Antibiotics and anti-inflammatories

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MochaDun

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Can being on these drugs for infection effect a horse's appetite? Mine's just started on them and is not eating as much of his net as normal after one day on them. Someone said to me they can put a horse off its feed a bit. He normally clears a haynet easily and quickly! Not even tempted by mixing a bit of haylage into it. And they are working as he's much more comfortable and much brighter in himself and swelling slowly going down so don't think it can be down to the infection that he's not eating as much.
 
Is he on box rest? If so sometimes when they aren't as active they dont eat as much. Have you checked his temp? If you are worried I would give your Vet a ring. If as you say he's seeming brighter then I wouldn't be too worried. Could you tempt him with something else like Just Grass, vary his feed a bit..
 
have you tried checking the makes on the web to see if it is a known side effect for the particular drug,
antibiotics can effect the natural flora in the gut so keep an eye on his poo
 
Yes. They're quite hard on the horses stomach, and obviously will affect the good bacteria as much as the bad bacteria ...or at least that's what I've always believed.

Add something appetising extra to his feed and add a good pro biotic to help boost the good bacteria in his gutt again :)
 
Mine was recently on Karidox (Doxycycline) for a inflamation caused by mudfever and it put him off his food and upset his tummy he was only on for about 3 days but it took him about two weeks to get over it (the antibiotic effects). The vet gave me a high strength pre/pro-biotic paste to give him at the same time and told me to stop as soon as the leg went down and to stop if he got the runs.

If you are concerned give the vet a ring to discuss as it could cause other problems.

Mine now won't eat the feed he was previously on (fast-fibre) so I've had to change to D&H high-fibre nuts.
 
I don't wish to scare you, and I'm sure this isn't the case for you. But my mare was PTS last year as a result of reaction to 4 days of Bute. The first sign was her going off her food - hay first and then bucket feed. Several people said to me that sometimes being on box-rest does make them go a bit off their food, but I wish I'd trusted my instinct, as this was a very greedy horse. She was suffering from grade 4 gastric ulcers (not fatal) and Right Dorsal Colitis, which are hind gut ulcers. She had a month in the vet clinic then another 3 months at home where she did make some progress but eventually started colicking more and more and we had her PTS. PM showed her gut had permanent damage and the scar tissue as a result of the colitis had adhered her gut to her sides :(. She also had a very thin wall of her rear colon that was close to rupturing, so I'm glad we had her PTS before that happened.

Anyway as above it's quite rare although it's what Miners Frolic had, as a result of antibiotics. Luckily he survived but please keep a very close eye on your horses dung, if they go loose I'd be calling my vet.

I know I'm paranoid but few people know how serious the effects can be, and I'd certainly never heard about it when my girl got ill.
 
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