Respiratory problems in horses are frequently the cause of poor sportive performances and can also impact the daily wellbeing of an animal. Historically there were several known types of respiratory disease in horses such as RAO (recurrent Airway Obstruction), Heaves, COPD and Inflammatory Airway Disease(IAD) which are now known under the umbrella term ‘Equine Asthma’ which is graded into three categories, Mild, Moderate & Severe. Historically, the treatment options for respiratory disease, includes systemic administration of drugs using injections or the oral route, however administration via inhalation through horse nebuliser masks and inhalers are now considered to be a viable alternative way to treat respiratory disorders (including breathing, airway, or lung problems). Flexineb® is an easy-to-use delivery device that produces a very fine mist of aerosolized drug or natural therapy solution enabling you to deliver a variety of medications via inhalation for the horse. This has allowed thousands of horses globally, to continue their working careers, rehabilitate from acute illness and allows owners to manage their horses’ respiratory issues efficiently in the long term.

Aerosol therapy offers the benefit of delivering nebulised medication directly to the site of infection in the airways of the horse rather than going indirectly to the problem by delivering the drug orally or by injection.

Flexineb® has the ability to deliver a wide range of medications commonly used to treat airway inflammation & equine asthma. Your veterinarian will prescribe medications suitable for your horse’s condition and combined with further management of your horse’s environment (bedding/forage stabling away from common irritants etc.) many veterinarians & horse owners have reported significant improvements in their horse’s wellbeing.

Yes, Flexineb is very easy to set-up and each system comes with a User Manual. You can also download our Flexineb+ App to your phone for more information on Getting Started and information on Flexineb.

Respiratory disease and allergies vary in severity across the equine species – no two horses are the same and neither are their respiratory problems. Helping your horse by incorporating Flexineb® into their routine will certainly help them maintain healthy airways. However, you will also need to manage their environment carefully to maximise fresh air circulation and minimise airborne dust and allergens in their breathing zone. Your horse may also be prescribed medications by your veterinarian depending on the severity of the issue, and your horse may need long term management.

Our Flexineb vibrating mesh nebuliser was designed specifically for the comfort of the horse and ease of use for the caregiver. The robust, portable, silent, lightweight design lends itself to better compliance in looking after your horse and gives the owner freedom to nebulise their horse on the go.

Once your horse is familiar and relaxed wearing Flexineb® and it is safe to do so you can walk with the horse during nebulisation to encourage deeper breathing and deep inhalation of nebulised solutions. The Flexineb® is also unique in that it can efficiently nebulise a broad range of medications and natural solutions for maintaining and treating your horses’ airways.

We are here to help you when things go wrong and offer advice in getting the best from your Flexineb® device. Flexineb® is a fully serviceable product.

Older traditional horse nebulisers are based on noisy air compressors or high frequency ultrasonic sound waves to generate the aerosol mist. Both these technologies need to be plugged into mains electricity and have hoses connected to the mask. You cannot walk your horse with these type devices. They are cumbersome to use and limited in the range of solutions they can nebulise, and delivery time is typically slow.

Compressor based systems force compressed air into the mask leading to major aerosol leaks and losses from an open mask design.

Ultrasonic based technologies produce high volumes of aerosol but there can be major losses in the long hose system connected to the mask. Medication integrity may be adversely affected by heating due to the high frequency crystal method of generating the mist.

Yes, you can use your Flexineb® several times per day if required or prescribed.

It is very important to follow the cleaning instructions in the User Manual and Video Instructions to maintain the system and avoid cross contamination if used on multiple horses.

We can consult with and supply this information directly to your veterinarian if they contact us directly on enquiries@breatheazy.co.uk.

Flexineb® can deliver a broad range of medications commonly used to treat equine asthma and respiratory infections.

We can provide this information directly to your veterinarian on request to enquiries@breatheazy.co.uk.

Some examples of drug categories that have been successfully nebulised using the Flexineb® E3 are: — Antibiotics — Corticosteroids — Bronchodilators — Mucolytics.

Please note the viscosity of the drug will affect the nebulisation rate and delivery time. To overcome this some drugs can be diluted with saline solution to increase the nebulisation rate and delivery time.

Please note the following are NOT to be nebulised with Flexineb® and may damage the medication cup: AZIUM, VET ONE DEX, VEDCO DEX, DUPHACORT, RESPRADIL, VETADINE, BROMINE, MILTON / BLEACH, COLLOIDAL SILVER, DE-IONISED WATER, IONISED WATER.

Yes, each Flexineb® system is sold with an MDI adapter, allowing you to deliver MDIs to your horse using the Flexineb® Mask System. Flexineb® really allows you huge flexibility and options on medication choices for your horse. Check our User Manual for MDI set-up.

This is not advisable for therapeutic reasons and medication cup life reasons.

Mixing medications in the Flexineb® medication cup may impact on your horse’s clinical response and may also reduce the operation life of medication cup.

Yes we do supply medications for use with Flexineb®. We will need a prescription from your vet to enable us to dispense your horse’s medication. Click here to be taken to the prescription order form. Alternatively, you may be able to purchase medication direct from your veterinary practice.

Flexineb® E3 Complete Nebuliser System has everything you need to begin nebulising your horse. Normal 0.9% saline solution is included for you to begin you nebulisation journey and familiarize yourself and your horse with their new nebulizer.

Yes, check out our Testimonial page to read our customers experience of using Flexineb®. Our social media channels frequently post customer experiences also.

Yes, refer to our Clinical Publications page for some reading.

Check out our User Manual and Video Instructions for cleaning instructions.

Please note the Flexineb® Controller must be used and stored in dry conditions.

Don’t forget to remove it when washing the Mask!.

Yes, the Flexineb® mask has a valved system to allow fresh air in at the top of the chamber during inhalation and exhaled air out through the bottom when the horse exhales.

When introducing your horse to Flexineb® for the first time you can leave out the medication cup and open the exit valve vents at the bottom of the mask by rotating it.

Once your horse is relaxed and familiar with wearing Flexineb® you can plug in the medication cup and close the exit valve slowly to activate the valve system. Once they are relaxed and breathing normally you can begin nebulisation of normal saline solution.

You should see the chamber filling and emptying of aerosol mist each time your horse inhales. If this is not happening the mask may be too loose on the muzzle of the horse or the exit valve is not fully closed. You can also walk the horse to encourage deeper breathing as they can shallow breath if standing.

Ensure the mask creates a good seal around the muzzle of the horse.

Always check the Inlet and Exit Valves are working ok and not blocked or taped up before use.

Information on Warranty can be found in your User Manual.

Yes, Flexineb® is a fully serviceable product . Spare parts can be ordered here.

Visit the shop

Please send an email to technicalsupport@nortev.com with any technical questions.

Yes, we offer three different categories of medication cups, coded Grey, Blue and Green. The Flexineb® system is sold with our standard Grey Code Cup and is suitable for nebulising most solutions. In some cases, you may need one of our special medication cups depending on the solution nebulised and the application. Check out our Flexineb+ App for details or refer to our Medication Cup and Power Levels Guide for more information.

The Flexineb medication cup incorporates a gold-plated metallic mesh containing thousands of tiny holes. A fine aerosol mist is generated when this mesh is energised and vibrated at high frequency.

If corrosive solutions come into contact with the metallic mesh, then the life of the medication cup will be greatly reduced so this should be avoided.

The following table identifies known solutions that must not be used in the Medication Cup.

We strongly advise against using Q-Tips or any other instruments inside the medication cup because it can lead to damage of the gold-plated mesh inside. It is better to clean and rinse the cup out following the guidance of our Video Instructions and User Manual.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to be specific here, it depends on the medication or natural solutions nebulised, volume per run and how well the cup is cleaned after each use. From customers experience and feedback you can expect up to 120 uses from your medication cup (Calculated Usage based on 10ml Saline per use, other drugs and solutions may give a reduced number of usages).

Firstly, clean the med cup per our User Manual and Video Instructions and retry with normal saline solution. If still not working, then check the mesh inside the cup for large pinholes or cracks using the light on your phone shining from underneath.

If there is nothing obvious then email us on technicalsupport@nortev.com and send details of the drug or solution nebulised, the volume per run and the number of doses delivered so we can help you out.

It really does depend on the drug or liquid nebulised, all have different viscosity properties that will affect the delivery rate. As a guide our Flexineb® Grey Code Cup supplied with each system will deliver 10mls of normal 0.9% saline in approximately 8-12 minutes. This variance is down to manufacturing tolerances, for example there are thousands of tiny holes in the vibrating mesh, a small change in hole size can have a big impact on delivery rate.

Refer to our User Manual, Video Instructions or download our App for details on maintaining and cleaning your Flexineb®.

Caution: To avoid damaging your Flexineb® do not use bleach-based products.

Firstly, check your medication cup is clean and running ok with normal saline to eliminate a problem with the cup. If all is ok when nebulising saline, then try nebulising the thicker solution at power level 3.

If still running slow you can try diluting 1:1 with normal saline solution 0.9% to see if that helps the nebulisation rate.

If the delivery time is still very slow then you probably need a green coded cup to nebulise higher viscosity solution successfully. Check with us first by emailing enquiries@breatheazy.co.uk in case the medication you are using is not suitable for nebulisation.

It’s likely your medication cup has reached its end of life and needs to be replaced. Check the mesh inside the cup for large pinholes or cracks using the light on your phone shining from underneath. If no damage is evident, you can try cleaning it as per the cleaning instructions in the User Manual and Video Instructions and then try nebulising again with just normal 0.9% saline.

If this is unsuccessful, please replace your cup.

When the medication cup is reaching end of life you may notice liquid dripping from the base of the cup, or the aerosol output is weakening or sputtering. Clean the medication cup per instructions in our User Manual and Video Instructions to see if any improvement when nebulising normal saline. Check the mesh inside the cup for large pinholes or cracks using the light on your phone shining from underneath.

If any of the above is evident it is time to replace the cup.

It is advisable to carry spare med cups to ensure continuity of treatment for your horse.

Please check out the other sections in our FAQs or contact your local distributor. Alternatively email us at enquiries@breatheazy.co.uk with any technical questions and we will help you.

Refer to our Medication Cup and Power Levels Guide for recommendations on choosing the correct medication cup and power level.

Flexineb® E3 controller has a dry cup indicator function, meaning when the medication cup runs dry the controller will recognise this and turn off power to the cup. In some cases this can occur before the cup runs dry and a false trigger / flashing LED occurs. To fix this problem please update the software on your E3 controller. Firmware updates can be found on our website here.

Please refer to the Controller Function section of the User Manual for an explanation of the LEDs and functions. If the lights you are experiencing are not outlined here, please contact your place of sale for advice or alternatively contact us directly on technicalsupport@nortev.com

Re-charge the battery which will take a few hours if completely discharged, if you have the E3 version the right-side LEDs should scroll during charging. When fully charged the top right LED will stay on constant.

If you have an E2 version refer to the Flexineb® E2 User Manual for charging light details.

If there is no response from the charging LEDs when you plug in the charger then remove the battery door and disconnect the battery for two minutes and plug it back in again in case a reset is necessary.

Clean out the medication cup per the instructions in the User Manual.

Inspect the medication cup for any signs of corrosion or damage to the mesh inside the cup, use the light from your phone to inspect, shine it from the underside and look for cracks or large pin holes which indicates the cup needs replacement. If all looks ok, try nebulising normal saline solution.

If after these checks, there is still no life from your Flexineb® contact us enquiries@breatheazy.co.uk or customer service advice and they will advise you on servicing options.

The charger, battery or controller unit may be faulty. Refer to the user Manual first to check if the charging lights are acting normally, if nothing obvious is wrong then contact you customer service provider or email enquiries@breatheazy.co.uk for assistance.

Operating time from a new fully charged battery is approximately 6 hours.

Yes, you can purchase Flexineb® spare parts from the shop

Please check out the other sections in our FAQs or contact your local distributor. Alternatively email us at technicalsupport@nortev.com with any technical questions and we will help you.

Firstly, disassemble all parts of the Mask and wash them thoroughly with clean warm tap water and dish washing up liquid. Rinse the parts off and let them air dry on a clean dry surface. Disinfect each part by wiping down thoroughly with anti-bacterial wipes before re-assembly. Alternatively the Mask parts can be soaked in Nortev approved disinfectant chemicals.

Examples of Approved Solutions:

• Accel TB
• Dettol
• Equisept
• Protek EnviroCair
• Safe4
• Steri-7
• Virkon

You should see the chamber emptying of aerosol each time your horse inhales. If this is not happening it means, there are air leaks in the system. Check if you can push the mask up further and adjust the strap so the mask creates a good seal around the horse’s muzzle.

Check the vents in the bottom of the mask is closed by rotating the exit valve housing.

Some horses’ shallow breath when standing still, bring your horse for a walk to encourage deeper breathing and see if that helps.

If you suspect there are gaps and air leaks around the mask seal, try squeezing the mask onto the horse’s face and see if that makes a difference. If it solves the problem, you probably need our Mask Adaptor Kit which fits over the mask and creates a better seal on horses who are in between sizes.

To remove or fit the Inlet Valve Cap, heat it in warm tap water first to soften the plastic cap. This makes a big difference.

Check the Exit Valve is inserted the correct way around, the rubber valve should face outwards so it can open when the horse exhales. The handgrip should also be outside the mask.

If the exit valve was forced in the wrong way around it can create a loose fit in the mask and cause it to fall out. Check our User Manual and Video Instructions to see the correct orientation of the Exit Valve Housing.

If you think the mask or exit valve is damaged contact your local distributor to order spare parts.

Please check out the other sections in our FAQs or contact your local distributor. Alternatively email us at enquiries@breatheazy.co.ukwith any technical questions and we will help you.