Heaves

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Mini Oaks

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Hessmer, La
I have a mini that has the heaves and in the south it's not a good thing. It is so humid and hot here that there is not much I can do for her. I've had the vet check her several times and he says I have to wait until in gets cooler for her to have some relief. She's getting shots in the meantime. Anyone else with this? She is starting to lose weight and looking bad. :no:
 
I had a pony in Florida with the heaves.

Here's what I did to help her out:

1. I kept a fan on her

2. Used as little bedding material as possible. Back then, no one heard of using stall mats, but if I had it to do over again, I'd get stall mats.

3. Wet down hay and feed.

4. She was on a steroid that I put in her feed daily. It was also a "shot" but could go in her feed instead. Ask your vet if you can do that too with whatever shot your horse is getting.

There was also this "breathing thing" that I had for her where you could put meds in it and up to her nostrils and it would open up her airwaves better but I forgot what it's called.

Re-locating her to a higher elevation and dryer climate would probably help as long as the elevation wasn't too high where the air is a lot thinner; that could make things worse. I had a Florida horse come up here with huge skin problems. "Poof" cured. Sometimes relocating the horse is a good idea.

You could also seek out another's vets opinon. Some vets are more aggressive than others and another vet may come up with some good ideas. It's probably worth a try.
 
Hi,

I have a mare that just developed heaves, too. The other thing is to not let her grass get too tall. That is another contributing factor. My neighbors horse just developed it, as well as a friends down the road. We are all stressed watching them go down, but know relief is in sight.

The bedding is another interesting thought, I had not thought of that. We had an over abundance of rain this year, and the grass for hay got too tall, and seedy. That is why you water down the hay, or feed something other than Bahia, so my vet says.

Good luck with your baby!!

ALlicia
 
My gelding has really bad heaves, and used to be on steroids, but not anymore!! :aktion033: He's now acting "normal" and has been for a long time. Here's what we did.

First of all, have your horse allergy-tested. Rudy, my geldilng, came up allergic to 31 things, including oats, timothy hay, and alfalfa!!! :new_shocked:
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: Having this testing done helps you feed them things that won't make their heaves worse.

Rudy gets herbs twice a day from Meadowsweet Acres Herbs. It's pricy, but lasts a LONG time.

I reccomend you feed Tri-Hist granuals, as well.

We travel to Oregon to buy really nice orchard grass.

Rudy is anemic so gets Red Cell.

He's on Equine Senior, which DOES have oats, but I watch him closely and at the first hint of trouble (breathing heavy, moisture coming out of nose) will stop feeding that. I tried Complete Advantage as it doesn't have oats, but he lost weight on that.

Being as he's allergic to barn dust, Rudy's stall has a rear door that leads out to a mud lot (aka dry lot) that stays open 24/7, and we'll lock him out of the barn if he starts showing the signs mentioned above.

Can you tell I love him?? LOL
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:

Kari
 
Well her pasture is cut with a lawn mower every week and I wet her feed and hay. She has lost so much weight it will take a while to build her back up. She is getting extra feed. I opened the stall so she is out 24/7. I will see how that works.
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: My vet said she will never be able to be breed again. And she throws beautiful babies with no trouble. She has had two foals.
 
They do have issues with dust, pollen, etc. My mare was allergy tested and could have no rye, had to watch for molds. She was fine in winter, spring was hard with pollens, etc. I used some Albuterol when needed.

Run-in instead of stalled, careful with beddings (dust)....mats and limited pellets helped. Wet beet pulp helped with the hay issues but, she could eat grass hays if not dusty....wet the hays. Mine mare also lost weight, they seem to get anorexic, but not all the time. Mostly she was in fine health and weight. She never dropped off in foaling/nursing. Fed her less and more often. I have three lovely foals from my mare, she producted 8 total and 7 were colts
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: I kept the only filly -- checked it several times to be sure as I just knew it was a miracle -- and 2 colts. So far, none of them have any heaves issues and are 5-9 yrs old. It is an issue that can be managed, most times.
 
I have a mini that has the heaves and in the south it's not a good thing. It is so humid and hot here that there is not much I can do for her. I've had the vet check her several times and he says I have to wait until in gets cooler for her to have some relief. She's getting shots in the meantime. Anyone else with this? She is starting to lose weight and looking bad. 🇳🇴
Hi
They do have issues with dust, pollen, etc. My mare was allergy tested and could have no rye, had to watch for molds. She was fine in winter, spring was hard with pollens, etc. I used some Albuterol when needed.

Run-in instead of stalled, careful with beddings (dust)....mats and limited pellets helped. Wet beet pulp helped with the hay issues but, she could eat grass hays if not dusty....wet the hays. Mine mare also lost weight, they seem to get anorexic, but not all the time. Mostly she was in fine health and weight. She never dropped off in foaling/nursing. Fed her less and more often. I have three lovely foals from my mare, she producted 8 total and 7 were colts
default_wacko.png
: I kept the only filly -- checked it several times to be sure as I just knew it was a miracle -- and 2 colts. So far, none of them have any heaves issues and are 5-9 yrs old. It is an issue that can be managed, most times.
 

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