If you’ve ever been diagnosed with asthma or chronic bronchitis, you’ve probably been prescribed a convenient inhaler that delivers your medication into your airway. For the first time, horses with recurrent airway obstruction can be treated with a specially designed equine inhaler with medication. Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica recently received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Torpex, a product that combines albuterol sulfate with an equine-specific metered dose inhaler (MDI) designed by 3M. The device should be available to veterinarians by May 2002.

COURTESY BOB STENBOM, DVM Administering Torpex.

“Torpex will give veterinarians and horse owners an easy, convenient, and efficient way to administer an inhaled bronchiodilator to horses,” said Bob Stenbom, DVM, a veterinarian at Boehringer. “Torpex actively delivers a high percentage of the drug dose directly into the inhaled airstream with minimal wastage and predictable results.”

Devices currently used in horses to deliver airway medication include masks in combination with human MDIs, water vaporizers, and nebulizers (atomizers equipped to produce an extremely fine spray for deep penetration of medication into the lungs). An advantage of these devices is that they can be used with a variety of medications, some of which are inexpensive. While some veterinarians have had success with these delivery devices, others have questioned wastage of drug, cost of the equipment, and efficacy