Have you tried a Vit E supp? It helped my pony with allergies (he had both skin and resp symptoms) It’s not a magic bullet, but I did see a fairly significant improvement.
He’s been on vitamin E since March. I started him when my other gelding was diagnosed with EPM — it was easier to put both of them on it.
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Is there any chance you have hay accumulating under mats or under anything and throwing off mold etc? I have a mare that had repeated emergency calls and once we knew what it was and I moved her from that facility I once again had a severe attack at home and did find hay had accumulated under mats etc.
Now I’m very careful and have not had an attack in 3 yrs at least. Not one.
I also use limestone screenings around my barn so no mud whatsoever. Is it possible it’s environmental?
My heart breaks for you . I’ve been there and it’s so stressful.
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Will this mean we can’t order cups in the US? They’ll have to ship from Europe?
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It’s possible but he’s actually better inside than out which makes me think that’s not the case (my barn was put in in 2018). I really think (as does my vet) that it’s seasonal triggers and he will improve once they finish harvesting everything under the sun. We also are in an area with a lot of outdoor mold from mid summer to late fall which doesn’t help. His cough has been better the last couple days which is progress.
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OK right. If he’s better inside. Ugh.
They have a Canadian section according to their website.
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Thank you! without reading up I thought it was North American production, not just US.
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Just because he’s had the same hay for 9 years doesn’t mean he didn’t become allergic to something in it. My horse had zero symtoms until she was 12 years old and then BAM lots of bad symptoms.
I will reiterate that if you don’t know what she’s allergic too whether food or environmental, it is almost impossible to manage the issue. Allergies can change and get worse overtime. I will also reiterate that making small changes depending on what they’re allergic to can almost completely resolve the problem!
While that’s true, let’s not pile on about allergy testing. The OP already mentioned that they’re stretched financially. Gold standard intradermal allergy testing and the resulting allergy shots are expensive. And if most of the triggers are environmental there isn’t much to change management wise.
It’s totally reasonable for the OP to continue managing symptoms until the funds are there to investigate further.
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Thanks for the feedback. I’m not nixing the idea of allergy testing, it’s just not in the cards right now. I went back through my records and his flares have started within the same 11 day window for the past 6 years. They typically end after we have the first hard frost. He generally isn’t on any allergy medicine the rest of the year (I do start a month or so before this season though it doesn’t seem to make a difference nor dose the high dose he’s on, but maybe he’d be worse without it). I suspect this is why my vet is convinced this is environmental and not food related. We finally had some rain and while I wouldn’t say he’s better, he’s actually improved. But, when funds allow, I will pursue testing further.
I just want to add, I am working with a vet I trust (for the last 14 years) who is part of a decent sized practice. My goal here was just to gather some additional opinions, stories, and feedback and I do appreciate it. I’ve learned a lot and even if I don’t take all the advice, I have read it all.
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Have you tried Benadryl for his allergies vs Zyrtec or a combo of both?
My dog gets a combo of Zyrtec/Benadryl for her weird allergies. It works well when neither work well for her separately.
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I started tracking pollen last summer or the one before. It was just a matter of checking the Weather Network website and looking at the pollen forecast. Last year my horse’s breath rate spiked on the same day ragweed hit high pollen counts.
Coincidence? Maybe.
However, the BO bush hogged his paddock, and I whipper snipped the fenceline, and my horse was breathing easier the next day. I walked a new part of his paddock every day and pulled all the ragweeds I found. That was enough to make a significant difference.
This year I was pulling ragweed from the beginning, but then he got moved into another paddock just as ragweed appeared on the pollen forecast. I got the BO to bushhog and weed whack the fenceline first, but the little 3" ragweeds were flowering within the week. I spent about three hours pulling ragweeds one afternoon, and again he was breathing easier the next day.
If your horse starts at the same time each year, you may be able to figure out what it is. My guy had a second breathing spike after the ragweed dropped to low both last year and this year. The pollen count showed artemesia (? I think) but I haven’t figured out what that is or if there’s any around yet.
I don’t think I would have been able to figure out the ragweed without the overall improvement from the Bemer.
@pompeiii what works best for these horses (speaking from my own experience with 2) steaming your hay vs just soaking …steaming kills mold, bacteria , fungus , spores and dust which is what largely triggers respiratory problems…then no shavings , sawdust , wound pellet or traditional straw bedding as they are dusty …bloodwork for serum allergy testing and immunotherapy shots-helps in the long run… Smartbreathe Ultra and /or Aleira …or can individually supplement with Spirulina, Jiagulon, flax & msm.
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So I was steaming but we started soaking to remove sugars…
He does get a smart breathe ultra type supplement (I did supplement individually previously).
I haven’t addressed bedding too much since he’s better in vs out but I could work on that but again he’s 96% better in vs out.
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I just wanted to follow up.
First, the company is lovely. If you have any questions, I urge go to call. I chatted about all the options with the owner and she was wonderful.
I’ve had the mesh neb for 2 days (I will order the compressor when funds allow) and have a pony mask on order but I can make the horse mask work for now. My boy was not sure yesterday. He let me but I has to hold his head the whole time and he tossed it around. He must have realize it did something because he’s standing here tonight, ears forward, one hind leg resting, half asleep and I’m sitting just watching him. He is just breathing fully relaxed. If he weren’t on crossties, I’d worry he’d fall over lol. My husband did comment he looked like he was breathing better. No idea (he probably is but I refuse to get my hopes up) but it’s nice to see him enjoying himself.
Anyway, it’s a nice little system. A good option if the flexineb is of your price range.
Thank you so much for the update! I’m happy to hear it might be working for him. I’m waiting to talk with my mini’s dental vet about it, he has an appointment for his nasal passages to be scoped on Thursday. He has has 2 sinus surgeries for dental related infections and it has left him with residual discharge that I think might be helped with a neb, I might be wrong, but it’s just a gut feeling that I have. His regular vet thinks it might help too, but I want his dentist on board with it before I go ahead and get one.
Which one did you get? I was looking at the 2 most inexpensive ones. The flexineb IS way out of my price range right now, it’s been a wicked year for vet bills!
Just the mesh neb. If you decide you want more power, you can add just a compressor later (and medicine cups) but they all do the same thing. The compressors require electric, the mesh doesn’t. I hope that helps!
Good to know, that’s the unit I was leaning towards. They(the company) were very nice when I messaged them last week and they also thought it might help Cappy. I’m so happy to hear from someone who has actually used their product though.
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When I was struggling similarly I bought a hay gain steamer (I know it’s not in the budget for you, just letting you know what I did. It definitely wasn’t in my budget either! I’m probably still paying for the damn thing on some credit card…) and it was a god send. That and spirulina. Spirulina is now a forever supplement and the steamer still gets pulled out when we’re on older hay or it seems even a hair dusty.
I changed hay suppliers and that fixed 90% of the issue, but before I did, those two things were a lifesaver.
