Dreading jab time!

[pottamus]

My boys jabs are coming up in the next few months and I am already dreading it! He has always been fine with them (better in his bum) but fine...just ends up with a sort of 'how could you have jabbed me look' on his face!

But last year the vet made a hash of it totally...he came into the stable a bit sheepish (because he was hobbling on a bad leg!) and faffed around a bit so my boy got a bit worried. So when he went to jab him my horse was suspicious and jumped out of the way...the vet shot back and got jumpy too!

So whilst he got jabbed and it only took perhaps 5 mins, it was a drama and ended up with my boy quite upset, jumpy and nervous of people doing things to him

I had to get a series of male friends to come and just handle him a bit to get him happy again!
Anyway, that is why I am worried about this time...I plan to get my original vet (a confident female who likes cob hairy types) but don't know whether to a) tell her what happened last time so she is prepared and b) where to get her to put the jab in and c) any tips for making the process easier (food etc)? Help please?????

 

[Bananaman]

Sorry to hear of your experience but it's not the first time I've heard of nervous, 'faffy' vets causing problems with injections.

Yes, insist that you have your original vet and do warn her of what happened, no need to mention names

.

When I've had difficult horses to inject, I've always done them in the chest with great results. They don't seem to be able to tense up the muscle there quite like they can on the neck or the rump, making it very hard to get the needle in. Perhaps you could discuss it with her that maybe she could do the same?

 

[RobinHood]

We used to look after a very nervous coloured pony who was terrified of the vet. The vet found the easiest way was for me to walk him in a circle round the vet and he jabbed him in the backside. He sometimes does them in the chest if they are tense or a bit edgy.

 

[Jo C]

I know exactly how you feel, we ended up twitching my Connie for jabs last year as he was terrified after a course of really nasty injections in his bum. I dread it now although he is fine for blood tests strangely.

 

[evsj]

Jab time is my mares least favourite thing too. Every year I have to hang onto her while she lunges back and forth and tries to squash us against whatever part of the stable she can! Twitching is no good, neither is distracting her with feed or shielding her eye - she knows exactly what is going on!

I always tell the practice when I book the jab that she is not good but fortunately our current vet is v. experienced horseman - jab always ends up getting done, anyway.

When I first had her in Ireland she had suspected colic once. Emergency vet was not our usual guy and he was clearly nevous of handling horses. He faffed around trying to get a colic jab in so much so that my mare ended up dragging me and 5 grown men around her stable (all hanging on to various parts of her!) . After about 30 mins of this she obviously sorted herself out because she did a poo - nervous vet went off with his tail between his legs!!

Always tell the vet if the horse is bad with jabs - I get thanks for reminding them! - try to be as calm as possible and ask vet if they can spend a few minutes talking to your horse before they do the deed.

 

[jj87]

my little coloured mare was abused before we had her and hates men in her stable and also can sense the vet and gets very tense and anxious! My vet (male) finds her easist to jab in the neck with me holding her and feeding her treats to keep her occupied works wounders

hope this helps x

 

[druid]

Blindfold him - works for my trollop