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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
  
Location: PNW | I don't give my horses any meds on a regular basis, but I recently got to thinking: in an emergency - could I give my horse an IV only med if necessary? The answer? No, I could not.
What is the best way to learn to give your horse injections? Both IV and IM. I can do IM on cattle, but never tried on a horse because my vet always does it. Obviously I would thinking asking your horse to be your practice pin cushion is a no-go. Lol
Suggestions? |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
 
| My vet taught me to do iv
My parents taught me to do Im and sc
Edited by cheryl makofka 2014-04-01 5:45 PM
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | I don't remember honestly it's been so long. But I recommend having your vet show you.
The jugular vein on a horse is really large, picture garden hose diameter.
IV injection-
You want to aim in the top 1/3 of the neck. The lower you go, the greater your chance of hitting the common carotid artery. Raise the jugular vein with one hand, placing pressure over where you think the jugular is. when in doubt, let go and see if it falls. Then try again. I am right handed so I raise the jugular vein with my left hand, and use my right hand to administer the shot, when on the left side of the horse. When you are ready to stick, while holding off the vein, angle your needle into the neck but more at a 30 degree angle. Imagine sticking it in and going parallel with the neck. Pull back with the plunger and see if you get blood. If you don't, back out part way and re angle your needle. Try to avoid sticking them a lot. If the blood is BRIGHT red and there's a lot of pressure, you may have hit the carotid.
IM injection-
Draw an imaginary line starting at the lateral corner (canthus) of the eyelid toward the middle of the spine of the scapula (you can feel it). You can give the IM shot above or below that line, but the accessory nerve runs right in the middle of that line so don't go smack in the middle. With your needle, angle it more dramatically, like 45 degrees (but not 90) and give a quick stick. Slow= painful. pull back on plunger to make sure you weren't in a vein and then administer your drug. |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Another reason I suggest having your vet show you, is if you do put your needle too low or angle too deep, in addition to potentially hitting the carotid artery, you can get into the carotid sheath and hit the recurrent laryngeal nerve, which can paralyze your "flapper" on whatever side you gave the needle. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Have your vet show you.
Horses that don't freak out with needles are super easy once you understand the landscape underneath their skin.
The main artery is large (think small diameter garden hose) and is easily found for IV work.
Most vets will be glad to show you and teach you a few things :) Good Luck!
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 Best of the Badlands
Location: You never know where I will show up...... | It's best to just have a vet show you.
I actually learned when I was in high school, I had a mare that had to have IV shots of antibiotic and I live 18 miles from even the closest cow vet---so they were glad to show me how to do it.
It's not hard to do at all and something that it good to know how to do in case of an emergency. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 929
| Yes, I agree...have your vet show you. Some of what the others explained is very good info, but there is a lot of "feel" and visual stuff that you can really pick up a lot quicker and with more confidence if someone shows you and walks you through it. Not to mention needing a pretty calm horse for practicing. On a couple of mine you only get ONE shot within the first half second or you've missed your opportunity. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | IM is easy to me. You just have to pull the plunder back to make sure you didn't hit a vein. It will be very obvious if you did. But if I had to give IM I can not hit a vein to save my life. My daddy can on the first try but I've tried and simply can not do it. |
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