| COPD HELP Pony cant breath | |
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+4cally50 georgie bonjour monwilliams1 8 posters |
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monwilliams1
Posts : 4 Join date : 2010-01-17 Age : 53 Location : Magneville area 50
| Subject: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:45 am | |
| Hi all, I have a Welsh Sec 'D' that has COPD, we rescued it from UK just as we were leaving (foolishly) cause we had room on the lorry. Through the summer she had flair ups and on vets advise treated with Ventipulmin. This worked but few weeks and flair up again. Doing all the usual stuff, soaking hay and steam, no straw max turnout etc but again another flair up, Any advice would be welcome. Would love to put her in foal but no way after how bad she can get with pollen etc. At wits end and vet thinks the big needle may be the option. Regards Simon | |
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bonjour
Posts : 726 Join date : 2010-05-09 Age : 65 Location : Alderney, Channel Islands
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:04 am | |
| My old girl Bluey (Shire x cob) has mild COPD. She now lives out 24/7 and it's done her the power of good. She's lucky in that she grows the most amazing winter coat. I only feed hay when absolutely necessary and try to ensure she has grazing at all times. even soaked hay can get her coughing when she has been stabled. It's hard to say if it's the hay or just general stable dust that causes an outbreak, probably a combination of the two. Is it possible for you to find year-round grazing for your Welsh D? Or can you get haylage? Bluey loves haylage and it doesn't set her COPD off. I know it's expensive to feed haylage but it might be worth a try. Good Luck, Bill. | |
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georgie
Posts : 1144 Join date : 2010-01-20 Age : 67 Location : BiƩville 50
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:32 am | |
| Maybe you could try an equine inhaler for her? [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] | |
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cally50 Admin
Posts : 1918 Join date : 2009-03-25 Age : 59 Location : La Manche , 50800
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:08 am | |
| sorry she is struggling , it could be worth phoning Ann at the Epona Trust Refuge for ponies , there is very little she hasn't had to cope with and would gladly share some tips aswell as the lovely folk here will/ are too Ann 02 33 61 88 41 copied from a site for general info ..
- Keep horses suffering from RAO or equine COPD turned out at grass as much as possible - ideally this should be for 24 hours a day.
- Remove hay from the horse's diet and get an alternate source of fibre such as haylage.
- If your horse has to be stabled ensure that all bedding and feed is as free of dust and mould spores as possible.
- Don't groom or muck out your horse while he is still in his stable as this will expose him to more dust.
- Good ventilation is always essential for the respiratory health of your horse or pony.
- Never work your horse in a dusty arena or school.
- Feed your horse at floor level - lowering his head will help to clear secretions from his lungs .
- Discuss a care and management regime with your vet
Last edited by cally50 on Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:28 am; edited 2 times in total | |
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bretton
Posts : 68 Join date : 2010-06-23
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:23 am | |
| I have one with this when she is realy bad she has the ventipulmen ,but i keep her out all the time as she is much better out . soaked hay etc . I think you are doing your best for the pony . Mine will cough up big green lumps !!! | |
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salee
Posts : 622 Join date : 2010-02-21 Location : Lower Normandie
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:07 am | |
| i have known quite a few with the wheezes over the yeas, it helps if you know her history, is it recent say due to the after effects of illness such as flu? or life long? is she allergic to something? i had a welsh A, fine from a foal to 11y then we moved farm and he began almost immediatly with what the vet thought was *pnumonia, after treatment he was decared broken winded and i was advised he should live out 24/7. he had all the usual stuff, ventapulmin etc but we also used friars balsam (benzobenzate?) in a bag or bucket to steam his nostrils, this tended to make his breathing easier for a while on bad days. he had no hay at all, back then haylage was not available, but we substituted sugar beet and carrots or other veg as fibre replacers in a bucket feed. he breathed better in winter, the big wheeze was always in summer, which was when he could not keep weight on and needed more feed, eventually we decided to have him PTS by next summer, but when it came round he was OK????? it turned out he was very *allergic to rape seed crops! they grow it in 5 year cycles and this was the 1st no rape seed summer on the farm next door, he was of course still a bit wheezy after the years of damage but was ok to begins some light work for the 1st time in years (vets advise to get him fitter to help the lung function be more efficient) *the farm where he became suddenly sick grew rape seed over the road.a friends mare had a similar violent reaction when she moved farms to another area, probably a plant/flower local but not identified, she moved the mare back 'home' pronto and the problem stopped. sometimes putting on a filter mask can help them, even just a damp cloth in a muzzel with/without some balsam such as eucalyptus added. i don't know if any tests could be done for allergy, but if you could find out her history and maybe elliminate obvious possibles you may hit on the answer. good luck bye [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] | |
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bonjour
Posts : 726 Join date : 2010-05-09 Age : 65 Location : Alderney, Channel Islands
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:42 am | |
| Good point Salee. Oilseed rape pollen causes problems for a lot of horses (and people). Summer before last there was a lot of charlock, a close relative of oilseed rape, growing in the field next door to Blue and she got a bit wheezy. | |
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monwilliams1
Posts : 4 Join date : 2010-01-17 Age : 53 Location : Magneville area 50
| Subject: Thank You Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:43 am | |
| Thank you all for your help and advice, despite her breathing, she is a bright eyed happy pony with a good coat. I was told she has had lammy in the past so have had to use a muzzle as she will not stop eating, even on strip without muzzle she will eat down to the soil roota and all. So would love to do 24hr turnout but worry she would explode as I have never seen her regulate. I will call Ann at epona. Our horses our no trouble in comparison, but thats ponies I suppose. Thanks | |
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tristar
Posts : 181 Join date : 2010-02-16
| Subject: COPD HELP pony can't breath Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:08 am | |
| the first horse i had with this was distressed in his breathing, he had ventipulmin, he recovered never to have it again in my ownership, my experience was i had him endoscoped to determine the severity and to determine if the trachea was dirty, he was considered to be a mild case despite his panting and coughing, i did all the usual things but also made him move around a lot in the morning to cough up and clear his wind and i rode him gently as work definately clears the lungs and makes them cough it out. i think you need to determine the cause of the allergy, it can be stable stuff hay etc or other sources. the next horse with it did't have ventipulmin because the vet said that drug reduces the elasticity of the lungs, i can't remember the name of the stuff now but it worked a treat and was less expensive, i may be able to find out the name, i also gave a pony new era hay fever pills that i use and that worked too, i found that my pony even on mats and shavings will cough in the morning if it is windy in the night as it seems to blow the dust around. the pony also on one occasion had an injection which stopped the coughing in its tracks, so there are alternatives to ventipulmin. the main thing is to determine the cause, the gravity of the dirtiness of the lungs, they may be loaded with shit that needs moving, and find a management strategy to avoid it starting up, i found it can just dissapear like a miracle by finding the key to the problem, i have allergy, hay fever sinus probs and it makes you feel preety grotty, so feel for the poor girl, best of luck | |
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Lottie
Posts : 459 Join date : 2010-03-25 Location : Finistere
| Subject: Re: COPD HELP Pony cant breath Tue Feb 22, 2011 8:04 am | |
| One of mine has had an attack of it again this year after 5 years with no problems. He is 14 and this is his 3rd attack. He is on Ventipulmin and he has made a marked improvement but I do believe, with him, that it is down to lack of exercise. It has been sooo wet here recently that I haven't done anything with him as he cannot be stabled unless it is another form of urgent problem as this sets it off straight away. I am going to try NAF Respirator with him after the course of Ventipulmin finishes as I have been recommended this by several people. He always coughs for the first 5 minutes of any work but that does seem to clear him, I just hate hearing it To be honest though, and please don't think me unkind, if he does start to have the problem on a regular basis I will have him PTS as he is not bright eyed and happy when he is suffering. He becomes very depressed, very quickly and it is heart breaking to see him like it. He takes himself off to a corner of the field and just stands there for hours. Not pleasant to watch when you've bred them | |
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