If your horse has symptoms of coughing, jetting (secretions coming out of the nostrils) and difficulty breathing out, especially during exercise, it may have emphysema. This chronic disease, also known as “obstructive deep airway disease”, affects horses that are generally older than 7 or 8 years of age and manifests itself by breathing difficulties. The cause of these difficulties is clearly identified, it is a hypersensitivity to the dust and moulds contained in the hay. If your veterinarian concludes that it is emphysema, he or she will prescribe treatment to relieve your horse, which will require drastic changes in lifestyle.
Diagnosing emphysema in horses
Emphysema results from chronic inflammation of the lungs, causing an overproduction of mucus in the horse’s airways. This mucus is not evacuated in sufficient quantity, which makes it difficult for your horse to breathe out.
In addition to the symptoms already mentioned, emphysema can manifest itself in different ways. It can cause an increase in respiratory rate, shortness of breath during exercise, marked contraction of the abdominal muscles during exhalation, dilation of the nostrils, or weight loss (the horse will burn more energy to exhale the air from its lungs).
Horses’ Emphysema Treatment
To relieve this disease of the horse, your veterinarian can prescribe several treatments:
- Anti-inflammatory drugs in the form of corticosteroids: these can be given systemically and reduce the inflammation in the horse’s lungs. However, they can cause undesirable long-term side effects. The preferred method of administration is therefore inhalation, which is very effective but more difficult to perform as it requires adapted equipment. The main advantage of this treatment is the compatibility of corticoids with essential oils or plant-based solutions, which may eventually supplement anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Food supplements rich in plant extracts, which help relieve the horse’s respiratory system
- Bronchodilators, administered in the form of syrup and intended to allow a better passage of air in the horse’s airways.
- Mucolytics, which reduce the secretion of mucus that clogs the horse’s airways.
Emphysema: how can you adjust your horse’s lifestyle ?
In addition to medical treatments, it is important to adapt your animal’s lifestyle to limit its exposure to dust, the main cause of this disease in horses.
In particular, be sure to:
- Take your horse out to the pasture as often as possible to avoid contact with dust contained in hay or straw.
- Give your horse wet hay (soaked for at least 2 hours), or dusted with a hay purifier.
- Work your horse in a well-watered arena or outdoors.
- Exchange straw bedding for wood shavings.
- Clean your horse’s stalls and those of his neighbors on a regular basis to avoid inhaling ammonia vapors, which are very irritating to his respiratory tract.
- Regularly renew the air in the stables by ventilating the facilities as much as possible.
Emphysema is a chronic disease of the horse that requires lifelong and sometimes costly treatment, as well as a change in your horse’s lifestyle. It is also listed as a redhibitory defect and can therefore justify the cancellation of a sale.
