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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
   
| What is a typical dosage of dexamethasone and how far out from competition would you give it when it is being dosed for a breathing issue (COPD/heaves)? Just wanting to double check the information I was given to make sure I understood correctly. Thanks! |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | I give my horse 2.5cc 3-4 hours out. No cough whatsoever when we warm up (the only time he coughes is when it's time to lope circles). I don't believe his is COPD/Heaves related; the vet just scoped him once and said he had inflammation that was likely allergy related. |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Mine also has allergy issues. I was prescribed a higher dose closer to competition and I was just thinking I'd not heard it dosed like that before. My mare is pretty big, nearly 1400lbs, but even then the dose prescribed seems high. I was reading the label and it says 2.5-5 for equine use, and I was told to use double that. My mare is doing good at a trot and lope, but after a run she is dropping her head and coughing and blowing air out her mouth. I know I can give it both IV and IM, and I assume that IV is quicker acting, but is there a preferred way to dose? I can do either.
Thanks for the info! |
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 Living within my means
Posts: 5128
Location: Randolph, Utah | My vet had me do 5CC an hour out. I found that wasn't enough time so I moved to 1.5-2 hours and it worked well. |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Also wanted to add, this mare has been scoped and the vet said there was minor inflammation. I wasn't able to scope her after a run, but he told me to go ahead and run her on lasix in case she was bleeding. She has never bled out or acted like she's bleeding, but I figure it's not worth the risk of not giving it. She is also currently on Tri-Hist and Ventipulmin, but she really struggles this time of year. Once we get a freeze or get rid of whatever is causing her allergies I can take her off of those and she's fine. But she's also coming back from pneumonia and I think that is why the Tri-Hist and Ventipulmin aren't clearing up the cough. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | My gelding isn't nearly that big...900-1000lbs. That does seem like a lot, but her case sounds much more severe than my gelding's. I give it IM, just because I'm not comfortable with IV yet. The vet told me that if the 2.5cc didn't help him out I should up the dosage by .5cc until he wasn't coughing, but I haven't had to do that yet... maybe you can just downsize your dosage? I wish I could be of more help! |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Thanks! The time frame prescribed was quite a bit shorter, too. This is the first time I'm giving it so I know I'm just going to have to see what works for her, but I'm going to try at least an hour out if not longer. Should I start out with the higher end of the dosage (5cc) and then back off to see how much she needs or would I be better to go from the lower dosage (2.5cc) and increase of needed? |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Didn't see your post before I posted mine! Sounds like per your vet instructions start lower and increase as needed.
Also, I'm running 3 days (if she handles it okay otherwise I'll draw out) but I was planning to give it before my run Friday evening, then not dose again for Saturday morning, then dose again for Sunday morning. What do you think about that plan? Too much dex in one weekend? |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Jenbabe - 2014-09-19 9:59 AM Thanks! The time frame prescribed was quite a bit shorter, too. This is the first time I'm giving it so I know I'm just going to have to see what works for her, but I'm going to try at least an hour out if not longer. Should I start out with the higher end of the dosage (5cc) and then back off to see how much she needs or would I be better to go from the lower dosage (2.5cc) and increase of needed?
I personally would start out with what the vet said and go with the large dose and work my way down. Since someone else gives their horse that large of a dose (and I was allowed to toy with my dosage) it doesn't seem lethal and probably won't do too much harm... but I'm no vet or pharmacist. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Jenbabe - 2014-09-19 10:02 AM Didn't see your post before I posted mine! Sounds like per your vet instructions start lower and increase as needed. Also, I'm running 3 days (if she handles it okay otherwise I'll draw out) but I was planning to give it before my run Friday evening, then not dose again for Saturday morning, then dose again for Sunday morning. What do you think about that plan? Too much dex in one weekend?
For me it depends on how spaced out the runs are. If I run late on Friday night and early on Saturday I won't re-Dex and have had zero issues, but if my runs are more than 24 hours apart I do give another shot, but it's only around maybe 1.75-2cc. I would def. re-Dex again on Sunday, but maybe not the entire 5cc unless she was coughing after Saturday's run w/out another dose. |
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Location: Texas | Mine is 1200# and i do (5cc). Now mine is like yours once the weather changes you can tell his allergies do not bother him near as bad. I would start out with the higher end of the dosage (5cc) and watch him to see if you need to change your time frame that you give it to him or if you need to increase the amount depending on him (if he's having a flair up etc) and the area if it's dry and dusty or weather conditions. You might be able to go to (2.5cc) once the weather changes you will just need to watch him. |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Thanks for the suggestions. I was actually prescribed 10cc and based on the label that just seemed really high, and was told 20-30 minutes out and that seemed like it might not be long enough. I think I'll go with 5cc at least an 1-1.5 hours out and then re-evaluate for Sunday.
So glad to have this site to ask questions and share experiences! |
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Location: Texas | Jenbabe - 2014-09-19 10:20 AM Thanks for the suggestions. I was actually prescribed 10cc and based on the label that just seemed really high, and was told 20-30 minutes out and that seemed like it might not be long enough. I think I'll go with 5cc at least an 1-1.5 hours out and then re-evaluate for Sunday. So glad to have this site to ask questions and share experiences!
Mine started at 10cc when his allergies first hit him, it was driving him crazy. If he is just having a normal day and no major flair up i keep him at 5cc. Now, if he's having a bad day and something is in the air that is just driving him crazy then I give him 10cc.
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Location: Texas | I meant to add....if she has been sick that is probably another reason why he prescribed 10cc to help dry her out and help keep any added drainage off her lungs. |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Okay, that makes sense. My other concern about giving that high of a dose was suppressing her immune system. We did blood work about a month and a half ago and everything looked normal, but I'm just paranoid about her getting sick again that pneumonia deal was pretty bad and I don't want to go through that again. My vet assured me that the dose wasn't high enough to cause problems, but I guess I'm just still nervous! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 428
Location: Oxford, Kansas | I have a colt I'm dealing with allergy issues with as well. My vet dosed him with 10 CC's IV last week and had me put him on 8 walmart brand benadryl tablets 3 times a day through this last monday with no riding to get it under control(he'd been coughing since around mid July) and now I've dropped it to 8 twice a day and he's back to being worked... no cough since around midnight last thursday and only one dose of dex. I can pick up the walmart benadryl for a couple $'s and it's a box of 100 and my horse gobbles them right up in his feed so that makes my life super easy. |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | It depends on the strength of the dex itself. If you are using the 2ml you can give up to 10cc. If it's the 4ml , we only give 5cc.
Edited by total performance 2014-09-19 1:00 PM
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
 
Location: North Dakota | Jenbabe - 2014-09-19 10:41 AM
Okay, that makes sense. My other concern about giving that high of a dose was suppressing her immune system. We did blood work about a month and a half ago and everything looked normal, but I'm just paranoid about her getting sick again that pneumonia deal was pretty bad and I don't want to go through that again. My vet assured me that the dose wasn't high enough to cause problems, but I guess I'm just still nervous!
I think you have valid concerns. If I were you I would probably do as much supportive care as possible. Not much time in a stall, if you can tie her by your trailer or away from other horses as much as possible that would be good, try to keep her eating and drinking as normal as possible. Excersize her enough so she feels calm and relaxed should all help get you through the weekend. Then keep a very close eye on her for the next few weeks. The dose does seem pretty high but I agree with the other person that said it is probably to help with any possible side effects from the pneumonia. I'm sending you a pm about another drug you can use just in case too! |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| The dex I got is 2ml, so I think I'll be doing what my vet recommended in the first place and give her 10cc. I didn't want to question him, but I figured since I was having some concerns you all would be able to walk me through this! Thank you all for the info, I really do appreciate it.
Luckily this race is an hour from home so she won't be stalled, I'll be driving back and forth and she'll get her normal turnout. |
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Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | Jenbabe - 2014-09-19 12:30 PM The dex I got is 2ml, so I think I'll be doing what my vet recommended in the first place and give her 10cc. I didn't want to question him, but I figured since I was having some concerns you all would be able to walk me through this! Thank you all for the info, I really do appreciate it. Luckily this race is an hour from home so she won't be stalled, I'll be driving back and forth and she'll get her normal turnout.
The 2ml you can give 10cc. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Word of caution
Dex can cause laminitis and founder
Shouldn't be given with another steroid so I would caution on injecting joints while dez is in the system
Also Cushing or pssm dex will cause these horses to founder faster with less then a healthy horse |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | cheryl makofka - 2014-09-19 4:00 PM Word of caution Dex can cause laminitis and founder Shouldn't be given with another steroid so I would caution on injecting joints while dez is in the system Also Cushing or pssm dex will cause these horses to founder faster with less then a healthy horse
Well, that's scary info!!
Also so wanted to say that my Dex is 4ml |
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 BHW's Lance Armstrong 
Posts: 11134
Location: Somewhere between S@%&# stirrer and Saint | First of all it depends on how many miligrams are in each cc.
If it has 3mg or 4mg give 4cc 4 hours before competition.
Dex puts a horse to sleep because it is over loading the system.
By the time 4 hours has past the horse is ready to wake up and run.
When I say puts a horse to sleep i mean droggy and won't perform well, sluggish.
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 I don't speak Portuguese
Posts: 4883
Location: West River - SoDak | I was prescribed a daily 22 mL dose of dex for my horse administered orally.... with twice daily 8 mL ventipulmin dose... for a month. |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Thanks for the info, keep it coming!
Just a quick update. Gave her the 10cc at what I thought would be an hour and a half out. Ended up being 2 hours prior to our run. She coughed a little warming up, and again a little after our run, but otherwise was pretty good. She ran .8 off. Today we ran without it at approximately 17 hours after the dex. She coughed more during the warm up, and was pretty winded after the run blowing air out of her mouth and coughing. She took quite a while to return to normal respiration. She ran .5 off. With both runs she felt like she was really running harder than what she's done in the past. I'll go ahead and dose her again for tomorrow's run. Hoping that this is the answer to the breathing problem. I'm going to talk with my vet, but will probably try to start reducing the dose and maybe I can get her off of some of the other breathing meds that she's on. |
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BHW's Lance Armstrong
Posts: 11134
Location: Somewhere between S@%&# stirrer and Saint | Haidalittle - 2014-09-20 9:26 AM I was prescribed a daily 22 mL dose of dex for my horse administered orally.... with twice daily 8 mL ventipulmin dose... for a month.
With that much Dex per day your horse may get a cold by lowering the immune system. |
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Location: not settling | The vet instructed us to use no more than 2cc of the 4mg 2 hours out, otherwise it will cause immune system complications. It's for hubby's head horse and he has heaves and bad allergies. He also can't eat hay or alfalfa directly anymore, he is on alfalfa cubes, grass, grain and a mineral lick tub. |
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Questions about Dex