’t ride at all. And he’s not a young horse. I bought him at age 16, 5 years ago. So we wasted some good riding years sorting this out.

Good luck! I’m glad to have gone through the experience because it was excellent learning.

[Pehsness]

I want to add - in a flare up a dusty show environment would be a problem. But if you can keep the flares from happening at home, she may be able to tolerate them. And you can take your own clean bedding, up any supplements you find are working etc. during the show period, control the trailer environment etc.

I wouldn’t give up on it, that’s for sure. Figure out what makes her 100% at home, and then replicate that as best as you can at a show. Also, as she gets fit, her lung health will improve, helping her to tolerate things.

[GoodTimes]

I would highly recommend allergy testing and subsequent allergy shots. Intradermal testing is the gold standard.
I had my gelding tested back in 2021 after he had a few bad flares that required weeks of dex. I was also having a lot of skin funk issues over the previous few years that required antibiotics to clear. I’m in Canada and we can’t show on any steroids, bronchodilators, antihistamines, etc. Emergency use of dex is allowed with a form filled out by a vet and submitted to the show.

Allergy testing revealed that most of his triggers were environmental. Very allergic to staph bacteria, some molds, a few weeds, mildly allergic to some tree pollen. It took about a year but the allergy shots really helped. I did buy a nebulizer for the odd day that he’s coughing or has nasal discharge, that way I can avoid systemic drugs. But we went from several months of dex, antihistamines, sputolysin, etc to nebulizing dex a handful of days per year (fall is the worst for us).

If you’re in the US you can show on dex. So if you can get things controlled at home then you can still have dex in your back pocket for a flares during show season without having to worry about scratching.

Edited to add that when I did the testing the horse had to be off all medications (including Omega 3 supplements) for two weeks. So you can’t do testing during a flare that is being treated.

[4horses]

It could be inflammatory airways and not heaves.

I had a vet out for my horse with a cough. He thought it was heaves. Gave me a medication that didn’t help and when I called about trying dexamethasone, he wanted to do a $500 workup (with aspirates)

I went for a second opinion with a different vet and she was diagnosed with inflammatory airways and after a course or two of dexamethasone the cough disappeared and never came back.

My advice would be to manage your horse like it does have heaves and use the dexamethasone and see how it goes. Then decide if you want allergy testing later on.

[PaddockWood]

@MsJump21 How long has this been going on? I went through hell for a while (6-9 mos?) with emergency vet calls and dex and vent and got to over $4k spent.

Got a 2nd opinion from a vet who suggested we get a scope, lavage and skin test. I learned she was very allergic to many things but didn’t have lung damage or other issues.

Also got her out of the barn where I was boarding to see if it would stop and it did! About a year later built at home and brought her home and have mostly never had a problem since. That’s 4 full years now.

What I learned about my mare is she is highly sensitive to hay that gets trapped under anything and then decays and molds. And I’m also careful to clean up any old hay and did interlocking mats and am sure to sweep and keep it all free of old chaf/hay bits.

My thought would be could you move her somewhere else locally and see if it stops?

I also second using Spirulina - my horses LOVE Respire by Horsetech. Literally mug me for the syringe plunges. If I see her even remotely being bothered by say fall leaves drying, etc - the slightest labored breathing, I do a full daily dose of Spirulina and it shuts it down. Sometimes I do it a couple days.

I’m so sorry about your situation. It’s so stressful and your poor girl too. I can’t imagine what it would be like to struggle to breathe.

[2DogsFarm]

I vote for allergies too.
Just got through treating my mini for a cough that started in mid-summer.
He never coughed outdoors - my 3 only come in to get fed 3X daily, are turned out overnight w/access to stalls. His cough was dry, no discharge, but sometimes he’d cough so hard he’d paw while coughing. On occasion I’d see his sides heave when not coughing.
Vet recommended Zyrtec, generic was a relatively cheap fix, & helped.
Though he still coughed in the barn, but not nearly as much.
As it got colder/Fall the cough lessened & I cut back his dose. He’s been w/o meds for almost a
week now & no coughing.

For comparison, I had a horse diagnosed with RAD, rales I could hear without a stethescope & was developing a heave line.
He was treated with 3mos clenbuterol before I determined corncob bedding was responsible.
Removed the bedding, switched to pellets, then shavings & his cough disappeared in a month.
When vet revisited he told me if he hadn’t heard the lungs before, he never would have diagnosed RAD hearing them now.

[Bonnie2]

Have you spoken to the seller? Would be curious what her management/environment was before.