Horse allergic to EVERYTHING - help

[ThatBayHorse]

My mare exhibited coughing this summer, along with exercise intolerance (basically unrideable). The vet diagnosed her with summer RAO/seasonal heaves. She’s been on prednisone since appx the middle of August. She has improved some, but if the medication is given late, she will still cough. With the cooler temperatures, I have been able to ride her appx 30 minutes at a walk without her coughing.

I decided to pay for the allergy test and she came back positive on tons of grasses, alfalfa, some trees, all of the dust mites, and flies and CATS. I am not that worried about the insects because she doesn’t actually get any skin issues from the allergies. She is surprisenly not allergic to any of the fungi/molds they tested for. Unfortunately, with her results, this means it is NOT seasonal, but year-round allergies, although it obviously spikes in the summer with the pollen, etc. Her highest result was allergies to dust mites.

We are in Louisiana. She is stabled outside 24/7 on an appx 1 acre field by herself that is predominately bermuda grass (luckily not one of the grasses she is allergic to) at a boarding facility that is surrounded by hay fields. There are horses in paddocks next to her and she has a run in shed. Her hay is also primarily bermuda grass that they hay themselves at the farm but obviously some other types of grasses get in there occasionally. I don’t think stalling her would improve the condition because of the dust, etc associated with shavings.

The vet is going to try and transfer to an anti-histamine called hydroxyzine since she can’t stay on the steriods forever. It also like $70/month which is pretty high. I’ve heard good things about trying Zyrtec but am trying this medication first.

I’m kind of at a loss. She is essentially unrideable and she also allergic to a lot of environmental factors (i.e., grasses) that will be hard to manage for since she’s basically on a 100 acre hay field. Unfortunately, transferring her north is not going to help because these grasses are also located in more northern climates. She’s basically allergic to every grass except timothy and bermuda grass.

Has anyone had a horse with these circumstances and what did you do??

[NancyM]

One of the worst side effects of allergies is that the next step for horses can be lamenitis or founder. That is what happened to mine, eventually. He was treated with anti histamine when it first became obvious that he was allergic to something, we figured it had to be a pollen, but he was never tested. It was a long time ago now. I sold him to a friend in a different area, with a warning about what his issues had been, and to watch out for hives, and to treat immediately for allergies if they showed up. We hoped that whatever it was he was allergic to would not be present in a different environment. But the hives came back the next year, and they did not treat him quickly enough, and he foundered. You are right, it’s a very difficult situation when you have a horse who for some reason, is allergic to things that are regularly found in the environment, that you can’t see and don’t know when they may show up. Another horse I knew was allergic to ivermectin, lamenitis was evident the day after it was administered by a new owner … that, at least, was easier to avoid. The people who sold the horse to her “forgot” to tell the new owner that. Good luck with yours, there is not a simple solution, in my experience.

[Gamma]

Don’t have time for a full response now, but I have a whole thread about my old (now late :(”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹) guy’s allergies. https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/322054-intradermal-allergy-testing-northern-virginia-nearby-east-coast-cost-where

[walkinthewalk]

not With this severe of issues but I do have a horse with grain, soy, and environmental allergies. The environmental stuff rears it’s ugly head from mid-summer until the day temps stay at 80(F) or below.

antihistamines made a nut job out of him.

1. The first thing I did was to strip his feed pan stuff back to timothy pellets as the carrier for his HorseTech HighPoint vit/min supplement that is soy free and no added iron. I know your horse can’t have timothy but maybe rice bran, beet pulp, etc.

2. The second thing was to get my holistic vet/chiro/lifelong student of Chinese medicine involved. She studies herbs under Dr. Xie in Florida and put my horse on an herbal compound. I think he only needed to stay on it for 90 days.

2.1. It’s been quite a few years so I can’t remember what the herbal compound was but it worked to the point to where I only have to now keep this horse on HorseTech’s Natural 5000 pure vitamin E. He gets 3,000 IU daily, in addition to what’s in his standard vit/min supplement.

3. Except for cutting out grains and soy (even if they aren’t the issues) my routine isn’t going to work for your horse.

I would suggest, however, putting your zip code I. The left side green bar of Dr. Xie’s website to see if there is a vet near you that has taken his courses. It could even be a small animal vet, if you can’t find an equine or large animal vet. Small animal vets can sometimes be helpful in finding a vet for horse:)

My holistic vet has resolved more than one issue with my horses, the traditional vet was either stumped about or tried to prescribe things that I already knew would not help. To be clear, I’m NOT talking antibiotics or drugs of that nature. I’m speaking to anything allergy:)

https://store.tcvmherbal.com

I hope this helps and best wishes getting the issue resolved:)

[4horses]

Could you try Apoquel? My friend has a horse that is on it for bug bite sensitivity.

[cayuse]

I have one that tested positive to almost every type of feed plus dust mites and I forget what else. Two seperate tests (blood draw and dermal tests) were done with conflicting results so my faith in allergy testing is iffy. My vet told me that false positive results on feed items is very common and with this particular pony I have found that to be true, some of the things he is supposed to be positive to don’t bother him and yet some things he tested negative to are certain to set him off. What works for him is Vit E, good ventilation, and for a flare up (hives/respiratory)Zyrtec. A beclomethasone inhaler is added if needed. Moving your horse might help, you never know, sometimes what we think is triggering them is something else entirely. Good luck!

[wildlifer]

I had a horse who I kept on hydroxyzine for all of bug season annually because he would itch his skin off. Worked really well for us & it was definitely not expensive at all – I don’t have much money, so I pay close attention to costs. I can’t remember the exact cost, but it was more along the line of $15-20 a month (if that), definitely NOT $70. I did have my vet sent the Rx to a reputable online pharmacy that I had used before, because everything is much more expensive purchased directly thru vet, so you may want to look into that.

[Living_In_The_Sticks]

If your allergy test was done with bloodwork you are going to have false positives. It still gives you something to work with. The dermal test is more accurate. I went through extensive allergies with my last dog so I understand how difficult it is.

You still have antihistamines, herbs & Chinese medicine to try. I personally would not use apoquel because it shuts down the entire immune system but if nothing else works keep it as an option. If your vet can’t get him relief I would consider a holistic vet.

[joiedevie99]

Yes - some of those are likely false positives. Did the vet offer to have allergy shots made for you? It takes time, but I know several horses that have done very well on them.

[Peggy]

My horse is allergic to, among other things, alfalfa, some grasses, gnats, assorted molds, assorted plants, carrots, and some stuff I’m probably forgetting. Mercifully he’s not also allergic to pine bedding–a friend had one of those and he was initially unrideable (like the OP’s horse) for several months of the year. That horse benefitted from allergy shots, living outside (the OP’s instincts on that are spot on from what I’ve been told), restricting his feed, not having him share a fence line with a horse who ate any of his forbidden foods, and using newspaper bedding.

My horse doesn’t have respiratory issues, but instead itches and tries to rub off his skin. Things that have helped: allergy shots (even though they don’t include any of the food allergies, getting the other allergies toned down helps since the allergic reaction is additive, or maybe even more than additive), not feeding him any of the forbidden foods (except for a tiny bit of alfalfa that’s used as a binder in one of his HorseTech supplements), feeding flax (omegas are supposed to help), rinsing him off (or at least sponging) any time he’s worked enough to sweat, and periodic use of hydroxyzine. Since sweating/heat seems to exacerbate his itchiness, I will start the hydroxyzine during heat waves and any time he starts to look itchy. I also use IBH spray whenever he looks like he’s rubbing because of the skin itchiness and gnat allergies.

For hydroxyzine I give once a day, using a bit more than the suggested amount that is supposed to be given twice a day. I prefer the tablets to the powder and use the tablets without grinding. It doesn’t take that long to count them out and I don’t do it exactly, figuring that its 20 tablets +/- 2 tablets. I am not sure what the mg amount is on the tablets I can check tomorrow if the OP is interested.

[ABDR4]

All of mine are like this. Going the holistic vet route is the way to go. Also clean up diet (no grains or any feeds or supplements containing grains) and feed. It takes some doing but it can be done.

[No1]

Do the allergy shots. It’s just a subcutaneous injection and I’ve seen several people have good success with them.

[4horses]

Allergy shots are great if they work. But they can’t test for every exposure and the blood tests aren’t accurate at all. You really need to do the skin prick test to get good results.

[fourfillies]

My mare has a, thankfully, seasonal allergy that makes her cough. I initially tried the compounded hydroxyzine powder from our vet. $90/month. And, it really didn’t help. I switched to people Zyrtec on the vets advice and it completely resolved her cough, literally overnight. You can find 500 10mg tab for $14-15 which is a month and few day’s for my mare. Good luck!

[seabreeze]

I have read that many horses’ allergic reactions improve with a spirulina supplement. Good luck! I hope you’re able to find a treatment to help your horse.

[JB]

Chondroitin sulfate has also been used with some success for allergies.

[Goforward]

Benedryl and Zyrtec are both good options. Each horse is different, not everything works for every horse.
Ventipulmin is expensive but can make a big difference for some horses.
I have 3 horses who have done very well on allergy shots. I took them all to the University of Florida for the serum.

[ThatBayHorse]

Just an fyi to anyone for later use. I changed her hay timothy (one of 2 grasses she is not allergic to) and that resolved the cough until Aug, in which she had to be put on steroids for a few months but it greatly improved her symptoms!