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Journal of veterinary internal medicine2023; doi: 10.1111/jvim.16919

Effects of soaked hay on lung function and airway inflammation in horses with severe asthma.

Abstract: Reducing inhaled dust particles improves lung function in horses with severe asthma. Soaked hay is commonly used by owners, but its efficacy in improving lung function and inflammation has not been documented. Objective: To measure the effects of soaked hay and alfalfa pellets in horses with severe asthma. Methods: Ten adult horses with severe asthma from a research colony. Methods: Prospective controlled trial. Horses in clinical exacerbation were housed indoors and allocated to be fed either soaked hay (n = 5) or alfalfa pellets (n = 5) for 6 weeks. Soaked hay was immersed for 45 minutes and dried out hay was discarded between meals. Pulmonary function and clinical scores were measured before and after 2, 4, and 6 weeks. Tracheal mucus scores and bronchoalveolar lavages were performed before and after 6 weeks. Lung function was analyzed with a linear mixed model using log-transformed data. Results: Lung resistance decreased from (median (range)) 2.47 (1.54-3.95) to 1.59 (0.52-2.10) cmH O/L/s in the pellets group and from 1.89 (1.2-3.54) to 0.61 (0.42-2.08) cmH O/L/s in the soaked hay group over the 6-week period for an average difference of 1.06 cmH O/L/s for pellets (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.09-2.04, P = .03, not significant after correction) and 1.31 cmH O/L/s for soaked hay (95% CI: -0.23 to 2.85, P < .001, significant). Conclusions: Soaked hay can control airway obstruction in horses with severe asthma. The strict protocol for soaking and discarding dried-out hay in this study could however be considered too great of an inconvenience by owners.
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
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Publication Date: 2023-11-06 PubMed ID: 37930110DOI: 10.1111/jvim.16919Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research investigates the effects of feeding soaked hay on the lung function and airway inflammation in horses suffering from severe asthma. The findings demonstrate that using soaked hay can significantly improve the condition, although properly following the soaking protocol may be considered burdensome by some horse owners.

Study Background

  • Reducing inhalation of dust particles has been proved to enhance the lung function in horses with severe asthma.
  • Although horse owners commonly use soaked hay, until this study was conducted, its effectiveness in improving lung function and decreasing inflammation remained undocumented.

Objective and Methodology

  • The primary objective of the study was to quantify the effects of soaked hay and alfalfa pellets on horses suffering from severe asthma.
  • The study was a prospective controlled trial that involved ten adult horses with severe asthma selected from a research colony.
  • These horses, in the midst of clinical exacerbation, were housed indoors and equally divided into two groups: one was fed soaked hay, and the other alfalfa pellets, over a period of six weeks.
  • The procedure for preparing soaked hay involved immersing it in water for 45 minutes and discarding dried-out hay between meals.
  • The researchers measured pulmonary function and clinical scores before and after the 2nd, 4th, and 6th weeks. Tracheal mucus scores and bronchoalveolar lavages were also conducted at these times.
  • Analysis of lung function was done using a linear mixed model and utilizing log-transformed data.

Results

  • The results showed that lung resistance decreased significantly in both the pellets and soaked hay groups over the six-week period.
  • The average difference for the pellets group didn’t hold statistical significance after correction, but it did for the soaked hay group, marking a significant improvement.

Conclusions

  • The study concludes that soaked hay can effectively control airway obstruction in horses with severe asthma.
  • Nonetheless, the strict protocol for soaking and discarding dried-out hay, while crucial in these improvements, may be considered inconvenient or burdensome by some horse owners.

Cite This Article

APA
Westerfeld R, Payette F, Dubuc V, Manguin E, Picotte K, Beauchamp G, Bédard C, Leclere M. (2023). Effects of soaked hay on lung function and airway inflammation in horses with severe asthma. J Vet Intern Med. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16919

Publication

Journal of veterinary internal medicine
ISSN: 1939-1676
NlmUniqueID: 8708660
Country: United States
Language: English

Researcher Affiliations

Westerfeld, Roxane
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Payette, Flavie
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Dubuc, Valérie
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Manguin, Estelle
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Picotte, Khristine
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Beauchamp, Guy
  • Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Bédard, Christian
  • Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.
Leclere, Mathilde
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Q, Canada.

Grant Funding

  • Equine Health Fund from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universitu00e9 de Montru00e9al, supported by Zoetis
  • Fonds du Centenaire of the Universitu00e9 de Montru00e9al

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Citations

This article has been cited 3 times.
  1. Ivester KM, Ni JQ, Couetil LL, Peters TM, Tatum M, Willems L, Park JH. A wearable real-time particulate monitor demonstrates that soaking hay reduces dust exposure. Equine Vet J 2025 Jul;57(4):1065-1073.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.14425pubmed: 39463012google scholar: lookup
  2. Meiseberg LK, Delarocque J, de Buhr N, Ohnesorge B. Clinical variability of equine asthma phenotypes and analysis of diagnostic steps in phenotype differentiation. Acta Vet Scand 2024 Sep 18;66(1):51.
    doi: 10.1186/s13028-024-00773-7pubmed: 39294710google scholar: lookup
  3. Symoens A, Westerfeld R, Vives BM, André V, Moulon L, Collomb M, Richard H, Juette T, Bédard C, Leclère M. Steamed hay and alfalfa pellets for the management of severe equine asthma. Equine Vet J 2025 May;57(3):756-765.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.14209pubmed: 39164027google scholar: lookup
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