I have a gelding with sever COPD. We have tried multiple medicines and a few different vets. He almost constantly wheezes and has a bad cough at times. The only thing that seems to give him any relief is steroids. He can do a 20 day round and be better but within a week of finishing it he gets worse again. Vet suggests leaving him on it for the rest of his life. To begin with I didn’t want to because he already has cushings and I think daily steroids will slowly kill him. Once I got to thinking about it though should I be choosing quality of life over quantity of life at this point? He is 18 so I know his years are limited anyway. I’m really torn on what to do. 

ETA: Vet said he just can’t breath all that good BUT is not suffering. If I thought he was suffering I wouldn’t give it a second though. I just don’t know how I feel about giving him something every day that I know is slowly killing him. 

Hope you find the right answer and balance--bless his heart

I don't know what to suggest to you. I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your horse & you.

Is he retired? Is he in a dusty area? what type of feed are you feeding and is he getting really good hay? Alot comes into factor on trying to care for a COPD horse, hope you can get it figured out for him too, having a special needs horse can be a tough call most times. Glad you are doing what you can with him, poor fella.

Semi. I haven’t ran him since the beginning of spring. I have been able to ride him in the past while he was on steroids. No dust. I wet his stall down in the mornings and again during the afternoon. He’s on pasture at night. No hay right now because they have plenty of grass. He gets the same high protein food that my runners get. 

Have you tried a nebulizer? Colloidal silver? I'd make sure hes on a dust free feed, bluebonnets sr therapy is dust free and an excellent feed. They make a hay steamer as well.  I feel for you and him because horses are expensive as it is, but when you have a high maintenance one with health issues it can get crazy expensive! 

We talked to one of the vets about a  nebulizer but he said from what he’s seen, with the high humidity that we have, he thinks their doing more harm than good. He said he’d seen too many that had developed a lung infection. He said he wasn’t 100% positive why but it seemed something about the south east and  nebulizers just didn’t seem to work good. He said all he can figure is the moister from the humidity plus the moisture from the  nebulizer was just too much on the lungs. We’re very limited on what feeds we can get around here. He is not on a dust free food but very rarely does t seem dusty but if it does I wet it down good. 

Why do you have him in a stall during the day. That is the last place I would put him. Unless you have no other choice. 

To help keep his weight down. 

I know people think by stalling that you can keep weight down.  But I learned that is not the case  you can sometimes make it worse on them.  They will try to eat 2x as much when you turn them out at night.  Plue they are not moving very much either during stall time.  I know this is a dog example but it also applies to horses but when I bought a quality dog food and let them have access 24/7 I went thru 2-3 big bags in a month and I have weenie dogs! the second month and now I only go thru 1 bag a month bc they have realized they will always have food anytime they need.  its just something to think about.  Good luck!

Have you thought about a grazing muzzle?

I agree about the stall being not a good ideal for a COPD horse. Not getting hay while being stalled up all day is even worst, going to lead to other problems, I would look into a grazing muzzle like another poster suggested and change out his feed since you are worried about his weight. A high protein feed like the others get may not be working for him if hes over weight, find a low NSC feed for him, BlueBonnet has good feed for horses like yours, I have my gelding on Triple Crown lite that has a breathing issue due to allergies and being IR, he was over weight but this feed helped him trim down, I am slowly switching him over to Intensify Senior Therapy {Bluebonnet} it has a low NSC. I would have your horse in a bigger turn out during the day feed him a low protein/fat feed and plenty of hay or change his feed and turn him out.. 

Good Luck

Not copd related but stall related. I've always stalled my horses during the day in the summer and try to turn out at night. Then in the fall/winter I turnout during the day and stall at night... thinking I'm doing good. This new horse we got.... hes older.. he was having some issues here with his feet, thinking it was our crappy hard ground, so I put shoes on him. He was fine first few days, happier it seemed. I stalled him overnight when I came out in the morning he could barely walk! My stalls are big, lots of shavings, fans,  good air flow... I was panicking, called my farrier called the vet... my hubby limped him over to the water hose and we began cold hosing his legs... 10 minutes later.. totally back to normal... I packed his feet with poultice and kept him in the stall for about an hour then turned him out.. next morning,  he came running up to the barn to eat. Turns out this horse cannot be stalled...he literally wont move around and becomes to stiff and stocked up! He looked like one of those terrible laminitis cases that morning.  The next morning,  we loaded him up with us and hubby heeled about 20 steers on him and he was absolutely perfect and happy. I wont stall him ever again! I just feed him in the stall and then kick him out again. He also refuses to drink water in the stall! Outside moving around, fresh air is always best, if possible! 

I wouldn't say there is an age where I would consider quality over anything else so I go off of that moment. I don't want mine to suffer so I will make the decision as soon as I see the decline. I have recently purchased two horses for my daughter. One came in skinny and once the Copd and allergies happened she wasn't going to make it so we made the decision. Less than a year later my daughters second horse was just diagnosed with the same copd issue just caught a little earlier. He is still fat and happy so we will treat with the breathing machine, Dex and THE's copd formula. Magna wave treatments etc until he begins to decline. He is just a trail horse so we will see how he fairs during his first winter with us. Mine are on pasture 24-7 without hay but both were older so I guess its just our area.

For me, seems like some options that may help and not steroids. I agree with those on stalls... have you checked into allergies with him? A friend of mines horse was struggling really bad, multiple thoughts of putting her down after COPD diagnosis and she had her allergy tested and has had incredible results from the serum injections. 

We haven’t had them tested but are starting him on Tri-Hyst just as soon as the vet can get some in. 

i have a 21 year old still going strong, kickin that 4d booty, so i say quality. Well taken care of horsees can live into their 30's so he has plenty of years left. i have no experience with COPD but i do have a bleeder who is diong amazing on Air Power. It's all natural. SUPER potent. Cheap and Works amazing! my mare stopped bleeding on it and now she happily takes it. She loves it actually. I only suggest you use it sparingly as it really is potent. But good luck and don't give up!

From the moment they hit the ground for me, a quality life over keeping them just alive. That said if they are happy and not suffering they live out thier days, I have a mid to late 30s horse, my first horse I bought, hes his cheeky keep everbody inline self, still kicks and plays.

I have never felt it's about age but about them being happy and pain free. 

He’s on it now. He gets it and 5cc of Fed once a day. So far this shows to be promising but we’ll see when I remove the dex in a couple weeks. 

What part of the country do you live in? If he is down South like in TX, pasture is likely what triggers it.  For those horses who have equine asthma/ summer pasture assoc RAO/RAO/COPD (no longer called COPD) dry lotting and steroids is the only thing that helps honestly.  I'd also consider adding albuterol to the regimen.    Northern part of the country is the opposite problem, but same symptoms. 

South Alabama 

Have you looked into a grazing muzzle? That's the only way I can turn my Paso Fino out on pasture at all.

My vet said there is not a medicine made for inhaling for horses. I’m searching for answers too. 

I would have him tested.... so you have some answers... it could help just by cutting a few things out for him, to help him breath... I have a friend that had a horse what was allergic to shavings... some alfalfa, you never know, but at this point, I would try that before anything...