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Expert
Posts: 1549
  
Location: Southwest Louisiana | So last Thursday the vet had to remove an eye from one of my horses. It was way beyond saving. Surgery went good, didn't look infected since I caught it early (puncture), and he stitched it closed. He gave me a few days of powdered bute and a small tub of antibiotics to feed twice daily, guessing about 10 or so day's worth, to make sure nothing got infected.
The antibiotics are apple flavored, but this horse won't eat it. He ate it just fine the first two days, and ever since then, he won't touch it. He'd rather stand in the corner or eat grass than eat this stuff in his feed. The bad thing is, this particular horse is 26 years old, has never liked any treats or snacks and isn't piggy like the rest of mine. They'd eat the powder straight out of my hand just because it was there. This one is fat and happy (minus the eye) and is on grass 24/7 and fed alfalfa and rice bran and a scoop of senior feed twice a day.
Any suggestions on how to get this stuff into him? We are finished with the bute so now it's just the antibiotics but those are very important. Can't have him missing these.
Thanks
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
 
| I use vegetable oil to make it stick to the grain. And if I need to I go heavy on the grain just to make sure they clean it up. If that still doesn't work, you might have to get a dosing syringe and make slurry and squirt it in the mouth. |
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Expert
Posts: 1549
Location: Southwest Louisiana | Yeah, tried the oil. He refused it and wouldn't take a bit. I'm thinking syringe too. May be the only option with this one. Thanks |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 933
Location: north dakota | 60 cc syringe with the tip on it works pretty good for me to give medications to my horses. If it is a powder you may have to add water. |
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Expert
Posts: 2531
Location: WI | Can you get an injectable form? I hate to mess around with oral antibiotics, esp with a picky horse. |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | Either dose it in a syringe like someone else mentioned or get some injectibles. Also, that's a lot of stress for an old horse. I would sure get him some Gastrogard to help with the Bute and trauma of surgery and losing an eye. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | Yup, put it in water in a syringe and squirt it in his mouth. |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | You can mix it in applesauce and syringe it into him too-here all this time I thought I was the only owner with an incredibly difficult to treat horse! Good luck, it can really be stressful trying to get meds into a fussy one! |
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 Pork Fat is my Favorite
Posts: 3791
Location: The Oklahoma plains. | As mentioned by a few- get a large syringe and make a paste. Dont forget also during times of stress and most especially while giving antibiotics- to add probiotics to keep the gut full of good bacteria and working. You might as well add them to your syringe while you are at it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
| Even if I give my picky eater two buckets of grain with even a hint of medicine, he won't touch it. I make an applesauce paste and give it via syringe. Good Luck! |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | rachellyn80 - 2015-09-01 2:38 PM Either dose it in a syringe like someone else mentioned or get some injectibles. Also, that's a lot of stress for an old horse. I would sure get him some Gastrogard to help with the Bute and trauma of surgery and losing an eye.
Definitely good advice. My horse has several bouts of colic following surgery to remove his eye and I am sure he had developed ulcers. Also make sure there is roughage avaialable 24/7 to help with the absorption of stomach acids and to keep the gut rolling continuously, |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I've been mixing my powders with rice bran the powder form to mask the taste. Sometimes I'll wet it so it turns into a mash with my renew gold. Been working so far. |
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 Scooters Savior
Location: "Si Fi" Ville | I have had great success with mixing two big tablespoons of Grandmas molasses in the feed then mixing the meds. |
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Expert
Posts: 1549
Location: Southwest Louisiana | Applesauce paste mix worked really well. I did pick up some molasses horse treats, crushed them up a little, added his meds and he gobbled them up and looked for more. He's also on probiotics. Thanks for the help! |
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