Pedigree Query

check out this link:


http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=6466

How totally horrific. I had NO idea that could happen. The pictures look like a wild animal ripped into his neck!

Thank goodness he recovered and that awful gaping hole healed up as well

I always give my shots IV (unless its something that HAS to be given IM like Penicillin or something

After seeing these pictures and reading this article I dont think I'd EVER give Banamine in the muscle - ever!

I just read this article as well. Horrible, isn't it? I was actually previously aware of the fact that Banamine (if given IM) can cause abcesses like that. I was told that it is more likely to happen in a 'warmer' climate .
Giving the injectable orally is a really good option in my opinion.

As a second year vet student I helped treat my friend's three day event horse when he became suddenly, and terribly lame in the hind end. Thinking we knew more than we did, we gave him liquid bute IM. We got lucky, we gave the shots in the lower chest and not the neck and only got hard lumps instead of liguid neck, but it was luck not knowledge. Bute injected IM will do the same as Banamine. Just as an aside, this horse had a severe abcess in a rear foot. Something two vet students, a great farrier and several very good horsemen missed. It was found by the university vet with a hoof knife and a load of puss in the face. I asked her how she knew it was the foot and she said she didn't know either. She just always started her exam from the foot up. Another warning; you don't use anti-inflamatories to treat a foot abcess. I t restricts circulation to the foot and interfers with healing. We just plain got lucky. Sometimes luck is better than knowledge, but don't count on it. Mary Syers

How scary, Mary!

According to the article, "In the case of flunixin, this risk is probably associated with its very high frequency of use, rather than the product itself."

As the article also noted, "it is important to remember that any invasive procedure carries with it some degree of risk."

It is also noteworthy that, according to the article, the number one and number two drugs associated with the disease clostridial myonecrosis ("gas gangrene" ),are injectable ivermectin and antihistamines. Banamine ranks third and as noted above, the risk is frequency associated, not due to the drug itself.

I don't disagree that with alternative delivery options available (granules, IV or orally), informed horseowners/caregivers should carefully weigh the decision to administer this drug in an IM manner.

Eww.. I've always used the paste. For Bute AND Banamine. But I'm a chicken.. The only IM shots I have given are vaccines or ace...

Mary: Thanks for the information. No one has ever mentioned the consequences to me and I've been a farrier for over 30 years. The point about the absesses is well taken though I've never really treated absesses by anything other than draining and keeping the hoof clean.

Shammy,
Ever use a sugardine(sugar and betadine) poltice on the foot to draw out the infection? Old fashioned, but quite effective if a draining track is open. Mary Syers

I'm glad you posted about this. I had no idea...

Just the other day, I re-learned how to give an IV injection. Now, I will avoid the IM for banamine.

Mary: Normally, I flush with betadine, but I've never used a poultice as you describe. Very interesting. I no longer shoe, but if given the opportunity with my own horses, I'll try it. How long do you leave it applied? Is this just sugar mixed with betadine? Any other ingredients? When I started shoeing in OK 35 years ago there were all sorts of remedies. There were so many it was hard to keep up with them. I like the horse world today. We try to make sense of what we are doing to treat our horses.

Okay I have issues with this article in that it makes the whole thing sound very scary and then says that the condition is uncommon and probably associated with banamine more because of the frequency of use. Given my experiences and I have given a lot of Banamine IM I would say that the risk is realatively low and I would be more concerned with someone not knowing what they were doing pumping an air bubble into their horse IV.

Sugar is a GREAT drawing agent... and doesn't sting like salt. When there is a pocket where the abcess was before I cut it open, I will fill a syringe with Betadine and flood the cavity with it till it runs out. Then I pack the hoof around the site with a paste made of sugar mixed with Furazone and wrap up the whole thing. Change it every day for awhile.. most times abcesses are cleared up and healing fine in four days or so.

[quote="austique"]Okay I have issues with this article in that it makes the whole thing sound very scary and then says that the condition is uncommon and probably associated with banamine more because of the frequency of use. Given my experiences and I have given a lot of Banamine IM I would say that the risk is realatively low and I would be more concerned with someone not knowing what they were doing pumping an air bubble into their horse IV.[/quote]

I agree with this post, but it would take a lot of air to give a horse an air embolisem. I think the bigger problem would be getting into the arterie and droping the horse like lead, dead :(

Worse than dropping dead like lead from hitting an artery... I had a vet a few years back who gave my son's horse a tranq shot so he could float his teeth.. and hit an artery. The horse went into a huge physical seizure.. tore out an eye, broke a leg, etc., dragging his body all over the barn flailing. We spent two weeks trying to put him back together before I asked for him to be euthanized (the eye socket got infected, it hit the optic nerve and he went blind in the remaining eye).. the horror of that will NEVER leave me.

Madelyn: I've been floating teeth for years. Sedation should always be the last resort. I'm glad you posted the incident. A little time and patience goes a long way with our beautiful horses. One good way to socialize a horse to having something in it's mouth is to use a bottle brush. Frequent scrubs by the owner/handler after feeding time and when the EqDT floats the horse she/he won't know the difference. Last week I floated a horse that the owner insisted had to be sedated. She told me that the horse was sedated on every VET visit. With fifteen extra minutes of socialization with me and the job was done without sedation. Spend time handling your horses from head to hoof, please!

Open draining track, clean hoof. Run some betadine in the hole. Mix sugar and betadine to a semi dry poltice. Put on the bottom of the hoof with vet wrap and duct tape. Avoid getting anything on the coronet band, including the tape or vet wrap. Change daily. Works like a charm to draw infection out of the hoof. I've even used it on old founders, which are prone to abcesses, and had no ill side affects. Just remember to protect the coronet band and call you farrier and vet if things don't improve. A deep infection in the hoof is life threeatening. Mary Syers