COPD/RAO

 Horse  COPD is a breathing disease and is short for: chronic (long term) obstructive (blocking) pulmonary (lung) disease. It is also known as heaves, recurrent airway obstruction (RAO is currently the preferred term), broken wind, emphysema, chronic bronchitis or small airway disease. This condition can be thought of as ‘asthma’ in horses. COPD causes coughing, wheeziness, nasal discharge and exercise intolerance.

 COPD starts when airborne particles cause allergic reactions in the lungs of your horse. Sometimes the disease starts when a horse is exposed to new sorts of mould spores in an old consignment of hay. Pollen can cause the problem in the summer but once lungs have been sensitised many different factors can make it worse, for example -

1. Dusty bedding esp. straw
2. Dusty hay (particularly mould spores in the hay)
3. Chemicals given off by wood shavings in bedding
4. Chemicals given off by paper bedding
5. Ammonia from urine and faeces in the bedding
6. Pollen in allergic horses esp. rape seed pollen.
7. Viruses affecting the breathing
8. Mineral imbalance
9. Pollutants e.g. fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, car fumes.

Prevention
With good management practices, the risk for contracting COPD can be markedly reduced. The most significant management factors involve the horse’s environment. You will need to remove the dust/moulds responsible for your horse’s allergy, and for many horses and horse owners this represents a real 'lifesyle change.

Turn the horse out as often as possible. (A few horses are allergic to substances in the pasture, so watch your horse carefully for improvement.)
Reduce dust in the stable by removing bedding such as straw or shavings. Instead, use shredded paper or rubber matting.
Keep hay away from your horse as much as possible, and ensure any hay in the vicinity is kept dry.
Provide a feed that is low in dust such as pellets and alfalfa cubes.
Remove your horse out of the stable when you are mucking out, to reduce exposure to dust.
Ensure that there is good, draught free ventilation through the stable. Keep half doors open at all times and ensure that there are large windows which can be kept open. It is better to keep your horse warm by giving him more rugs, than by closing off his ventilation.
Stick with your management routine to minimize exposure to allergens. Few horse owners stick with a plan for the long-term, making recurrence of symptoms likely.

Treatment
Vets treat  COPD with drugs like Ventipulmin (keeps airways open) Sputolosin (breaks down mucus) Steroids e.g. prednisolone, Anti-allergics like Sodium chromoglycate