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  Discussion on COPD or Allergies? Arizona seemed to cure it!
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 7, 2001 - 4:25 am:

Dr. O:

I have a 24 year old mare that has had terrible respiratory problems for the last 12 years. She had been diagnosed as having heaves or COPD many years ago. I live in Western Oregon, where we have very long, wet winters. She has been chronic for years, at times she was so bad I was afraid we would have to put her down. She had been totally off of all kinds of hay - just pellets and pasture - and out of the barn for the last 10 years. I have tried every kind of medicine and nothing was very successful except Ventipulmin, which was rather expensive medication for an old mare just standing around doing nothing! I have watched her carefully the last few years and it seems to come in "spells" where she will be really bad for about 2 - 3 weeks, then it will clear up and she will be okay for a few weeks. It does seem worse in the summer. We spend the winters in Arizona, and this winter we took her with us. From the time she hit Arizona, she never took one "wheezy" breath, or coughed once. I started feeding her hay - alfalfa, no less - and she was fine. I was even feeding her OREGON alfalfa that we had taken with us!! It was absolutely miraculous! She spent 5 months in Arizona, and was a new horse. Unfortunately, I have had to bring her back to Oregon (she is about to foal). So far she has been fine and is in the barn and eating alfalfa! I am afraid this is too good to be true, and am watching her carefully for any signs of a relapse. Any ideas? Do you think she actually has allergies and not COPD? Would this indicate the allergies are airborn, and it is not an allergy to the mold spores in the hay, as I have always thought?

Posted on Sunday, Apr 8, 2001 - 6:36 am:

COPD is an allergy Gayle, be sure to read the article on COPD, don't let the word allergy fool you it can be a serious debilitating problem. So there is a difference in what the horse is exposed to in Oregon and AZ, that seems pretty clear and condsidering the different environments mold spores are still the most likely. Were the differences in the housing/pasture/fedding situations in Oregon and AZ?
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Apr 8, 2001 - 11:05 am:

Believe me, the COPD of this mares HAS been a serious delibitating problem for 10 years. I have actually considered putting her down at times. The horse was housed outside with an open shelter in both Arizona and Oregon. The main difference is in Oregon we have alot of pasture, in Arizona she is basically on a dirt lot. The feeding situation was different in Arizona in the fact that I was able to feed her hay. Lots and lots of alfalfa hay!!! In Oregon she was on alfalfa cubes or pellets and pasture in the winter, straight pasture in the summer.

Posted on Monday, Apr 9, 2001 - 7:14 am:

The cause of your allergy is most likely an inhaled allergin but from your post hay mold does not seem most likely. Something else in the environment but I cannot begin to guess what: mold spores not related to the hay? pollen? etc..

You have found the solution to the problem that is the only one that works for many people who have COPD where the cause is unknown: move the horse to a different climate.
DrO
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