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  Discussion on Cubes forever for COPD??
Author Message
New Member:
Hughekl

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 24, 2006 - 5:00 pm:

Hi! I posted back in November and am happy to report my 12yr old gelding has not had any breathing problems since I put him on an Alfafa/Timothy mix cube at Thanksgiving. He gets about 22lbs of cubes per day and no sign of heaves!!! However, he seems to have a reduced tolerance for exercise... a few laps around the arena and he's breathing heavily... I'm hoping this is just because he hasn't had much exercise with winter weather and heaves all last summer.... The good news is when he breathes heavy, his breathing is 100% clear - no rattles, wheezing or sounding like Darth Vadar!!

So... 2 questions... is time the only way to tell if the reduced exercise tolerance will be permanent... and is he going to need to stay on these cubes forever to keep the COPD under control. The barn manager has told me that he no longer wants to manage my horse seperate from the rest of the herd, so I now have to find another place to board that will take a "special needs" horse....

Any suggestions would be great!! And for everyone out there battling this, hang in there, I wouldn't go so far as to call cubes a miracle cure, but my guy is doing fantastic on them - and since they're 50/50 Alfalfa/Timothy, he's not hyper - he's just himself again and you can tell he feels good... no risk of choking either, the 50/50 mix somehow makes the cubes softer so they break apart very easily...

Thanks!
Kris (and Rusty)
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 24, 2006 - 6:41 pm:

Your barn manager considers feeding cubes "special needs?!!" Amazing!

Anyway,so glad he's doing so much better. I'd be willing to bet that the lack of stamina is due to lack of exercise. Does he get sweaty, too?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 25, 2006 - 8:16 am:

Taking your questions in order:
1) Yes and as you state he may be normal now just out of shape.
2) Finding someone who will feed cubes should not be a big problem but you might try offering the barn manager an extra 50 bucks a month to cover the extra effort.

One other comment: cubes have always been as close to a miracle curing COPD as you can get.
DrO
Member:
Hughekl

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 25, 2006 - 1:32 pm:

Thanks Sara and Dr. O. for your prompt responses!! I will begin exercising him regularly as soon as the weather and footing allows. I board on the edge of a local park, so there's miles and miles of trails, but no indoor arena - so I'm at the mercy of mother nature a lot of the time.

My barn manager doesn't consider the cubes a "special need", but he does consider keeping him separated from the rest of the herd as one. The herd (about 5 or 6 horses) have free access to square bales in a feeder in the pasture at all times ... and since my horse can't have hay, he can't be with the herd, so he's in a separate paddock next to the pasture. The barn manager was ok with separating him temporarily to see if the cubes made a difference, but he's not willing to manage it as a long term/permanent solution. :-/ I may end up moving him to a barn with an indoor arena for winter and then back to the place I'm at right now for summer.... have to wait and see what I can work out.... Hopefully his exercise tolerance will improve and he's simply just out of shape.... he's not overweight though... the farrier commented last week at how much his physical condition had improved since he's not heaving anymore... oh and to answer Sara's question, he's not getting sweaty with exercise... but only a lap or two at the canter gets him out of breath, so I don't push him hard enough that he'd get to sweating... I let him catch his breath and then begin again and keep the sessions short....

Thanks again for your support - this site is a fantastic resource for horse owners!! I think I'll go read up on the training sections and see if something there address getting horses back into exercise/condition....
Thanks!
Kris (and Rusty)
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 25, 2006 - 4:14 pm:

Maybe if you offered to clean the pen, the barn mgr. would allow you to keep him where he is; or isn't the labor the problem?
Member:
hughekl

Posted on Thursday, Jun 28, 2007 - 12:55 pm:

Just an update on Rusty's situation. I'm thrilled to report he's had ZERO respiratory issues since I moved him to a new barn this past October.

He has a large paddock (or small pasture, whatever you want to call it) that is attached to 2 stalls. He's turned out with a buddy and they can come in and out as they please. The stalls have rubber mats and cedar/sawdust shavings for bedding. When I first moved him, his breathing was not good, so I put him on Timothy/Alfalfa cubes 2x per day along w/some grain. His breathing returned to normal and with time his body condition improved and the noticeable heave line is no longer quiet so obvious. After a few months I started introducing a good quality grass hay in addition to the cubes. The hay was fed dry, in flakes and on the ground. Slowly, more hay and less cubes were added to where he's back on hay now and doing great!!! We rode at a state park that is all sand this past sunday for 3hrs and not one single wheeze, cough or anything... (and he worked hard!!) and he had 100% normal breathing!!! Now... a note, I'm still very careful as to where I ride him... it had rained the day before our ride, so the sand we rode in was not dusty and if the indoor arena is really dry, I don't ride him in there, just as a precaution.

But, cubes at first and then gradual introduction back on to a high quality, fresh grass hay, fed in dry flakes on the ground seems to have done the trick! :-) (no drugs, no steroids). After 2yrs of difficulty breathing, Rusty and I are both relieved to hopefully have his COPD behind us! :-)
Kris & Rusty}
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2007 - 10:28 am:

Excellent Kristen,
It needs to be noted not all horses can make it all the way back on to regular harvested hay but it is great that your horse can. Most important and as your post emphasizes this disease is one caused by and treated with proper management, drugs are just palliative. For those who want to learn more on all this see the article.
DrO
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