[Kimbo]

My 10 yr old ISH has started to cough and quid. Vets have been out 3 times. They cant find anything wrong with his breathing, his teeth, sinuses or chest. He's just finishing his 3rd course of antibiotics and , tbh, theres no real improvement.
he's quite bright in himself, has a play in the field and otherwise seems normal.
Some days he coughs up a thick creamy discharge, other days nothing. But the quidding is definitely getting worse and I think he's lost a bit of weight, although he is finishing his net every night.
Any ideas? Im wondering about a rotten or broken tooth? My vet dismisses this but he doesn't have any other ideas and they haven't done an X-ray

[marka]

Hi there,

we have a pony with diastima ( not sure howe to spell it ) and we only found that out after having a horse dentist out to look at her.

If your horse if losing weight then try feeding some fast fibre as this will keep his condition until you work out what's going on.

Hope you get sorted.

Regards

[fsmnutter]

As a vet, I'd suggest further investigation, particularly of teeth and sinuses, firstly with an xray, and maybe a scope of the sinuses. Not all vets have the equipment or expertese to do these, but should be able to refer you to someone who has.
Good luck
Suzanne

[Kimbo]

thank you for your thoughts guys. Yes, Im also worried about sinuses  You hear such horror stories about them.
He only had the dentist 7 months ago.....can a diastema develop from nothing in that time? I religiously have the dentist out every 12 months and he's never had to do much so far.
Oh well, today he's having a good day and its his last  drugs day so I will watch him closely

[Kimbo]

  who knows what's going on?
I heard him cough once at 3am ( the stables are close to the house) but nothing else. This morning there had been no quidding.
he hasn't coughed all day in the field ...at least not that I could hear and Ive been watching him and on the yard most of the day. And Weve just had a leisurely stroll down the lane and no coughing then either.

So Im keeping everything crossed that it was an URTI and the antibi's have sorted it. He was very chirpy today and eating like....well, a horse! 

[Kimbo]

well the diagnosis is in ...its quite severe RAO. I have a list of management changes as long as your arm and even then , if Im lucky, he might be sound enough for light hacking...maybe...if there's no R in the month....if its not too windy  Seriously, my boy's ridden career might be over.
So I have some big decisions to make later this year. Im hoping that the weather will soon improve to the point that the boys can go out for summer. I will see how he is then. But next winter is looking a bit bleak. We shall see.
Thank you everyone for your advice. And particularly to Mowhaugh

[Kimbo]

Im afraid that I have had to let my boy go 
He was losing weight badly , even though he was eating an oversized haynet every night. He was fighting for breath. It was pitiful and I had to do the right thing.

[Sbom]

So sorry :-( I was in a similar situation with my boy a while back and also had to make the big decision. You kind of know when it's the right thing to do and a part of you feels better than you can end their suffering. Still very very sad though.

[Herdygirl]

So sorry you have had to let your boy go, Its like losing your best friend isn't it?  Over my life I have had to make THE decision it seems too many times (5) and it doesn't get any easier believe me, 
 
best wishes