My gelding has sever COPD and allergies. We finally after over a year found a combination of medicines that worked. Now of course the main one is getting discontinued. Someone suggest NRF 2. Said it worked wonders for her older horse with COPD. I'm not finding much online to back it up unless I'm not looking in the right places. Anyone used it for breathing and did it work???

Bump

Great you found some mediations that work! I had an older gelding that was about ready to be put down before we just completely took him off hay and fed soaked cubes. He did a complete 180!!! You'd never know he had heaves. Never coughed or wheezed again and when I say wheeze I mean he had full blown respiratory distress!  No more dex/steroids or Bronchodilators ever since the switch and it's been 3 years.  I guess my point is the biggest thing I've learned from my vet is no matter the medications or supplements you give you'll continue to have issues until you pull the source of the allergy away. Which is 99% hay... Even good hay that is watered or streamed. If you already pulled hay then ingore everything I've said! LOL. 

I wish I could pull hay. I know that would make a huge difference. Problem is I have other horses too. And only 1 pasture. I've always done free choice round roll. I know that isn't good for him but I don't have any other option because I can't leave him stalled 24/7

You might try THE Equine Edge COPD.  I started me gelding on it and he has been on it for 3 days and now I don't hear him wheezing as bad.  He doesn't eat much hay, just pasture turn out, Renew Gold and soaked alfalfa cubes.

if you're a fan of anecdotal evidence and MLM then NRF2 is for you 

if you like stuff that really works, then probably not for you. 

What meds were you o that are discontinued? 

I want something that works! He's on Dex(would love to get off it), albuterol and Air Power. I tried to order Air Power over the weekend and they were out of stock for the big bottle. Had a few smaller a ones so I bought those. But I was told they wouldn't be getting anymore because it was being discontinued. 

gotcha, the Air Power was probably feel good as much as anything. 


Ask your vet about Apoquel,,,,,,,,I'm not recomending it because I"m not a vet. But I'm smarter than most vets so ask him/her about it and I think will work for you. 

Who told you that air power was being discontinued? You are talking about Finish Line Air Power? You can buy it by the gallon on Amazon. 

Yeah I don't think Air Power is being discontinued. . . I am sure the supplier you are purchasing it from will no longer be carrying it. 

Anywho, Air-Way EQ has been a game changer for my mare. She has seasonal allergies and I was giving her Dex about 4-5x a year in the summer months when she'd have bad flareups. She has been on the Air-Way EQ for just shy of a year and has not had a single shot of Dex since starting her on it. 

You can get Air Power on Chewy.com the 128 oz is 99.99 with free shipping. All the online stores have it also. 

Yeah unfortunately. Hay is the silent killer. I really hate to be the barrier of bad news but heaves is a progressive disease even with steroids.... Sub clinical inflammation will always remain because he has the constant exposure to hay which is slowly ruining his lung function... he's constantly having an allergic reaction. After a while he'll have such scare tissue in his lungs you'll have to be faced with the fact of either pulling hay or putting him Down.  People may think it's over the top saying that but its not. I've had friends with heave horses and instead of changing simple management to literally stop the progression of the disease and Put the horse in remission they continued to give hay until they put the horse down.... Just removing hay would have saved their horse's life.  I've become very passionate about heaves after seeing how Just a change of management literally saved my own horse's life. No more steroids or any drugs of any sort. It was cheaper to separate him then continue to give costly drugs that only mask the silent damage.... If you were allergic to bees or peanuts you certainly would not eat them!!! I wish more vets would push the hay removal treatment plan. It's frustrating because not feeding hay is the actual treatment! 

If you dont feed hay,  What all are you feeding?  Is a complete senior feed ok to feed since there is hay in it?

You can still feed a "forage" but not in baled hay form. They aren't allergic to the plants in hay itself but the way hay is made. The drying and baling of hay is always at risk of mold and fungal spores... so all hay, no matter how dry before baling has some level of spores in it. Even if the hay is awesome quality a heave horse can be sensitive to it. Sometimes soaking hay isn't even helpful. Sometimes it is... Those that its not feed a cube or pellet. The heat process of making cubes or pellets kills the spores and obviously rids of any dust. Round bales are the absolute worst thing to feed a horse with heaves!!! They sit out in the weather and the elements and start to slowly mold while having the spores in it from being baled. Most horses stand by them and just burry their head in to it all winter... Constantly breathing in mold and fungal spores.   I feed a cube made in the Midwest. It's a complete feed. It's similar to omnis cubes.  Alfalfa base with vitamins, minerals and flax.  I Also have fed chaffehay which is bagged fermented hay. The acidity of the fermentation kills mold and fungal spores.   You can also feed the hay cubes that need to be soaked and softened... alfalfa and Timothy cubes. Also a complete feed like a senior feed is fine.