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Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition

   Welcome to my forum. 

Here you will find more than 6 years of questions and my answers. It is searchable and offers a great deal of information. 

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 Dr. Getty 

 



Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
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Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

I have a 6 month old welsh filly foal that i bred myself.

She had a slight cough through the summer months i only heard it after her feed at night and if she rolled.(she was out 24/7)

Then when we weaned her we only heard it now and then nothing to worry about.Untill about 2 weeks after weaning she started coughing alot and then i moved her onto shavings as i needed her in a front stable .So as soon as she was on them the cough got very bad so i contacted vet and he put her on antibiotics and sputolozin powder.I thought it may be the shavings not helping so moved her into another stable a couple of doors up.Since the move she got alot better and we had her on haylege and wet hay.(and straw).

The her cough sounded like it was clearing up and we only heard it once at night then we never heard it a couple of nights.And then it started again.

But now she doesnt cough when eating her feed she does sometimes when eating hay.

She doesnt cough when we get her in at night but she coughs alot when i turn her out in the morning.

She hasnt had a runny nose till this morning and a big blob came out while i was leading her around our yard.

She is fine in her self and eating.

I was told the antibiotics wont work if her immune system is low??

Any idea's what i can give her ive ran out of idea's.

I allready have a large vet bill so hopeing to avvoid another so will try as much as i can to find a cure.

Thank's for your time.

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

Since your vet prescribed antibiotics, she likely has a respiratory infection. There are a few things to help with her healing:

1. Dust needs to be minimized. You're already wetting down her hay -- that's good. Her bedding needs to be free of dust. Straw can sometimes be dusty, as are shavings. There are dust-free shavings available -- perhaps you can locate those. Actually, the best thing for her would be to out of her stall all together 24/7 as long as the weather is dry. After being in a stall all night, her respiratory system is congested.


2. Give her a comprehensive multiple vitamin/mineral supplement designed for growth. Her immune system likely needs a boost.
3. While she is on antibiotics, give her a probiotic (live microbial product) that contains at least one billion CFUs per dose.

When she eats, make sure she eats off the ground, rather than from a bucket or hay bag that is high off the floor. This will help her secretions drain.

Keep me posted!

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Thanx for the reply Dr.Getty

Couple of questions...

Weather is frosty here at the moment and we have rain due i hear so i dont really want to leave her out as she has been pamperd.

The straw isnt to dusty as it is this years straw and it is nice and gold.But will lookinto dust free shavings or anything else i can find.

What sort of supplement would you recommend as we are in the uk they may have different names.(so abit lost here)

And she finished the antibiotics 6 days after he gave them to her.So does she still need the probiotic stuff?

Starting tomorrow i will feed her haylege from the floor and feed her from the floor as her haynet is hung up and her feed bucket hucks over a bar.

Thanx so much for the advice.

Also forgot to say when the vet come she wouldnt let him examin her as soon as he stuck his fingers up her nose to check her snot she wasnt going to let him near her again.So he didnt take her tempreature (im hopeing to do this myself as soon as i get a thrmometer) and he couldnt listen to her heart or inject her.So he just said put her on the antibiotics.

Shes still on the sputolozin powder and that is fetching lots of snot out.And its thick and white and some this morning was thick and green.

Is there any antibiotics i can buy from abroad and put her on another course.

I really dont want the vet out again as i have a huge bill from last time when he didnt do anything.

Thank's again and sorry for going on and on.

Shelley

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

I agree with you about her being in the rain, so if you can find some low dust bedding, that would be ideal.

As far as a supplement goes, see what you have in your area or available on line. You're looking for a complete vitamin/mineral supplement that is designed for a maintenance adult horse. So, if you find a few supplements, let me know and I'll look them over for you. Take a look at this supplement that is on my website -- it's called Accel Lifetime and I highly recommend it. However, shipping it to the UK would likely be quite expensive. But, it will give you a basis for comparison: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/accellifetime.htm

Also, I would very much like you to give her a large amount of vitamin C -- say 20 grams per day. See if you can find plain vitamin C. Here is the link of Pure C for you to compare: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/purec.htm

Your vet could have sedated her to examine her better -- I agree with your concerns about paying for nothing but, "give her antibiotics!" So, you may want to have another vet look at her.

About the probiotic -- if she is no longer on antibiotics, you won't necessarily need to give her this.

Is she drinking enough water? A green secretion is usually an indication of dehyration.

I'll look forward to updates,

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Just thought about what you said about not drinking.We have noticed for a little while now that she hardly touch's her water over night and some nights doesnt drink any at all.But i did lead her to water trough in field today and she had a good drink.

Maybe its because she is on wet hay and haylege and we wet her feed well maybe?

And when she is mucked out we only find a tiny wee.

Any idea how we can get her to drink more or what we can give her?

Could this cause her cough aswell?

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

I think we may have found a significant "ingredient" that's missing and aggravating her problem -- that is the water drinking!

Yes, this can cause her to cough because her secretions get very thick. So, to get her to drink more water, add some salt to her diet -- plain table salt. Also, make sure the water is not below 50 degrees (Farenheit -- you'll need to do the conversion -- I'm without my materials since I'm writing from out of town). If you need to get a water tank heater designed to keep the water above 50 degrees, then this will also encourage her to drink.

Keep me posted!

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hello

i really hope this is all it is!!

Have got a water heater so will do the conversion and find out what it is.

Also how much salt would you give her?

She is about 200kg (guess) and is 7 months old.

Thank's for all your help so far!!

Just hope she starts drinking now,i went up this morning she had only drank a small amount and there was no wee in her bedding.

Will let you know how we get on.

Thank's again

Shelley

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

I would suggest giving her 10 grams of salt to start. You can increase it to 20 grams, but let's start small. Do you have a salt lick available for her? She may also like that, as well. But, do add the salt to make sure she's getting enough to make her thirsty.

Let me know how it goes.

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Thanx

I gave her salt last night and marked her water bucket and she hadnt drank anything overnight.So put her in field and led her over to water bosh she put her nose in and just played with it and then wasnt botherd so i stayed and played with the water and she put her nose in and had a thew swigs so i patted her and asked her to drink again then she had a thew more swigs then wouldnt have anymore.

I checked water bosh tonight and she hasnt had a drink from it today as there is no hoofprints round it apart from the other pony she is with and hers from this morning.

So i tried to get her to drink from feed scoop that had sugar beet water in it and she had a couple of swigs and didnt want anymore.

Ive pulled at her skin (dont know if it works with horses) and it goes back down pretty soon.

We have been thinking about it and she hasnt been drinking much if anything since we weaned her.

But she is bright and alert and fine apart from the cough.

So do you still think that is what the cough is?

Thanx for all your help!!!

Shelley

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

My oh my! What a gal you've got there! I can't say for certain if that is the cause of the cough. But, it may certainly be contributing to it since she needs fluids to loosen her secretions.

Try adding some flavoring to her water -- say a bit of apple juice. Let me know if that works.

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hello

Well i boiled some kettles and put her a new bucket out in the field as she is very nosey.The water was warm and she went over and had a few good drinks out of it.

And ive marked her water again tonight so hopefully the salt will work.

Here is a photo of the little madam at around 4 months old.

http://www.freewebs.com/illeybrookstud/wow-bonnie.JPG

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

Well, how is your new procedure doing? You are become quite innovative!

I love the photo -- what a gorgeous baby! I called my whole family over to see the picture!

Let me know how things are going,

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

I dont want to speak to soon but (touch wood) so far so good.

Will let you know more news in a few days as i dont want to say she isnt coughing incase she starts again.

Thanx Dr Getty for all your help and fingers crossed she will be ok from now on.

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

They're crossed! Both hands!

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hello

When i left that last message she hadnt coughed for about 4 days but since she has been coughing once or twice a day sometimes not at all and its only been whilst eating her breakfast or just after.

But she is 85% better then she was.

Is she still ok to carry on with the salt and ifso how long for? She still isnt drinking much but i do try and get her to drink as much as i can when i turn her out.

Thanx

Shelley

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

I'm pleased to hear that she is improving. You can continue to offer her salt -- around 15 grams per day. Most horses don't get enough salt.

You might also consider making her water sweet by adding some molasses to the water. She may enjoy this more, and therefore, be more likely to drink.

Just another suggestion!

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hiya

Im so pleased on how well she is improving still on the occasional morning she does a few coughs in a row but most mornings we hear nothing and never hear her at night.My friend said it may take her a while to completely be over it as she got into the habit of coughing and may be hard for her to forget.

She still isnt drinking mutch but i make her go to water bucket in field every morning before i leave and she knows i want her to drink so sometimes she has a huge drink and next day she doesnt cough and other times she has a quick swig and runs off and next day she coughs slightly.

But as i said i hardly hear her so thats the main thing and she has plenty of times to get over ti totally.

Thanx

Shelley

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

Well it certainly seems that the amount of coughing is related to how much she does or doesn't drink on a particular day. So, keep up the fine work!

I'll look forward to more updates.

Dr. Getty

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hello Dr Getty (Happy New Year!)

Just to let you know she is now drinking better,she has a salt link in her stable that she licks and salt in her feed still and shes drinking and ok amount still not loads but alot more then before!

And we havnt heard her cough for about a week now!!!

So just wanted to say a huge thank you! and fingers crossed it doesnt come back.

I will leave her on wet hay and still feeding her off the floor.

Will keep in touch!

Thank you

Shelley

Where are you from? england

How did you locate this forum? another forum

Re: Pony Foal with Cough that wont go away!!

Hi Shelley,

That is wonderful to hear! So often, the fix for a chronic cough is just enough water and allowing the horse to eat off the ground to allow for drainage.

Happy New Year!!!

Dr. Getty