Even more exciting Update! "Your horse is perfectly healthy"; except for the cough and the colic

[LawsofMurph]

Guys, I need help and fresh eyes. My horse is a 24 year old Appendix (my profile picture and noted in my many other posts) and something is wrong with him. But, every vet says he is fine. But he has not been able to ridden in almost 2 months and he keeps getting worse.

I honestly am overwhelmed at this point. My knowledge on horse anatomy, illness, and first aid has long been surpassed. If you have time for a novel and to help a frustrated ammy out, please take a look at my (too) long synopsis below and see if there is anything that rings a bell for you.

September Week 1 -

• Moved to new barn with pasture care only - no hay

September Week 2-

• developed cough that got worse when riding
• no riding from this point on
• runny nose
• many other horses across property developed cough/runny nose as well
• ETA was started on Zyrtec

September Week 3 -

• our normal vet came out and decided to not give Rhino vaccine so it wouldn’t cause more distress
• thought it would just run its course
• SAA pulled with negative results
• other horses on property get better or newly develop cough/runny nose

September week 4

• cough worse - coughs when eating, walking, doing nothing
• 4 - 5 different vets have been out to see horses and there is “nothing wrong”
• most are starting to get better on their own

October Week 1 -

• new vet came out and suggested steroids
• began steroid treatment

October Week 2 -

• steroid treatment finished at end of week and no difference
• runny nose is intermittent

October Week 4 -

• Property owner has scientists out from A&M to do a plant study on the area. There were no findings of any plants that could cause issue.
• Horse loses ability to make vocal calls, he tries but doesn’t make much noise and ends up coughing

November Week 2 -

• Monday:
  normal vet out again
  Pulled SAA - normal
  Vitals - normal
  Rebreathing exam - not so much as a cough
  said he’s the healthiest 24 year old she’s ever seen
  only noted that his nose flared more than normal while breathing but did not want to consider heaves at this point

• Tuesday PM:
  COLIC
  7:00 - Gave banamine and walked
  called on-call vet for our normal vet office and was told to call back later to see what happens
  8:00 - called on-call vet who said he was on another call and to check in later, but we could offer him water and green grass
  Tried to pee and it took him 4 tries to pee all the way
  his temp was 98 the first time we took it and 99 the second time
  8:20 took him out to see if he wanted to graze
  he snacked for a minute or so but gave up
  8:30 - called vet again and he said it was definitely just an ulcer flare and that he’d be fine shortly and give him some ulcerguard
  absolutely did not agree with vet, but ulcerguard couldn’t hurt so I gave him a full tube (his usual dosage for ulcer problems)
  took him to the round pen
  tried to lay down but stopped halfway
  did lay down calmly, with no trashing for a minute or so then got up
  found another spot and laid calmly for 8ish minutes
  got up and tried calling out and trotted around the round pen
  2 small poops
  9:00 - temp 99
  noticed weakness in muscles, like after strenuous exercise
  nostrils flared when breathing
  no gut sounds on left side
  stomach contracted violently for seemingly no reason
  9:30 - called vet and begged him to come out
  “Fine, I’ll get there when I get there”
  horse lays down calmly and rests while in obvious discomfort as we wait
  10:45 - vet arrives
  all vital signs are perfectly normal
  tubed and palpated, only noticeable issue was dilation of the small intestine
  gave an extra sedative for pain management
  Horse was not “comfortable” until about 4 am.

Basically he is perfectly healthy despite breathing poorly, coughing, and colicking.

[ThreeWishes]

Where are you located ? Traditional “heaves” has been viewed and treated as a barn/hay problem. Turn them out reduce dust they’ll get better. But there is a pasture associated irritating heave like condition. Generally found more in the southern hot humid states.

[ThreeWishes]

Managing Summer Pasture-Associated Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, an...

[LawsofMurph]

We are in North Texas above Dallas, but it does not generally get very humid here.

The lack of stalling (therefore lack of obvious triggers) has been another question mark into what could be going on.

[lenapesadie]

Lyme? EPM? Worms?

So sorry. Jingles for your horse

[ThreeWishes]

Watch Out for Nasopharyngeal Cicatrix In Horses

Another thought. Has your horse been scoped ?

[LawsofMurph]

He has not yet been scoped. The vet who saw him on Monday said that was an option if the cough got worse, but she didn’t think it was necessary and advised against it.

[ThreeWishes]

I would scope. I hauled my coughing horse into a specialty clinic and scoped. He was coughing and had thick mucous coming from his mouth. Scope was less than $250 and vet didn’t see any abnormalities or scarring but said to either move him from the pasture situation he was in (tall lush grass hot and humid 12 hours of turnout) or keep the grass short and treat with Zyrtec and guaufinsen to thin the mucous. She believes the allergen is in the pasture. A mold or a plant. Horse is much better. I’m not sure this applies to your horse. Just wanted to make you aware that sometimes the allergen is coming from outside the stall. Traditionally we’ve thought it’s the barn and hay and closed quarters that cause it. For some … it’s the thing we’ve been taught that horses thrive on. The lush growing pasture. Good luck.

[LawsofMurph]

@ThreeWishes

I would scope. I hauled my coughing horse into a specialty clinic and scoped. He was coughing and had thick mucous coming from his mouth. Scope was less than $250 and vet didn’t see any abnormalities or scarring but said to either move him from the pasture situation he was in (tall lush grass hot and humid 12 hours of turnout) or keep the grass short and treat with Zyrtec and guaufinsen to thin the mucous.

Thank you for the info! I’m waiting on a call from my regular vet to discuss everything with her and this information is definitely helpful.

[StormyDay]

Have you treated it as though it’s allergies? Sounds like a bad case of allergies to me. Benadryl or Zyrtec.

It also kind of reminds me of something that happened when I lived in Florida. A bunch of horses came down with something, including my Stormy. He had a runny nose, lethargic, slight fever, and a cough. I called the vet out, who IIRC pulled blood and did a nasal swab for the usual candidates. However, as she was leaving, she told me that storm was like the 15th horse they had been called about with similar symptoms, and everything was coming back negative. Our horses all just had a cold and it was going through the area. He was better in a few days and back to normal in a week.

[candyappy]

I also wouldn’t rule out heaves/ allergies( causes heaves like symptoms) Cough, wheeze, runny nose etc.

One of my mares is not stalled and has allergies that cause heaves symptoms and Sept/ Oct is her trigger.

I will say the vets in your area are extremely unimpressive/ unprofessional/ severely lacking and I would take her to a different one even if you have too trailer in. Good luck.

[LawsofMurph]

@StormyDay

Have you treated it as though it’s allergies? Sounds like a bad case of allergies to me. Benadryl or Zyrtec.

Yes, I forgot to put that in. He has been on Zyrtec since September. It hasn’t made a difference either.

[Fiesta01]

Do you have a good large animal clinic anywhere relatively close? How far is A&M? Considering it’s been 2 months since this started, I would definitely want to call in the big guns.

[Angela_Freda]

You say he just moved there, but from where?
That trying to vocalize but can’t is interesting.

@LawsofMurph

Horse loses ability to make vocal calls, he tries but doesn’t make much noise and ends up coughing

I’m sorry, “nothing wrong” is the wrong answer to this list of symptoms you describe.

[LawsofMurph]

@Angela_Freda

You say he just moved there, but from where?

Literally just down the road. Our barn closed and the new barn is within 10 minutes of the old one.

@Angela_Freda

I’m sorry, “nothing wrong” is the wrong answer to this list of symptoms you describe.

That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time! Everyone keeps telling me to chill and stop worrying and trust the vets, but I know something is wrong and nothing/no one is helping!

[ThreeWishes]

Zyrtec didn’t touch my horse’s cough while he was still exposed to the allergen. I must have called my mobile vet out 3 times from March until August trying to quell my horse’s cough / phlegm. Did the snap blood test for infection always a zero. No temp. Not off food. Just this miserable cough and exercise intolerance. I hauled him to the specialty clinic for a scope. In my head I thought about gutterral pouch problems … maybe a melanoma (he is grey). Zero structural problems. Just a lot of mucous in his lungs. The ONLY thing that had changed in the past year is a move to the barn he lives now. Vet 100% believes that certain pastures can cause issues. Her #1 recommendation was to move. My house where my horse lived previously is 13 miles away. She said I could try asking the BO to move him to the smaller 1/2 acre area adjacent to the barn and keep the grass mowed weekly until the season passes. It’s been 2 months since we tried this experiment and so far it’s worked. I’m back riding … jumping… and his symptoms are all but gone.

[LawsofMurph]

Finally got to talk with his normal vet (Not the miserable on-call one that I’m never using again) and she agrees with pursuing diagnostics for Nasopharyngeal Cicatrix and Summer Pasture-Associated Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Now just gotta work out a day to get him in for scoping.

Thank you so much @ThreeWishes for the articles and information. I would never have thought to ask about either of those things. Hopefully this will lead us somewhere towards a real diagnosis.

[ThreeWishes]

You’re so welcome. I’m not sure it’s what you’re dealing with but I know the struggle and frustration of trying to figure out what is ailing the horses we love. Just wanted to throw out my experience/journey. In the hope that it might be meaningful. Or at least something to check out. Best wishes ! Please keep us updated.

[ThreeWishes]

Ps. My horse never had labored breathing at rest or a nasal flare. Just the damn coughing and way worse under saddle. The day he coughed up this out of his mouth. I was done. Called for a scope the next day.

[LawsofMurph]

@ThreeWishes

Ps. My horse never had labored breathing at rest or a nasal flare. Just the damn coughing and way worse under saddle. The day he coughed up this out of his mouth. I was done. Called for a scope the next day.

Oh dear! If at any point I had seen that I would have been carrying him into the office myself!