Mossburn Community Farm’s pony Mitzee has RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction, also known as COPD or heaves), a respiratory disorder cause by hypersensitivity to inhaled particles – essentially equine asthma.
A Spokesperson from Mossburn Said “We are hoping that she will really benefit from using a nebuliser, which has a high initial cost of around £835 but reduced medication costs going forward and several important benefits.
In recent months Mitzee’s breathing has deteriorated, she has to put twice as much effort as she should be into breathing out and she has a chronic cough.
RAO is a condition that can only be managed and not cured and there are various aspects of caring for a horse with RAO to minimise symptoms (soaking hay or feeding haylage, turn out as much as possible etc). Unfortunately for Mitzee she now appears to react to both pollen and dust from bedding/hay which means different management strategies for different times of the year.
Click here To Donate & Help Mitzee
Therefore we are hoping a nebuliser will be a very effective way to relieve Mitzee’s symptoms, especially when it flares up and can be distressing for her.
There are several major benefits of inhaling medication for ponies such as Mitzee. As she is prone to another potentially serious condition, laminitis, the fact that she could more safely use effective steroids is a major plus point for Mitzee in particular, along with being able to use lower doses of medication. Using a nebuliser rather than an inhaler will allow a wider range of medication options as well as having much lower ongoing costs than both present alternatives and using an inhaler.
This condition is quite common in equines and we have previously had residents suffering from RAO so having this piece of equipment will be hugely beneficial not just for Mitzee but for any other future residents with a similar condition.”
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***Fundraiser – Equine nebuliser – A big thank you to BreathEazy who have offered a discount, giving a new target of £720!
