This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Respiratory System » Heaves & Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease »
  Discussion on Pregnant mare Heavy breathing - coughing
Author Message
Member:
deeDrOtt

Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2008 - 1:00 am:

Our mare is 45 days in foal (or should be.. last check was at 36 days w/ heartbeat). She lost a foal at 60 + days in 2006 with the same symptoms. Occasional cough, VERY heavy breathing. This just started again. She is on regumate as a preventative and has been since her 15 day check. Tonight her breathing was quite bad and cough more persistent, temp 99.9 prior to 10cc IV banamine and 35 cc pen IM. Temp was 100.5 after which I suppose is warranted seeing we gave her 2 shots.

I've read that Dex and Ventipulmin can lead to placenta separation. The mare is on a clean round bale and lives outside. Tomorrow we will go get her some new 1st cutting square bales to try and limit the dust as much as possible. Her grain ration is a quality feed and we also wet it. We've moved her to a pasture with more grass to limit hay intake. Is there anything else we can do to assist her in getting over this (assuming it's COPD) and also preventing abortion - assuming we've caught this early enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. She went through all of 2007 pregnant to term with no problems. Same environment.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2008 - 6:59 am:

Hello Borderline,
We give management instructions in the article that are very different than what you are doing. If this is COPD I would recommend you strictly follow them.
DrO
Member:
deeDrOtt

Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2008 - 10:55 am:

The article does not reference what methods are suitable for a pregnant mare. It is difficult to not feed her hay as the foal on her side needs hay, which is the reason (after reading the article) we moved her to a grass pasture and as noted above are getting her the best hay "Very Clean and Free of Musty or Off Odors"
She is not exposed to "barn air", and she eats off the ground. Dex and Ventipulmin had negative effects for a pregnant mare as do many of the oral Antihistamine and anti cough remedies. Are Prednisolone tablets safe for a pregnant mare? Is that the best choice? The banamine was the only anti inflammatory we could think of that is safe to use and also in the fridge for immediate use. My vet suggested the 35cc Pen. Does this resemble anything else other than COPD??
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008 - 8:16 am:

Heaves can be managed without medication it just takes longer and the management of a pregnant and non-pregnant mare are the same. The article states even clean hay can activate the disease in those who have become allergic. Until you realize this you will not get this condition under control, I know as I have treated hundreds of cases. It is a very common disease condition of horses in humid environments where getting hay up tricky. SO FOLLOW THE MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTIONS if the diagnosis is COPD. I do not write in caps often.

Not having seen the horse I cannot diagnose him but if you continue to feed hay there are many horses that will not see improvement if the horse has COPD. The alternatives to baled hay provided in the article are wide enough to easily accommodate the pregnant mare's diet.
DrO
Member:
paardex

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008 - 11:40 am:

Hi borderline farm, I had a broodmare with COPD for a few years, as Dr O states it is easy to feed them something else than hay I did want the foal to get hay so gave them a 'creepfeeder'[only the foal can reach the hay mummy gets pellets.
Hope this helps
Jos
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC