Just my luck...Moon has a nasty cough.
He has had a cough for years now. Just a light hack when you first start loping him that stops when he is good and warmed up. I suspect he picked it up while he was working at the feedlot 5 years ago.
Because of this light hack, he stays on pasture 24/7 and I am extremely particular about his hay. I've even gone so far to hand pick the very best parts out of the bale for him and I spread it out on the grass.
Tuesday night it was really bad and he was just long trotting...on grass. I didn't even take him into the arena because it was dry and I didn't want him inhaling dust. But he was hacking and wheezing anyway.
I started him on a double dose of MSM that night and have fed him a double dose twice a day the last two days. It usually takes about 3 days for it to kick in and 5 to really work.
I'm just praying it's under control by Saturday. He seemed better when I rode him tonight, but all we did was walk a lot and a little controlled trotting. But at least he seemed to be breathing better.
Mostly I hate the thought of running him if he can't get his air. But it's also rather embarrassing to be trying to warm up a horse who sounds like he is going to cough up a lung.
In case the MSM doesn't work to get and keep this cough under control...has anyone ever used any of the cough remedies on the market? What has worked for you...or what hasn't(no sense spending money on something that doesn't work)?
12 comments:
The only thing I've used is Breathe Smooth by Smooth Run. Its kinda like the MSM though in that it takes a few days of use before you get results.
Jingles for Moon... hope that cough is gone in time for the rodeo!
ps if you're interested in any of the smooth run products there is a link on my sidebar.
A couple years ago when Brandy was in training at the barn, she had to be stalled and she got really sick. I had the vet out, her nose was running the worst stuff I had ever seen, she couldn't stop coughing. We had to put her training on hold while she was given antibiotics. She never completely recovered. She came home, got better, than my trainer came to pick her up for a vet appt at her house. After work, I went to my trainers house, and my horses were still in her trailer. I went to get them out. Brandy was coughing really bad again. She has cedar shavings in her trailer, which is what they used at the training barn. My vet and I have come to the conclusion she is highly allergic to cedar shavings. Once she was back home, without cedar shavings, she slowly got better. Although I think she did get some damage from that whole ordeal, it's not heaves or COPD, but I always worry. Dust will make her cough, but she is better.
I don't give her anything for it. If she starts coughing really bad again, I would have to do something for her.
I hope you can figure out why Moon is coughing, and I hope the MSM works! Sorry I can't give you any ideas! Here I went on and on about allergies, and I couldn't give you any advice!
That sucks! Around here everyone uses Zev like it's going out of style. My friend actually takes the stuff herself when she has a cold! LOL
I know what you're talking about with respect to warming up a horse with a cough, its the same stink eye I used to get when I took out my gelding who had dust allergies.... everyone thought he was sick I've was shunned! lol..
As I'm sure you've seen, some horses cough a ton at the start of a work but once their lungs open up the coughing dies down.
*fingers crossed* it passes soon.
i haven't had this issue yet - but with horses i am sure that someday i will. You will have to let us know what works for you.
Good luck...
I haven't had this one either, but my friend Nita's mare hacks all the time. She says it's heaves.
Gosh I hope the MSM works!! I've not ever encountered this problem...I sure hope he is better for the rodeo this weekend!
I had a horse with a cough and the vet gave him Tri-hist granuals. It worked really good and you can get it at almost any vet supply/magazine that you get in the mail. I did have to keep him on it but once we got the cough under control, we didn't have to give him as much to maintain. You might check into that.
MSM is an antinflamatory. It won't do any good unless he has something inflamed. I would honestly go to your vet on this one. I can be as simple as he has fluid in his lung from an infection, which can be bad.
He may just have allergies like my mare Indigo does. I use vicks in her nostrils and I feed her cough free by farnam. I also always wet her hay. Best stuff but it's hard to get over here.
Ventipulmin Syrup. You have to buy it from the vet or have a Rx. Most vets will sell it off the shelf without seeing your horse. Its a little pricy, but lasts a long tome and a little goes a long way.
i have had good results with tri-hist too. I recently switched to anti-hist and dont see any difference other than i save some coin. Its just a pony, and she isnt used very hard- but the anti-hist keeps her cough under control. I keep her on it all summer season, and we never have a problem (some times some yucky nose stuff, but no cough)
We have one barrel mare that gets heaves really bad every summer. This summer though it hasn't been as bad. We wet down her feed and hay. We also gave her steroids to help with her breathing and opening up her airways. I was reading some of those suggestions and we'll have to try some of them on our mare. We have always been told when they start to cough down here that we should move the horse up north.......??? So, I guess I am not much help.
But don't you just love those looks? We get them all the time too. I hope Moon gets better soon.
THANK YOU all so much for these suggestions. A friend of mine gave me a jar of Cough Free, so I'll use that up and see if it helps. In the meantime, I'll be looking into these others.
The MSM is helping. Moon is pretty much back to his "normal" cough. It isn't as deep or as consistent as it was a couple of days ago. Plus we got some rain the last couple of evenings, so the dust has settled. Oh yayyy-I get to run in mud(note*this is dripping with sarcasm).
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