At my wits end...coughing horses

[tigeresss]

Hello all! I was just hoping to put some feelers out there in case someone else has dealt with this or something similar.

I have three miniature horses and two of them have developed a cough. The one has had this cough for the last couple of years when the pollen is out and then it goes away. So generally early summer we see it and never see it again. However, now two of them have it and during winter something I have never experienced before. I would say it is a dry cough, no discharge; they just seem to cough and have troubles breathing. Of course now their breathing is a bit ‘heavey’ as opposed to normal breathing. The cough is essentially non-existent when it is dry out. It has been raining a lot here lately and it seems the more it rains/the wetter it is the more they cough. Originally they were just getting Zev but they were also prescribed Ventapulmin for those times when they're really having troubles breathing. Their hay is fine, no mold, no dust nothing. We even "sieve" their grain so "grain dust/crumbs" are eliminated from their grain. Wetting their hay sometimes makes a difference but I feel it's more of a coincidence.

I have had three different vets out and also spoken with my farrier about this and they have said apart from their abnormal/heavey type breathing, which is from their intense coughs that they are in perfect health. They don't know why they have this cough but the vets and farrier seem to think it's an environmental thing. Living in the Pacific Northwest in a rainforest they feel maybe it's just that environment. Oh and the third miniature does not have any sort of cough *TOUCH WOOD!* Today it hasn't been raining at all and I haven't heard a single cough from them, yet it was raining yesterday and they were coughing badly. Is it possible that this intense moisture is just getting to them?

Has anybody ever experienced anything like this? It's frustrating me beyond belief and I just feel a bit helpless other than their medication. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? Any help would be much appreciated; I'm at my wits end here.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this!

 

[luvsminis]

I have got the same problem with a new little filly that we bought. She is 11 months old and has a dry cough, no mucous. She is eating and pooping good though. I checked her temp today, and it was normal 101 F, but her respirations are fast and heart beat is rather fast. They thought that she had had a reaction last week to her 5-way vaccine and gave her a shot of Dramamine. I am keeping her inside, cleaned out all pine shavings in her stall and the others, and dunked her hay in water before giving it to her, but so far nothing. I called the vet yesterday, and he said as long as she is eating and drinking it will probably wear off, but I'm worried anyway. Haven't had this before with the others. Good luck with yours, just wanted to let you know that someone else is having the same problem.

 

[Miniv]

Other than examining your hay (dusty and/or dry?).....and your stall bedding, have no clue.....

Is there anything NEW you've introduced?

 

[ruffian]

I'm certainly no expert, but have a couple of ideas:

What are you bedding on? Is it pellets that are very dry and dusty?

Is there enough ventilation in your barn? Humans like to keep barns nice and tight and warm, which can cause havoc with horses respiration systems.

 

[albahurst]

I am thinking along the lines of something that has irritated their tracheas in the past and now there is a cycle going- maybe triggered by cold/wet or ??? Certainly could be allergies and maybe this has triggered some inflammation in their airways which is aggravated by coughing and the cycle continues.

Have you tried something like Tri-Hist?

I have a little 6 mo old that apparently got some irritation going from some dust awhile back. The mild cough then (just once in awhile) irritated her trachea and it became inflammed, so her coughing became more frequent and I took her in to our vet. My vet did a medicated trachea wash and she is on TriHist for two weeks. She is not coughing any longer. This was not a lung problem at all.

If you gently touch their necks at the area of the trachea, does it trigger coughing?

 

[MiLo Minis]

Are the 2 of them by any chance related? Heaves can be an inherited condition. Allergies pased along from their parents.

 

[happy appy]

Have any of them been housed with donkey's? Donkey's can carry lung worms and be fine with them but when passed on to horses/minis they cause a cough. I do a lot of rescue work on full sized horses and I had 2 from the same field come in with lung worms. It showed up on a fecal sample we did. You can worm for lung worms with Ivermectin.

 

[Marty]

There's a lot you can do to help you figure it out:

Process of elmination

Are they rain soaked? Getting wet?

Do they do this only in the barn or also outside?

Is your barn well ventilated?

Is there anything lurking in the barn that may be producing something musty?

Hay or bedding storage?

Are they housed with any other type of animals? Such as any pigs or goats etc. on the premisis?

What are you bedding on ? Change it to something else

What are you feeding for grain? Change it to something else

Hay? Change it to something else

Gutteral pouch may need cleaned out

Ani-hist http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/product.a...ti%20AND%20hist

Lung worms will do this

Best wishes and good luck

 

[luvsminis]

Thanks for all the info. I am going to call the vet again today. My little one is still coughing. Took out all the shavings, soaked the hay. She is not running fever, but her respirations are rather high and her heart beat, but she is also only 11 months old. I don't know if she was with donkeys or not, but I have treated her with Ivermectin when we got her. I did notice something odd though, she keeps rubbing her face, same place on both sides. I like the idea of a trachea wash too, that would help get rid of any bacteria or virus held in there.

 

[Genie]

I had a mare do that last winter when she was in foal and eating from a hay rack.

Vet said to feed her from the floor and it cleared up.

 

[luvsminis]

I called the vet again today about her cough. He said to just wait, it will probably go away. Since she isn't running fever, she is eating and pooping, that it sounds like she is doing fine other than the cough. However, I am to keep her inside till the weather clears up. I cleaned the shavings out of her stall, and I believe that helped some. I also ordered a product called Breath Smooth, which is a natural product that works to clear breathing problems in horses such as allergies, asthma, etc. I will let you know how it works. Hopefully, it will work for my little Abigail. The vet did say that if she got worse to bring her in and he will examine her again. I have read other forums of folks who have a coughing little one...............this is as bad as when your kids get sick. You really worry over them. Little Abby definitely does not like having her temp took. Those of you that have a coughing horse, do they seem to have fast heart beats and breathing rates? Mine does, but when I mentioned it to the vet, he said it is probably because she isn't feeling well. I do hope he is right. I did start her on some vitamin C too (small amt only)with a little honey in it.

 

[albahurst]

The trachea wash on my 6 mo old filly was with a certain type of steroid, as her trachea was swollen to about three times the normal size. She is also on oral Tri Hist and antibiotics.

Is there another vet around you who would be able to give you a second opinion? I worry about the rapid breathing and heartrate along with this coughing.

 

[Julie/Azariah]

I struggled with coughs with my weanlings this fall.

We went through all kinds of treatment with antibiotics... they ended up getting pneumonia because infection developed.

After treatment... same old thing, cough.

Then my vet suggested using a power pack treatment. We have not had a donkey here. But... I did bring an orphan foal here from an amish farm...possibly had contact with donkeys or other horses had lung worms...

Incredible....immediately the coughs went away, and so did the big bellies and they started gaining weight. They looked like unkept horses before, and I was feeding them well and caring for them. And I was deworming, but somehow we missed the one parasite that was dragging them down.

I felt horrible knowing we could have avoided several months of sickness here had I done it earlier.

Now I know. It won't happen here again!!!

 

[luvsminis]

What kind of power pack did you use? Now, my little one has really bad breath. The cough isn't as bad now, resp. are slower. I will try to find a different vet tomorrow.

 

[luvsminis]

What kind of power pack did you use? Now, my little one has really bad breath. The cough isn't as bad now, resp. are slower. I will try to find a different vet tomorrow.

 

[albahurst]

I think it is good to find another vet to take a look. Bad breath = infection often times.

Keep us posted!

Peggy

 

[luvsminis]

Sorry, it has took so long to get back. So far, we have our little one in the basement in a stall to keep her warm. The vet put her on an anti-histamine to help with the cough, and she seemed to get better. But, when she started eating all of her hay I got so excited, because I thought she was getting better. She was even bucking a bit. However, the next day she was coughing hard again, and I realized it could probably be the hay or the dust irritating her throat, and keeping it sore. So, I took the hay away from her, and I went and got Equine Junior because it has the hay built into it, and I also got some "Cough Calm", which is in a tube and easy to give. So far, she seems to be doing better, coughing less. She has never ran a temp, eats good, poops good, just coughs! I gave her the "Cough Calm" right before bedtime, and didn't hear her cough all night. I tried the "Breath Smooth", but she refused to eat her food with it, and when I tried the syringe, she coughed even harder. The vet said her chest is clear, but you can hear the fuzz in her neck and throat. I have lost so much sleep over this baby, but she is worth it. She is such a sweetheart.

 

[albahurst]

I noticed my little one coughing more when she ate, too. But, after her trachea wash and Tri-Hist for two weeks, she seems to be over the irritation and is off all meds and is fine.

Is there a vet around who could scope your little girl? I still wonder about an inflammed trachea that needs a bit more aggressive attention to break the cycle.

I am glad to hear she is somewhat better. Hang in there.

 

[luvsminis]

Thanks for your help. I am going to call a different vet, the one who does their teeth. He is about 58 miles away, but a very good vet, maybe he will do the tracheal wash. I don't think my other vet will do it. He did however start the Tri-Hist, but I took her off thinking that it wasn't helping her. I will put her back on it, because it had only been a few days. I kind of think this is the problem with this little girl too. Again, thanks for your help.

 

[albahurst]

Please let us know how things go....

Good luck to you and your precious little girl.

Peggy