Ventapulmin costs a fortune, $100 a tube.  I bought a heavey mare that I didn't know was heavey until the hot weather came along.  Our vet also uses steroids.  We give three days of steroid shots and a dose of the Ventapulmin.   It calms her down where she isn't breathing every second. Don't know if steroids would help in your case.

The mare I am treating had extremely bad spikes in her molars that were cutting her mouth.  She was not getting appropriate nutrition, and she had also foundered.  We grew her foot out and got it cut at a normal angle so she has exercise (builds immunity), got her teeth fixed which were a huge problem, and dewormed her (hopefully she will absorb her food and build immunity).  The heat here is brutal.  We have her in the barn with a fan to keep the air moving.  I wouldn't make a snap decision to euth your friends mare.

For my own mare, she's not that bad off, but I'm watching her.  Right now, the heat/humidity are brutal and not a good test.  The heat will break in a few weeks.

We had a stallion that got a lot of respiratory infections and breathing problems until we got him to our own farm and he got exercise and built immunity.  We do not have a hay loft, and when we were at the boarding barn, the vet had us cover the hay loft with a tarp so the hay wouldn't drop down and irritate him.  We wetted his feed, wetted his shavings.  Our mare has breathing problems inside or outside, but seems to do well with night turnout and her fan in the barn during the day.  Our heat indexes have been reaching 110, so no one can breathe easily.

What kind of inhaler are you using?  Is it permanent damage or have you asked about steroids and antihistamines?

Last Edited By: QuantumMark2 Aug 11 10 4:13 AM. Edited 1 times.