Daily Sedative

Kenzo

Kenzo

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Can anyone recommend a good daily sedative to use for a horse that will need to remain very settled during box rest.

The horse will not do box rest (not just unsettled but will actually break out) unless sedated, obviously the vet will be prescribing this but just wondered what's on the market, how well it works and how it's administered so I can ensure we get the right one.

Needs to be something I can give on mornings that will keep the horse settled until the evening, don't really want to be injecting though.

Thank You
 
Nitty had four mls of sedalin (ACP) and that kept her pretty dopey until I could get there in the evening. On bad days she had more than this. She also does not do well on box rest!
 
have you looked into zylkene? its not actually a sedative but helps calm the horse in stressful situations etc. ive seen it used in dogs, cats and horses with good results. doesnt need a prescription either and you can get online.

ACP has also gone off the market as far as im aware, there may be an alternative though as there is for small animals.
 
ACP does still exist but is no longer licensed for horses. You can still get tabs for the dog but the days of crushing 30 and chucking them in the dinner bucket are gone! The horse 'version' is called Sedalin and is a gel you get in a syringe. It's more expensive than ACP was (natch, as it is for horses now :mad:) but it is IMHO much easier to use. I'm not sure there are even alternatives to it. As far as I'm aware it's really the only orally administered sedative out there?
 
My boy has been on box rest for over 4 months with a fractured elbow and I can swear by sedalin.

He is 16hh, TB x WB, ginger and not one for box rest. I am only giving him 1.5 each morning and evening and have recently started riding him for 30 minutes in walk each day. To be able to do that with a horse on box rest is pretty good going I think.
 
Have you thought about giving a magnesium supplement? Equistro do a good one, it's called Betamag I think. You can get it via your vets.
 
When mine came off box rest and needed to be turned out without running around and going nuts he had a combination of sedalin and dopemine (I have probably spelt that wrong but pronounced like that) which you administer under the tongue and is meant to be longer lasting. He was very dopey.
 
jacmac said:
When mine came off box rest and needed to be turned out without running around and going nuts he had a combination of sedalin and dopemine (I have probably spelt that wrong but pronounced like that) which you administer under the tongue and is meant to be longer lasting. He was very dopey.
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Can I ask how much sedalin you gave yours the first time he went out? I am putting my boy out soon for the first time in over 4 months, i usually give him 1.5 but was thinking about giving him a bit extra for the first time he goes out. Also was it just the first day you gave it to him or the first few days?
 
Bionic Boy - I gave mine 3 plus 3 of dopemine he is 16.2 hh. he had it daily for a week. Vet said she had a client who gave hers daily dose for 3 months, not ideal but if necessary can be done. Check with your vet to be sure of amount, good luck.
 
jacmac said:
Bionic Boy - I gave mine 3 plus 3 of dopemine he is 16.2 hh. he had it daily for a week. Vet said she had a client who gave hers daily dose for 3 months, not ideal but if necessary can be done. Check with your vet to be sure of amount, good luck.
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Thanks Jacmac. I will speak to my vet and up the sadelin fora few days and then so how he goes.
 
jacmac said:
When mine came off box rest and needed to be turned out without running around and going nuts he had a combination of sedalin and dopemine (I have probably spelt that wrong but pronounced like that) which you administer under the tongue and is meant to be longer lasting. He was very dopey.
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Is that different to Dormoseden then? as I know with the Dormoseden you adminster under the tongue (latest gel sedative) which is better than Sedalin (for a quick strong sedative) but it only lasts for about 2 hours max (I know this because we've used it before and that was with a full amount!) so it really needs to be something that will last through to the evening but obviously not as strong.

A mag calmer won't touch him if he's on box rest, trust me this beast will need a drug, but certainly worth bobbing him on while he's out just to take the edge off.

Could well be that the vet doesn't want him on box rest but I'm just seeing what's out there just in case.

Thanks everyone for you help.
 
I found a steady supply of valerian topped up with acepromazine when necessary was a fairly successful route for a very high powered horse on box rest.

I have no issues with ace but I'm not sure it's my first choice for long term sedation. There are other options worth discussing with your vet.

I will say, if it comes to it and you need to have the conversation with your vet, do not let them second guess your knowledge of your own horse and situation. I find some vets almost mock owners for saying the horse needs some chemical help, or they really lay on the potential risks without weighing them against the risks of having the horse not cope.
 
TarrSteps said:
I found a steady supply of valerian topped up with acepromazine when necessary was a fairly successful route for a very high powered horse on box rest.

I have no issues with ace but I'm not sure it's my first choice for long term sedation. There are other options worth discussing with your vet.

I will say, if it comes to it and you need to have the conversation with your vet, do not let them second guess your knowledge of your own horse and situation. I find some vets almost mock owners for saying the horse needs some chemical help, or they really lay on the potential risks without weighing them against the risks of having the horse not cope.
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Thanks TarrSteps, yes I agree, hence me doing lets say a little home work so we can provide a suitable sedative for him and something I can give to him without any fuss (or needles I must confess I'm not good with those). Trouble is he can be very deceiving, my other vet has seen him when he's a hot head and knows what he can be like but this vet thought he was very good and so impressed with how well behaved he was therefore seem him in a different light :rolleyes:
 
My vets don't really believe my horse is a monster at home (as she was as quiet as a lamb when they had her for three weeks) but happily hand over huge quantities of sedalin anyway. They are quite good about letting me have her out, but in a stable sized patch of field. I call it a happy medium. Restricted movement without her trying to kill me. After she concussed me they have been reticent to suggest box rest to me anymore as I pull such a face and she is usually allowed in her little patch as she moves about in there less anyway. She actually trots round her stable on box rest. What exactly is restful about that?! :eek:

Is Mr M poorly?
 
My boy into month 7 now. ACP used in varying amounts depending on how upset he is, the hunt is around us regularly and on those days he has alot and is tied up (supervised of course). On a daily basis he has a double dose of top spec calmer, I find that helps keep him settled and more able to rest, he also calmed down alot when I converted a corner of his barn and put a small pony alongside him on a permanent basis.

Your vet will be able to give you the best advice. Another poster mentioned Zyklene, which we tried with no success at all and it is very expensive. It is a product derived from mares milk and is meant to give the sleepy foal effect. It has a 'gone off' milk smell when dampened in the feed and my boy wouldn't go near the bucket. When I managed to mask the smell and got it down him it had no effect at all.

Bromide is another (possibly unlicensed) product, if you know your vet well it might be worth asking about it.
 
Kenzo said:
Thanks TarrSteps, yes I agree, hence me doing lets say a little home work so we can provide a suitable sedative for him and something I can give to him without any fuss (or needles I must confess I'm not good with those). Trouble is he can be very deceiving, my other vet has seen him when he's a hot head and knows what he can be like but this vet thought he was very good and so impressed with how well behaved he was therefore seem him in a different light :rolleyes:
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The horse I mentioned was very good about being x-rayed etc. so the first vet who saw him was adamant he would not need sedation, even though he looked like he was going to explode the whole time and was just holding his breath, trying to be good. That vet then also gave me a lecture on my horse handling skills and told me I shouldn't have a horse if I was scared of them. :) The second vet watched the horse jog once, on concrete, for about 15 seconds and handed over enough sedation to stop an elephant. :D

I found the problem with the Sedalin was if we gave him enough to have a noticeable effect he was sufficiently altered that he was noticeably uncoordinated and actually fell twice as it didn't stop him jumping around, it just stopped him being able to get the landing gear down properly. He reacted similarly to Valium. The other issue is he was fairly calm in the stable when someone was with him and he was trying to be good, the danger came when he was on his own and there was an unexpected noise or commotion.

The valerian didn't really make him look drugged but it definitely took the edge off and it allowed us to use less sedation when it was needed. It took some fiddling to get the dose but it was worth it.

As I said before, there are other options from your vet, too, if the horse is really struggling.
 
Daily sedalin will be very expensive. I found that the effect wore off the more I used it.

Not on box rest, but when allowed out again mine was a NIGHTMARE and in the end before he killed me or himself I sent him to a livery yard (sedated) for rehab and they had problems too.
After consulting the vet, they used bromide, which is a tiny dose and goes out of the system in 24 hours. However, you have to be careful because the first dose stopped him eating, so the poor YO was walking him round in the dark trying to get him to eat some grass so he didn't end up with colic. The vet's answer to that was "Oh yes, that can happen." Hm. However, it did the trick and he stayed on it for about a month and was gradually weaned off it as his work increased. Could be worth asking your vet about.
 
Orange horse has a very valid point, all sedatives will alter the chew/swallow reflex which in itself could cause choke/reflux problems, add that to the risk of colic in box resting horses it all turns into a nightmare.

There are miles of posts on here saying the herbal calmers are crap but trial and error for my horse found that the top spec helped him alot without the above mentioned problems causing a worry. I have found he eats more hay when he is tanked up on top spec.

A mirror might also help a stressed horse giving him 'someone' to stand by. Don't laugh, but I also found radio 4 on low calmed my boy.
 
1.5 to 2 mls of sedalin will usually calm a horse in a stable, if the environment is calm. trouble is if you dope them too much then you have to take away the hay !
 
Hi. I was about to suggest a stable mirror. My boy has had 2 sessions of nine months on box rest. He has a mirror and he's been fine both times, before I got the mirror he was really stressed in the stable if he couldn't see another horse. I got the mirror when I noticed him standing quietly by the mirror in the school when he'd been chucked out there for 10 minutes while i mucked him out (he wasn't on box rest at the time).
 
Orangehorse said:
Daily sedalin will be very expensive. I found that the effect wore off the more I used it.

Not on box rest, but when allowed out again mine was a NIGHTMARE and in the end before he killed me or himself I sent him to a livery yard (sedated) for rehab and they had problems too.
After consulting the vet, they used bromide, which is a tiny dose and goes out of the system in 24 hours. However, you have to be careful because the first dose stopped him eating, so the poor YO was walking him round in the dark trying to get him to eat some grass so he didn't end up with colic. The vet's answer to that was "Oh yes, that can happen." Hm. However, it did the trick and he stayed on it for about a month and was gradually weaned off it as his work increased. Could be worth asking your vet about.
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Totally support potassium bromide, used it through a long kissing spine and suspensory rehab and for some time after. Had no side effects at all and it really takes the nutty edge off. It's a cheaper and effective option.
 
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