COPD

[lindad]

Amanda, He needs steroids probably which is what the albuterol like med is. Also give him the spirulina. It isn't going to cure the copd, but it will boost his immune system to give him the best chance for his bodies defenses to kick in. I hope that you are soaking his square bale hay. One person said that she puts the hay in a round laundry basket with holes in the bottom and then soaks it in a round muck bucket tub. Then she can just lift the basket out of the tub to take it to where they feed. Fresh pasture would give him the best relief.

[dunbnwild]

The steroid will work almost instantly- it will give him relief right away. At least it did for Cat both times she had one- and her first episode which had turned into bronchitis was really bad. If your vet hasn't offered that, I would seriously consider finding a new vet or at least ask him/her why.

[DianneC]

There is a steroid product called Prednisilone that is a tablet and easy to give. It does decrease immune response so you have to watch for that but they are so much more comfortable. Methotrexate is another and usually used for short term then the switch is make to Prednisilone. Ventipulmin is a pricey drug but the price is worth it for bad attacks like Tman had. It increases airflow and works really well. You can ask about those and also get a prescription faxed by your vet to Valley Vet or other on-line suppliers where its cheaper for refills, the shipping takes a while though.
The very biggest thing though is the environment and their hay.

[lindad]

Amanda, unless you change his hay and possibly environment from dust, mold, mildew and any other allergen he may be reacting to, he will get progressively worse until he can't breathe. This is nothing to mess around with. It requires immediate treatment for it to not become chronic.
I gave away a horse I raised and trained for 5 years, since his birth, because someone inadvertently fed him just once, from a pile of dusty hay that I was trying to get rid of. (Someone gave me the hay thinking they were paying me for a favor I did for them). It triggered heaves. He improved with prednisolone, but after that, any dust made him cough, and hay was not the way to feed him. I have to feed hay all year round. I gave him to a family in Alabama that had one hundred acres for him to graze even in the winter. He never needed hay again and was out in clean fresh air. He lived a long, healthy life, and helped to raise the children of 2 families. I feel he would have died prematurely and not been in full health, had I kept him. It broke my heart, but watching him deteriorate would have been unbearable.

Good luck with Tman. Act quickly or he may never be sound enough to ride.

[mystickiger]

Amanda, hopefully you will heed what Linda wrote. She is absolutely right. Tinman's future as a usable horse or possibly just his being depends on getting this resolved. Possibly you need to find that next vet soon. I know that treatment will not be cheap. I personally know people in the East that have spent countless time and money to make horses comfortable in the mold filled, humid East with their last resort for the horse's well being to ship it to another region of the country. Please keep us posted.

[MustangsInNC]

He's halfway through his antibiotics and done with his banamine as of today. His breathing has MUCH improved. No more wheezing and panting, and his cough is just occassional now. If the wheeze comes back after a day without the banamine, I have the steroid syrup to try. Next step is scoping to check out the damage. My vet seems to be leaning away from heaves... but I will seek out a second opinion. And if I can't manage his condition... I guess I will have to start looking for a home out west for him. Just the thought breaks my heart, but I have to think about what is best for him.

[dunbeingwild]

I have had 2 Kigers that developed heaves or COPD. There have been a number of the Kigers develope this and in the ones that we tracked they had within the previous 18 months had a bad snotty nose and fever. The early ones were just treated with penicillian and went on. Within the next 18 months they developed a slight cough that went away when being used. It then got worse until we knew they had the heaves.

How to help control: Keep in a low dust location, plowing and harvesting seasons aggravates it. Alfalfa and Teff hay seem not to cause problems if it is clean harvested. Dirty or boarder line moldy hay will trigger an attack. They seem to have problems with immunizations also. Sadly the Kigers are usually also prone to grass founder here in the NW so turning out on pasture is not an option in this area. If founder is not a problem is your area that would be my first choice.

Ventipulmin is the drug often used for chronic heaves and at $300 per 330 cc bottle and a dosage of 6-7cc per day it gets expensive fast. To keep my mare going I use AntiMed brand AntHist and HistAll by the same people. This works well for me as a control during the average times, she still will have an occasional heavy attack the requires a week on Ventapulmin.

My mare is 18 years old and has had heaves since she was four. She still is used for riding and loves it, though she is no longer used for steep country that would make her fight to breathe. She runs and plays with the other horse and seldom coughs, She will not get over it and it will shorten her lifespan greatly.