Anyone have experience with COPD?

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JMS Miniatures

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I had to take one to the vet with respiratory issues and he thinks he may have COPD. He is on a respiratory drug to see if it helps. He starts having problems when he starts exercising but when he is relaxed he's fine.
 
I am quite experienced in it. I haven't had minis with it only big horses. Owned one for 10 years. You can email me directly or post on here any questions that you might have. [email protected]
 
We have a 22 year old mare with COPD and she usally has a flare up about once a year! We treat her with Dexamethasone liquid! She get 2cc twice a day for 5 days and then 1cc once a day for 5 days! We draw it up in a syringe and squirt in her mouth. Very easy to give orally rather than a shot. We have also used Ventipulmin (sp) in the past!

Bill
 
The vet thinks this is a one time a year thing too, hopefully he will be cleared up for show season. The vet gave us Tri-Hist Granules to try first and see if it helps. He also had Ventipulmin but it was close to $200 so hopefully the Tri-Hist will help. I'll save this just incase to show my vet.
 
The biggest thing that I found was to manage their enviroment. Wet hay, limit dust, feed nothing unless there is moisture with it. With the dex powder or liquid you really have to watch for founder.
 
We have a 22 year old mare with COPD and she usally has a flare up about once a year! We treat her with Dexamethasone liquid! She get 2cc twice a day for 5 days and then 1cc once a day for 5 days! We draw it up in a syringe and squirt in her mouth. Very easy to give orally rather than a shot. We have also used Ventipulmin (sp) in the past!

Bill
I also have a lot of experience with copd or heaves, both big and small horses. The dex helps a lot but like another person mentioned, you have to watch for founder. As long as you ween off and don't overdose it's usually fine. I would put mine on feed, but squirting in the mouth assures it gets in. The venti syrup is really expensive and i have never had any luck with that. There's also pills you can use but I would have to go to the barn for the name. Whatever you do, just make sure if you see symptoms you treat quickly. I had one horse get pneumonia due to my employees not paying attention. We treat by enviroment first (i.e. dust, cooling off with fans, clipping heavy coats, etc) then go to dex and that usually gets it gone. Does you vet think it's due to spring weather or dust? There are two different treatment protocols for either. Hope that helps!
 
Me too and also we had one in CMHR. As long as the horse is on their meds and not running around they can do well.Damp the feed and hay,, use little to no shavings and you can damp them down too. Some do very well outside but when in you may need a fan depending on your set up. Don't let any of his pasture mates get him running. You may have to separate him. If it were my horse I would retire him right now. Exercise is the last thing I would do with him and yes I agree to be careful with dex as it can cause a founder issue..
 
Actually the more fit that he is the better he will do. It's like a person with asthma, they need to increase the lung's ability and it makes the condition better. You just have to do it a little at a time. The horse that I had was rescued with severe COPD. While I owned him, he improved with what he could tolerate. Got to the point where I didn't need to medicate him any more except in extreme conditions. W had him out 24/7 with a run in shelter, wet his hay (or steamed it). He was rode almost every day for a short time. He loved the exercise and it showed. He could gallop through the fields with the rest of the herd without an issues. He finally passed away 15 years later from old age.
 
He thinks its allergy related. He's out 24/7 and you can only do so much with the dust around here but trying to get the placed fixed up since the tornado destoryed it. We are still using temp. pens right now.

I wouldn't say he is real bad but if he can't do it then he just can't do it. He's already a proven show horse and had a few years off but wanted to bring him back out this year. I'll use the paper shavings for him if I do end up showing him. I've wetted his hay but he's not too thrilled by it. Would you absoutely soak it or just wet it down? He's not getting fed any grain but if he did it would also be soaked. Last year I had to deal with choking issues with him and he did get scoped and the vet couldn't find anything wrong, so now he is on a all hay diet and was perfectly fine with that and he had a lil bit of grain thru the winter and I gave that to him in a mash.

The vet didn't mention about restricting exercise and of course I know not to over do it. But like happy appy said for example I have asthma and I know my allergies are killing me right now but if I wasn't exercising I would be feeling real bad and get worn out just walking, but now training horses sure at first it was hard to get back into the routine but now I feel a lot better. The other horses were feeling the same way just being real lazy but they were just starting back into training but they are back to almost their normal selves but he isn't. He's loosing the necessary weight but not the stamina because of this issue. He is having a couple of days of rest and see if he is improving or not, because you can't notice anything wrong until he's actually working.
 
There is a product called Lung Flush by Omega and it works really well. I use to give it during the bad times. It made a noticable difference. You have to squirt it right into their mouth but they like it.
 
Just in case, I was wondering if it could be related to seasonal allergies with it being that time of year?
 
Over here in the UK it is the oak trees at this time of year, just as they are bursting into leaf, that can and do cause allergies in some horses - do you have anything over there near your pasture that could be affecting him?

Over the years I have had several big horses with copd or compromised lungs in one way or another. They were all kept in work and most of them competed regularly. They were kept under normal stable conditions but were fed 5 times a day on high fibre cubes plus additions according to their work. They had small haynets of soaked hay at their last feed late night (11pm).

Without going into loads of background detail, I purchased a mare with very advanced copd, she really heaved and also had the tell tale sign of double breathing that donates 'broken wind'. I followed my normal routine for her and gave her to my daughter to ride (both daughter and mare were 16 years old) The mare seemed to improve a little - was a really lively chestnut hot headed mare anyway! So for one reason or another we decided to join a sponsored ride in aid of a children's charity the following year. I called my vet to do a lung check on the mare, not good! On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being really bad) he put the mare at 4 and a half!!! However, with nearly 11 months of time in front of us we progressed. This sponsored ride was from South London to York - approx 300 miles - following the trail of the notorious higwayman Dick Turpin who was supposed to have ridden his horse Black Bess from London to York to escape the authorities who were after him.

Of course we worked very slowly but the mare got fitter and fitter over time and her breathing improved. By the following summer daughter was riding her at exercise for up to 4 hours a day, trotting for miles to harden her tendons etc., beach rides for the canter work, not knowing what surfaces she was going to be riding on during the future ride.

Well two days before we left for the ride, the vet came once more to listen - her lungs were completely clear - he had to listen 3 times, at rest, at work and at rest again. He was amazed!! He also said that in his opinion the mare was fit enough to tackle any horse race and win! LOL!! But he wasn't far wrong - this mare was fit. And to prove it she covered 30 miles a day for 10 days and wasn't even tired at the end of each day!!

But I had a secret ingredient that had worked it's magic for this mare.............................carrots!! I cannot remember exactly the way they work - did ask a chemist once and he confirmed it - but carrots, when eaten raw, produce a substance called (I think) hydroxy camphor and this opens the airways and the tubes throughout the lungs. Racehorses running under racing rules have to stop eating/are not allowed to have carrots for (again I think) a week before a race due to the fact that carrots increase the lung/breathing capacity. This mare was getting through 8 lbs of carrots a day during the last three months of her training. And it worked as due to a large amount of local sponsorship she raised several thousands of pounds for the childrens charity by her effort.

So if any of you want to help your lungs perform a bit better (or those of your horses) try carrots!!
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Anna C, that's so interesting, I think I'll try it. Can't hurt.....
 
It cant hurt to try it Melissa - my story took part in the early 1980's, but I do know that the rule about no carrots for horses racing under rules still stands, so there must be something in the make up of the humble carrot that could give a racehorse an advantage???

Not suggesting that you try giving 8lbs of carrots to anyone, but 1-3lbs daily for a mini introduced slowly should start to show an improvement and you can adjust from there. Incidently the mare referred to above was 16.2 hands and was fed 5 times daily (to get enough food into heron a no hay basis) from 5.30am through to midnight. Her carrot feeds were spread through the day as separate feeds - better not to include the carrots in the normal feeds if possible.

Good luck - hope to see another post in a couple of weeks or so to say that some improvement has been noticed?
 
COPD is a complicated disease. High protein, low carb is important. They tend to do better in cool weather and they should be allowed to exercise to their own limitations. Good hydration and low dust is important. I work with humans with it and have also helped take care of many horses with it. Cool (not cold) temps help also.
 
Carrots, now that's an idea I'm going to be trying. Thanks so much. I'd prefer not to have to give meds for the rest of my little mare's life.
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If its allergy related, get allergy shots. My mare was to the point of euthanasia. She's allergic to everything. They were a pain at first, every 3 days, but now she's down to once a month. Hasn't had a heaves attack in 3 years.
 
We have a 22 year old mare with COPD and she usally has a flare up about once a year! We treat her with Dexamethasone liquid! She get 2cc twice a day for 5 days and then 1cc once a day for 5 days! We draw it up in a syringe and squirt in her mouth. Very easy to give orally rather than a shot. We have also used Ventipulmin (sp) in the past!

Bill
This is what I did with my mare who had COPD (Heaves) She was so miserable we considered putting her down, but on the Dex she was even rideable! (This was a large pony-type mare) Also wetting her work area and her dry feed helped a TON! We had her for over 10 years and tried several things but found the Dex worked wonders!
 

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