Wheezy

[loopylou]

Jasper at the moment is sounding a little wheezy, but last night when we went for a hack, he really did sound like he was having trouble breathing. Once we had gone for a little trot and canter, he did sound a lot clearer.

This has been going on for a good month now, but last night he did worry me quite a bit. The strange thing is he has NOT got a runny nose what so ever. He is currently being strip grazed on dry, long seedy grass, do you think this is the cause.

Any ideas, what it could be and what to do with him??

[harleydales]

Could be the grass pollen?
Apollo is a roarer - one side of his larynx is frozen and he whistles or roars but that's when he's under pressure. When he goes back to walk he stops roarig.

[jay]

Poor Jasper. Sorry I'm not much help but I hope you find the cause and it clears up soon.

[SuzieP]

Could it be a combination of factors? I know that the hot, humid weather coupled with the grass pollen is causing breathing difficulties for a lot of people - so I guess it could affect horses as well.

Bea spends a fair bit of time "clearing his tubes" when we start work - a bit of trot and a canter and lots of snorting and he settles down. I wonder if the dust and pollen causes mucus build-up and they need to get rid of it when they start work?

If it's bad enough to worry you, it might be an idea to get vet advice though?

[greydales]

I'm definitely one who suffers in very humid weather, so it is entirely feasible that horses could be affected as well.

I notice that when I ride my ponies they spend a lot of time in the early stages coughing and snorting and clearing their tubes! It's probably a build up of mucus as Sue says and once they get moving they have to clear it.

When you say wheezy, what exactly does he do?

[dollylanedales]

A friend of mine has a pony her daughter uses for pony club. When she bought him last Autumn, she was told he had an "allergy" which caused breathing problems in the summer. Over the past few weeks he has been wheezing, and with this heatwave he had got worse. Vet saw him Friday, and diagnosed Asthma. He now has an inhaler (not sure if he has taken to having that sprayed up his nose) but the vet is confident that it will ease his breathing, and he should be able to continue to be ridden with no problems. Although he was coughing as well as being wheezy, he was not coughing anything up.

[admin]

Tilly had something similar for the first time last year. We had oil seed rape EVERYWHERE. We were all suffering from it. Tilly developed a cough and wheezy breathing.

We put her on some ventapulmin and it really helped. As soon as the flowers stopped she cleared up no problem.

Olivia

[jonib]

As you will see from the Global herbs thread I have had a brilliant resu;lt with the Zephyr.If the inhaler doesnt work may be worth them trying that?
My little lad is still doing well on it,whereas even with the inhaler he was still wheezing.He must be well again as he has started popping under the electric fencing again,which he wasnt well enough to do last year...lol

Also..if they have to stay with the inhalers,if they havent done so already its worth checking if your chmeist can get it cheaper if the vets write a prescription..From the vet I paid over £40 each whereas chemist could supply it for £20.....

Good luck to them..its a real pain to deal with