am i over-reacting re: coughing

[notpoodle]

theres a cough going round at the yard at the moment - and angel is coughing a little as well. 2 weeks ago vet said it was to do with her not being used to being in and on straw (will order shavings tomorrow btw). well, that was 2 weeks ago and she is coughing some more by now, so i have the vet coming on friday to check her out. am i being OTT here??

julia
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[Showjumper]

Nope - if Dolly was coughing for 2 weeks, I'd definitely want to know why! Fingers crossed it is just the straw and that it will go away with the shavings :)

[notpoodle]

she doesnt do it everytime i see her (but then, she spends most of the day and the night without me!), she doesnt sound wheezy and isnt snotty either. still ... best to be safe i guess! i hope its nothing serious

julia
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[Sam and Blake]

do you soak her hay?this always used to help with my old pony.

[notpoodle]

havent soaked it so far, but shes never had any problems with hay and straw ... up until now when a) the straw i am buying from the yard is NOT of particularly good quality (hence i am switching to shavings) and b) there is a cough going round the yard ... so it could be either of the two.

julia
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ps: is haylage less dusty?

[Cheko]

Yes, it's definitly to get the vet out. Hope all will be OK.

[Samira]

Good luck with the vet on friday!
Not sure how often she was in the stable all day recently, but she might in fact react to the dust of hay or straw.....

All the best

[eventerbabe]

ps: is haylage less dusty?

it is virtually dust free! i'd reccomend marksway horsehage blue label, its hoof kind so fine to feed to native types.

try soaking the hay. our mare got COPD from being kept in for a short period of time on dusty straw, it doesn't take much exposure to trigger a reaction.

[Mehitabel]

yes, after 2 weeks i'd be calling the vet - although if for those 2 weeks she has still been on the dusty straw, that's possibly the reason. with the cough going round - could it all be due to the crappy batch of straw?

[Gabrielle]

The last few winters that my two original ponies were kept in if one of them didn't have a cough the other one did. Since changing to haylage none of my ponies has had a cough :) (touch wood - bet I have blown it now :rolleyes: ) I would definitely recommend haylage :D

[rosie1]

Hi
My horse had a real bad cough 3 weeks ago. After a week of it not getting any better I called the vet he said he had a respiratory infection. gave him antibiotics etc. Told me to switch to haylage as hay should be soaked for 10 hrs to be effective!!!. He never said anything about the straw. Felix is now on haylage, still on straw and his cough cleared in a week

[notpoodle]

just a bit worried because some people claim that haylage tends to be too rich for native breeds who arent used to it :rolleyes:

angel didnt cough at all when i saw her today. all very confusing. hopefully the vet will be able to shed some light on the situation tomorrow and hopefully she wont have to go to the isolation stables (separate stable building where she'd be all by herself, unable to see any other horses ...)

:(

julia
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[Mehitabel]

it can be, but these days there are sevaweral verieties of proprietary haylage, from the high-protein 'rocket fuel' to stuff that is essentially dust-free hay. also big bale haylage made by the local farmer is often not far from hay nutritionally. the stuff we use if fine for all of ours except one who it gives the runs to, and a couple who are on a permanent lammy-watch. all the riding school ponies are on it and are all fine.

[notpoodle]

no farmers nearby im afraid, id have to go for the little (well feedbag sized) blue bags from the feed merchant. i will try and find out more about the haylage some of the liveries use. ill try with shavings first though because i suspect its the straw rather than they hay. the current batch is pretty rank and has me wheezing (im asthmatic so wheeze easily, but still ...) after mucking out :(

julia
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[notpoodle]

vet came today. verdict: not serious enough for antibiotics (*phew*), she doesnt have a temperature (*doubly phew*) and i should put her on shavings and soak her hay (have started doing both today). if it gets worse, vet will send antibiotics over.

poor old angel ...lots of prodding about and things! but madame had no objection at all to having her temperature taken!! i was a bit worried because i wasnt sure how shed react (never done that since i got her), but she was as good as gold (much to the relief of the vet i think!).

julia
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[Samira]

That is great news!
I am really happy for you :D

There is nothing in the way now for a great "Ausritt" :rolleyes:

[notpoodle]

hehe you haven't seen the dodgy bridlepath(s) yet ... theres not THAT many places to go! its grim up north london :D

julia
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[Samira]

Well, I think that fact counts that I will finally do again what I always loved doing and missed so much: horse riding!!!

[eventerbabe]

marksway blue label is fine for natives. not too rich at all. my cob has been living off it this week coz we were short on hay and its had no effect on his disposition, if anything he's quieter!

glad angel will be ok :) a tip for soaking hay, we steam ours. put the net in a large plastic tub (a plastic feed/shavings bag will do) and pour over a kettle of boiling water. cover and leave for about 5-7 minutes. the steam gets right through the hay and its much less messy than soaking.

[notpoodle]

not sure where i could safely plug a kettle in at the yard :rolleyes:

the soaking is such a pain (*hoik bin* *stuff hay in* cut hands* *get splinters* *tip out* dont drop* ) already, so i will look into haylage!!

julia
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ps: HOPEFULLY she'll be able to live out altogether again soon! yard is just waiting for the fields to dry out a bit

[bevy]

If you can't steam it, which is a good idea, do you have a hose? You can soak it with the hose and then hang it up somewhere to drip until needed.

[notpoodle]

have a hose, but not sure where to hang it up :rolleyes: and vet said hosing it off isnt enough and that it had to be (i quote ...) 'properly submersed for at least half an hour' :rolleyes:

julia
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[bevy]

Have you a spare dustbin? Cos you could put the hay in the haynet and then pour over enough water to soak it, but you might need to put something heavy on top to keep it under. But you do then have to hang it up to let the water out. We have a thick 6" nail near our tap which we use or other people tie the nets to the barn gate. I had to soak some of our hay as my mare had a cough too. I was bit annoyed to find out after I had called vet(necessary as she needed antibiotics) that someone else's horse had had a cough for couple of months and had done nothing. Personally, I would rather call vet out and find I hadn't needed to than not and end up with serious bill!!

[notpoodle]

i had the vet out on friday (see elsewhere in this thread), vet said its not severe enough for antibiotics and that i should use shavings and soak the hay. i have been soaking the hay in a dustbin, but nowhere to hang it up, so i shook and and wrung it out as well as i could ...

julia
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[bevy]

Thank goodness its getting warmer wet hay seems to stick all over and those wet haynets weigh a ton!!!! I can actually picture you spinning round like a top and taking off!!!
Sorry not trying to make fun, or light of Angel being ill. When Majic had it, i was really worried too.

[notpoodle]

according to the vet she's not all that ill :)

but yes, trying to wring and spin the hay dry is a bit of a pain (most of the water ended up on me! just as well, as i managed to soak myself before with a hose suddenly gaining a lot of pressure, anyway ...) and that bin is very heavy :rolleyes: (and idiotic me bough one without proper handles ...).

julia
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[bevy]

The only other suggestion I can think of and really only practical if a lot of you want to soak hay, and you need YO's permission, is get an old bath tub. We have one on our yard that a couple of people use. Put the plug in, fill with water pop in nets, takes about 3, depending on size( of bath and nets!). If you rest a couple of pieces of wood over the top, you can then rest nets on them to drain. Then you can empty the bath!! Of course you need to put it where emptying it won't cause problems especially in winter.
As I said it is really only if there are a few of you, but you can get old tubs from scrap yards quite cheaply.

[notpoodle]

wow i like the sound of that :D unfortunately I don't think YO would be amused and i don't drive so can't really get a bath tub from a to b :rolleyes:

julia
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