Mini mare breathing problem

[NoahG]

Hello Everyone,
Aggie has had breathing issues on and off and after months of diagnostics the vet is confident of the issue.
Aggie appears to have equine asthma, and at times it's pretty severe. At rest she's breathing nearly 60 times a minute, and this is with active antihistamines and nebulizer treatment. Vet doesn't want to do steroids because of laminitis risk. The dusty environment doesn't help and we'll hopefully move to central coast CA soon. It's just so sad seeing her struggle to breathe like this. I'm at the end if my rope and desperate for advice. Anyone here dealt with equine asthma?
I'll try and include a video of her breathing.
--Noah

 

[NoahG]

For some reason it won't let me attach a video.

 

[kimbalina]

You can upload to youtube and link? a lot of members do that. Sorry Aggie is struggling to breathe. I am asthmatic and it can be scary. Interesting the link between steroids and laminitis… Hope you both find relief!

 

[HersheyMint]

Gosh I'm sorry about Aggie. It has been so hot and dry. I sure hope you find relief like Kimbalina said.

 

[chandab]

While you can't do much about the weather/environment. Soaking/wetting all her feed will help that part of her immediate environment, by reducing the dust that comes really close to her nose, you might be able to reduce some of the impact. using something like the bedding pellets, if inside, and keeping them damp, so the dust doesn't stir, may also be helpful.

 

[Cayuse]

Inhaled steroids might help a lot, given through a chamber. I have done this with one of mine. I've had several vets tell me that the inhaled steroids have almost no risks of laminitis. Has your vet ruled out inhaled steroids?
I think I used beclomethasone and the chamber we used was an "areohippus (aearohippus?? I can't spell) chamber" which held the inhaler and had a soft plastic cup on the end that went over the nostril. Hope this helps.
ETA: sometime changing the type of antihistamine helps, I've found effectiveness varies between types of antihistamines on my pony. My guy gets the best results with Zyrtec. Benadryl and hydroxyzine only helped moderately.

 

[NoahG]

Inhaled steroids might help a lot, given through a chamber. I have done this with one of mine. I've had several vets tell me that the inhaled steroids have almost no risks of laminitis. Has your vet ruled out inhaled steroids?
I think I used beclomethasone and the chamber we used was an "areohippus (aearohippus?? I can't spell) chamber" which held the inhaler and had a soft plastic cup on the end that went over the nostril. Hope this helps.
ETA: sometime changing the type of antihistamine helps, I've found effectiveness varies between types of antihistamines on my pony. My guy gets the best results with Zyrtec. Benadryl and hydroxyzine only helped moderately.

I've asked about inhaled steroids and have heard the same thing: very little risk. I'm going to ask the vet about it.

 

[MaryFlora]

I’m sorry, Noah. It’s hard when our animals are in trouble.

Yes, equine asthma is familiar here. My mini, Goldie (24) had a serious attack about 4 or 5 years ago and at that time, the vet prescribed 4 steroid shots which worked amazingly well.

This July, Goldie had a severe asthma attack due to getting access to a dusty bale while we were gone for four days. Just as in your case, the vet did not prescribe steroids, but rather a granulated compound, Tri-Hist to be given 4x a day. After two weeks she was still laboring and the vet prescribed a single, one time injection, and the addition of ceterizin pills along with the Tri-Hist, both 4x a day. It was slow progress but after about 2 more weeks improvement was definite. We continued for another week and were then able to stop.

As chandab states, environment is very important. Not sure what you are an
able to do, as far as water use, but I did use several large buckets of water a day to wet down her stall and an enclosed area just off her stall, where she could go in and out at will and not be confined to a stall. I removed all bedding and discontinued hay, using only alfalfa pellets at the recommended weight per day. Since Goldie already ate pellets with her senior feed pellets, it was not a hard transition for her.

In addition, I closed the barn doors at her end during the sunny times to keep it as cool and shaded as possible. Then in the evening opened everything wide so she had lots of cooler night air. Keeping her out of her daytime play area was harder on me than on her.

She is now going out to her paddock area about 4 hours a day, and receiving a modest amount of hay scattered around for her to graze.

Slow progress but she is much improved. Hang in there Noah!

PS: In order to ensure Goldie received her prescribed doseof granules and pill, I cut off the end of a plastic syringe, dropped in the pill, then poured in the measured Tri Hist, then used just like a paste dewormer, only it was all dry. Worked great.

 

[NoahG]

I’m sorry, Noah. It’s hard when our animals are in trouble.

Yes, equine asthma is familiar here. My mini, Goldie (24) had a serious attack about 4 or 5 years ago and at that time, the vet prescribed 4 steroid shots which worked amazingly well.

This July, Goldie had a severe asthma attack due to getting access to a dusty bale while we were gone for four days. Just as in your case, the vet did not prescribe steroids, but rather a granulated compound, Tri-Hist to be given 4x a day. After two weeks she was still laboring and the vet prescribed a single, one time injection, and the addition of ceterizin pills along with the Tri-Hist, both 4x a day. It was slow progress but after about 2 more weeks improvement was definite. We continued for another week and were then able to stop.

As chandab states, environment is very important. Not sure what you are an
able to do, as far as water use, but I did use several large buckets of water a day to wet down her stall and an enclosed area just off her stall, where she could go in and out at will and not be confined to a stall. I removed all bedding and discontinued hay, using only alfalfa pellets at the recommended weight per day. Since Goldie already ate pellets with her senior feed pellets, it was not a hard transition for her.

In addition, I closed the barn doors at her end during the sunny times to keep it as cool and shaded as possible. Then in the evening opened everything wide so she had lots of cooler night air. Keeping her out of her daytime play area was harder on me than on her.

She is now going out to her paddock area about 4 hours a day, and receiving a modest amount of hay scattered around for her to graze.

Slow progress but she is much improved. Hang in there Noah!

PS: In order to ensure Goldie received her prescribed doseof granules and pill, I cut off the end of a plastic syringe, dropped in the pill, then poured in the measured Tri Hist, then used just like a paste dewormer, only it was all dry. Worked great.

Thank you so much for the advice. Unfortunately she's at a public boarding facility full of dust and eucalyptus trees (which apparently lots of horses can be allergic to) along with stalls that are not well kept nearby. I can't wait to get her out of there. The antihistamines she's on are short acting too, so I'll talk to the vet on that.

 

[MaryFlora]

I’m sorry. It is different in a public facility.

You are on top of things, getting good advice from others, and working with your vet so hopefully all will come together for an improvement for Aggie.

 

[NoahG]

So an update. Doubling up on the nebulizer and the antihistamines has really helped, but the vet is going to look at inhaled steroids. After several days of double nebulizer treatments, Aggie gave some really good, productive coughs. White gooey foam came up once or twice, and her breathing seemed to get deeper and slow down after that. Thank you everyone for all of your help and advice so far. You guys mean the world to me.

 

[MaryFlora]

Wonderful news! So good to hear Aggie is feeling some relief!

How is “Cowboy” Winston doing?

 

[HersheyMint]

Great news!

 

[NoahG]

Wonderful news! So good to hear Aggie is feeling some relief!

How is “Cowboy” Winston doing?

Little Winston is great. Loves his cuddles and the vet is working on the next steps to care for his messed up teeth long-term.

 

[MaryFlora]

He seems quite the little character!

Give your cuties an extra cuddle from MN!

 

[Standards Equine]

A round of antibiotics may be indicated. There could be an underlying pulmonary infection that needs some help. That would likely be indicated by temperature and lung sounds as well as productive cough. Poor little muffin. We put down our big Salle Francaise gelding this summer because his breathing was getting so bad and there's only so much Ventipulmon and Zev you can pump into them and only so many times you can treat with antibiotics... When it got to the place where he was not improving and all the treatments were just managing to get him to comfortable, we let him go. My prayers that your little responds well to all the care and treatment and that your move comes soon!

 

[NoahG]

Thank you all for the help so far! Waiting on the inhaled steroids to come in. Aggie has been feeling much more like herself lately.

 

[NoahG]

After the rain we had in socal over the weekend her breathing rate fell from a fast and labored 60 per minute down to a relaxed, soft 20 breaths a minute. It was amazing to see the difference without dust in the air. I can't wait to get her out of this boarding facility and living up in Los Osos. It'll be so good for her.

 

[HersheyMint]

That's good to hear. Los Osos is a beautiful area. I wish I could go with you

 

[NoahG]

Aggie has been on steroids for 3 weeks now, and her respiratory rate has been more than halved. She trots on walks now and sometimes throws her head and jumps around. Thank you everyone for your kind words and help.