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  Discussion on Giving human allergy drugs to horses
Author Message
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 9, 2010 - 8:15 pm:

Dr. O,

Can I give Claritan to my horse? He coughs, ususlly just early in his exercise, and does at times have a little mucus. People Claritan is a single 10mg dose.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 7:58 am:

Hello Patricia,
I would not recommend it. The cough suggests a allergic pneumonitis that may be brewing a permanent problem that palliative therapy will only cover up. Instead I would take the steps recommended in the article above with such coughs. A careful reading of the article in likely to lead you to the article on COPD which will have more information on this.
DrO
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 10:40 am:

Dr. O, I have read all the above many times. I will add I am very careful about his hay, and I shake it up before he gets it, among other things that you suggest. He doesn't do it all year long or everyday, but this time of year it will be more intense, and then again in the fall, just like me. I have owned this horse since he was a 3 yr old and he is 12 now. I think it is the area we live in. I live in the south in a valley, and I have sinus and allergies, and behave about the same as my horse when I first get going, I cough and have to clear my throat. When I leave here and go to the east coast it all, or almost all, clears up.

I have asked my vet, and other vets several times for any suggestions, and they just draw a blank, except for using antibiotics. Yes the antibiotics will help my hacking also, but you shouldn't take the antibiotics for any length of time, and the hack comes back when you stop the antibiotics. My horse needs something for about 5 months, split between spring and fall.

I don't understand why there is not a product out there for equines. If you can think of anything I would appreciate it.
Member:
hayley

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 1:56 pm:

Hello Patricia

Your horses symptoms are similar to those experienced by my horse who suffers through the spring summer with allergies but is much better through the winter. Though I am scrupulous with stable cleanliness and feeding haylage rather than hay and a non dust bedding on matts when he is in at night during the winter. COPD is what I have concluded for my chap and maybe on re reading the articles on this on this site you will also find the help you need. My cob starts to cough on begining excercise and generally starts to find his work harder as I believe he finds it harder to breath with the mucas building in the lungs. Steroids are the only help not antibiotics if this is your horses problem. My horse has a mask and a human asthma inhaler beclazone 250 starting on a high dose up to 10 puffs twice a day then reducing the dose gradually to the minumum needed to still give relief. Its not cheap to treat this way but much better for the horse and more direct then giving steroid injections my vet says. Plus if your horse like mine is only(!) affected half of the year...... PS I am in the UK and also have asthma and use and inhaler similar to but unfortunately not the same as my horse!)
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 2:46 pm:

Haley, thanks for the info. Actually, my horse does not have labored breathing, ever. I can walk, trot and gallop him for 20+ minutes and he wouldn't blow a match out. I think he just has allergies and sinus just like I do, mostly from trees in the spring and ragweed in the fall. I just wish I could find something that would clear his mucus out, that was FDA approved and wouldn't wipe him out.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 2:57 pm:

I have heard of using benadryl on horses if something like that would work.... do a search or google benadryl and horses as long as you are sure it isn't COPD

https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/3/245597.html
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 7:47 pm:

Patricia,

Two suggestions, put him on garlic and put Vick's Vapo Rub in and around his nose ( and maybe yours too, if you have allergies) about 20 minutes before you exercise him.

Also any of you asthma sufferers. My husband has had asthma since he was a child and was and is allergic to many things, including horses, dogs and cats ( of which we have we have a few). He used to go through inhalers like they were water. A few years ago the Doctor put him on Advair 2 times a day, since the day he started the Advair, he has not had to use an inhaler for his asthma, nor has he had anything even resembling an Asthma attack ( been about 8 years).

Ask your Doctor, if you would be a good candidate for it. Too bad they don't have it for horses. But maybe you could get something similar in a nebulizer solution.

Rachelle
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 10:22 pm:

DianE, I have read that Bendryl doesn't help equines that much, and it does not help me as much as Claritan, so that is why I ask about Claritan. Today when I rode him he had a coughing episode two different times during my ride, and expelled some mucus the second time, and after he got it up he was fine. Today was sultry and in the low 70's, and that is the kind of weather, in the spring, that causes my horse and I to cough and choke alot. This is not rocket science here, we are just talking about snot, and getting rid of it.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 11:10 pm:

mucinex? They do have a horse versions of it Ani-hist.. same ingredients. Have you tried something like that?

OR Tri-hist... different ingredient? You don't say if you have tried any horse products.
Member:
mrose

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 - 11:52 pm:

I second Rachelle's advice regarding Advair for humans. I, too, have had asthma since childhood. My doctor put me on Advair right after it came out and it drastically improved my life.
Member:
hayley

Posted on Friday, Mar 12, 2010 - 3:57 am:

I understand your take on wanting to get rid of the mucas but ultimately to do that you have to look behind the symptoms to what is going on with likely inflammation to the lungs and upper airways making this mucas. (If not infection caused) If you do think your horse may have an allergy problem now you cant stop the allergic reaction once triggered but you can control it and it appears from what I have read on this site and lots of other references I have drawn on that once an allergic reaction takes hold whether initially to pollen or dust or mould then the horse can then become hyper sensitive to a whole other raft of inhaled irritants all you can do then is surpress the body's reaction to it with steroids and so prevent the mucas formation. My chap does endurance thats why I noticed his decrease in stamina during on set of summer he has never reached the stage of heaving or really heavy breathing but then he is very fit in the first place. He just starts his excercise with a cough or two at the beginning at that time of year just on onset of excercise as a symptom. Have you taken your horses respiratory rates both before and after excercise and compared them to the norm? The horse doesn't have to be blowing to have raised rates. With as good a management as you can put in place re no chance of dusty or mouldy food or bedding or stable and with medication where this is not enough and to prevent further lung damage, from my experience (last 2.5yrs of having him) its been business as usual with his work and I ride for 5 days a week some 10-15miles each time. Incidently my vet says regular excercise is of benefit to clear out the lungs once you have the symptoms under control. If you could find a vet who has a particular interest in respiratory problems that would be a big help to you and he may well recommend a tracheal/lung wash is carried out which measures the infammatory cells. Best wishes
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Friday, Mar 12, 2010 - 11:47 am:

I guess, I should have given more details. I kind of shy away from giving him more medications, because he already has several serious situations that I have to treat him for. I can't really give him dex, because he has cushings, and it is also hard to keep his insulin down. He also doesn't sweat, and if I give him trihist, he will pant. I can't remember how many times I have had him scoped, but more than once. The diagnosis by all is allergies,and sinus. I am just looking for an FDA approved people medicine that might work. I am going to look up the Ani-hist that DianE mentioned and Benadryl again.
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Friday, Mar 12, 2010 - 12:02 pm:

Dr. O, I have looked up the AniHist and here are the specs:

AniHist is the newest in antihistamine/expectorant powder products for use in horses only. AniHist contains Guaifenesin and Pyrilamine Maleate in a palatable cornmeal base.

•Pyrilamine Maleate is useful in countering the effects of histamines produced by allergic respiratory conditions and coughing.
•Guaifenesin aids in the liquification and removal of respiratory secretions.
Each ounce contains (minimum): Guaifenesin 2400mg, Pyrilamine Maleate 600mg


Do you think the AniHist would be ok to use with Pergolide and Thyro-L?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 12, 2010 - 6:20 pm:

Patricia, your specific questions on TriHist and Anihist are all dealt with in detail in Diseases of Horses » Respiratory System » Heaves & Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. There is no work to suggest guaifenesin may be of help in these cases and doses likely to be effective large enough to be sedating.

I want to emphasize that sinusitis does not cause coughing in horses and the snot you describe is unlikely to be from the upper respiratory tract but are secretions coughed up from the lungs and due to the allergic pneumonitis. Antibiotics are NOT indicated in allergic pneumonitis. Please read the article on COPD carefully.
DrO
Member:
snyderpm

Posted on Saturday, Mar 13, 2010 - 11:30 am:

I read it all again, for the 10th time, including many of the posts, but I still believe he has seasonal allergies, not allergic pneumonitis. I guess time will tell. You mention that Guaifenesin is unlikely to help, but the Anihist also has the Pyrilamine Maleate that is found in many cold medications. Regardless, the question was, do you think there would be any reason why I shouldn't use this product with Pergolide?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 - 9:31 am:

Patricia, I have seen no work on their use together so do not know. There may be a potential for interaction. High doses of the antihistamine cyproheptadine have been used to treat Cushing's so antihistamines may potentiate the pergolide. Guaifenesin at high doses is sedating. Since these OTC equine products do not really have any medications that at the doses available that seem to have any pharmacological action in the horse I suspect there will be no effect but this is just conjecture.
DrO
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