Coughing - Allergies, Asthma, COPD?

[reay6790]

My horse is summering with me while I am out of school for the summer in my home town. This is the 3rd year he has been at this particular barn. About a 2 weeks ago, he coughed twice with me, and I didn’t worry about it. Then, I rode him the next day, and after 10 minutes, he was completely winded. After one more day of hearing a cough, I had my vet come out and look at him, and she diagnosed him with COPD-like?, asthamtic, allergic coughing. At the time it was a dry cough, and maybe once every 15-45 minutes. She put him on Ventipulmin 5cc 2x daily. We had to leave town for the rest of the week.

Fast forward to one day after he finishes his meds, we get back in town and come check on him. He is coughing much more frequently after being off meds 1 day, and has a productive cough. No fever, I checked. This horse has never been sick since I’ve had him for 12 years My vet isn’t on call this weekend, but left me another bottle of Ventipulmin, to give 10 cc 2x a day now.

She is going to come look at him on Monday, but until then…is this something that we are going to deal with forever?? 4 weeks ago he broke out in serious hives, and we gave him IM dex, which knocked it out very quickly. He had never had hives either…

She says this barn is dustier than others and set off her own asthma…but we haven’t had a problem in the 3 summers he has been here. I can move him back to school quickly, but is this something that will likely recur or will he have breathing/coughing problems forever now?

Sorry for the long rambling post…but I’m panicking. This horse has NEVER had an issue with anything in the past 12 years I’ve owned him. Now out of the blue he is so pitiful. He is still perky, but he is coughing from deep deep down and is now having a productive cough, where as before it was dry.

[katarine]

COPD tends to come on between ages 9-12. My 11 YO was diagnosed with COPD/RAO this Spring after 6 years in my care at home, no changes.

Best wishes- my guy is on 24/7 turn out, which I think helps.

I’m sorry

[Carolinadreamin]

Nasal swab and test for strep.

[reay6790]

Thank you I will ask my vet on Monday!

This guy is a fabulous looking 20 yo QH.

[ToTheNines]

Ventipulmin did absolutely nothing by itself, which is what I tried first for my inflammatory airway horse. A twelve day course of dex worked magic, and after that the Ventipulmin worked, even just a little bit. Now I prefer not to use Ventipulmin because of side effects. He is doing well on 4 mg dex every other day and an inhaler before I ride. Plus I soak his hay, and only give him 3 flakes per day. Otherwise he is on grass and gets Chaffhaye.

[alterhorse]

If the cause is an inhalant allergy. One of the most common things done is to keep the horse outdoors as much as possible. 24/7 is best if doable.

If the horse receives hay it should be checked for mold, as mold can be a cause of symptoms.

Many people will wet their horse’s hay to prevent the horse from inhaling any dust that may be in the hay.

Antihistamines like Tri-Hist can be helpful for some horses.

If you did move the horse back to the other location and the symptoms disappeared, that would be a strong indicator that the allergen the horse is reacting to is something at the current barn.

Sometimes the hardest part about allergies is finding out exactly what the horse is allergic to.

Hope you find an answer to help your boy feel better.

[reay6790]

Thank you for the replies so far!

We are going to start soaking hay and changing out the bedding to see if that helps at all…hopefully my vet will have more answers for us tomorrow!