Is there anything else I can do for my mini with RAO? (Heaves)

[Freebird]

My little guy was diagnosed with RAO a few years ago, and I have tried to really stay on top of things since then. He usually only shows symptoms in the spring and summer, and at the first cough, he gets put on Prednisolone. This has worked every year but this one. :(. The vet says that he doesn’t wheeze very much, but he does go through flares when he sounds crackly, especially during inhalation - which he says is not the norm for RAO.

The vet was last out on Aug. 8th, and he was put on ventipulmin for 7 days, and got 2 shots of Excede (not the same day, of course). As well as continuing with Pred. 4 tabs (20 mg.) am and pm. We upped it to 5 and 5, but I never saw a difference. He coughs all.the.time. :’(. I just texted the vet, and he wants to cone back out next week but…is there anything else he can do? Would it be worth it to load him up and go to UGA or Auburn? Are their any new therapies out for RAO?

We haven’t done Dex as it has an increased risk of laminitis, but we may just have to go for it, at this point.

What about doing blood work, with an allergy test? What about Nebulizers?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice you have.

[eventingVOL]

What are you doing management wise other than the meds? Is he outside all the time? Getting his feed/hay wetted down? Assuming you are doing all the typical environmental management things, you can take him in to a clinic for a broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) to take a closer look at what type of inflammation you have going on in his lungs. The next step, depending on what that finds, would probably be to put him on an inhaled steroid.

[Freebird]

Sorry - he’s out 24/7, eats soaked feed - 1 teeny handful of Seminole Wellness Sr, 2 handfuls alfalfa pellets, 2 handfuls of ground flax, Grass Balancer minerals, plus Pred. with water added. In the winter, he gets beet pulp too.

I haven’t been giving any hay so far, but will need to start soon.

He is almost s complete pasture puff.

I’ve been hosing down the spots without grass, when it doesn’t rain. Does albutarol come in a cheaper form the clenbutarol?

[GrayCatFarm]

My vet suggested Smartbreathe, seems to help a lot.

[Bouncingthetrot]

I’ve also used SmartBreathe with good results.

[jawa]

I have been using theophylline.

My lg pony gets 5 pills twice a day when he’s having a flare up. But we are also using dex.

He had a REALLY bad case this summer. So we did a high dose of dex and theophylline. This ended the bad case and now I’m managing him when he seems to have a few issues. We are trying the lowest dose of dex (1/2cc) every other day when he has symptoms along with the theophylline.

We were able to stay at the lower dosage of theophylline, which makes it cheaper than clenbuterol. If I had to go to the highest dosage end, then clenburterol may have been the way to go.

My farrier used to be a drug rep. He sold this drug for the company at the time and he had a few doctors who had horses with heaves that would ask for samples. They felt it worked, so he mentioned it in passing. I had my vet call my farrier to discuss and then my vet did a little research. We figured it was worth a try.

The other thing that I have been doing is keeping the pony on zyrtec. He gets 8 pills a day. I was able to find a bottle of 365 pills for around 14$ at Costco to make it affordable.

He is also on Smartbreathe.

Sometimes it seems his supplements are a larger portion of his feed than the grain he gets!

He is finally feeling good again! He’s nearing 30, but is still able to show the 6yr old TB how to run ( and do tempi changes ), sliding stops, and roll backs. When the TB tries to pass, the pony kicks it into overdrive…When the TB decides they’ve done enough laps the pony will lightly bit the TB on the butt to try to encourage him to do a few more.

[Texarkana]

For those who use SmartBreathe-- do you feel the results you see are better than using 5000mg MSM alone?

I’m just curious if it’s worth the switch for my little donkey, who does nothing, but gets wheezy in the spring and fall. By nature, I’m always skeptical about how much effect “herbs” and “antioxidants” actually have when they are touted in supplements.