Getting a horse to take Bute?

[chocolategirl]

I’m gonna kill this horse!???? he’s now refusing to eat anything apart from his hay! It’s like he’s become completely mistrustful of anything I put in front of him whether it’s got Bute in or not?‍ Spent an hour tonight trying to syringe it in to his mouth mixed with some flavoured yogurt , it’s all in my hair and down my jacket arm? all he’ll have is dried cubes, if I soak them, he refuses to eat them. 8 more days, but tbh, I’ve thrown more feeds away than he’s eaten so he’s barely had any of the Bute he’s supposed to have had ? I give up?‍

 

[mustardsmum]

Ask for vet for Inflacam. Mine won’t have bute but will take inflacam as no taste. Bit more expensive but actually I found it worked better than bute or Danilon.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Spillers senior super mash! All ours love it - this year I wormed all 5 of them just putting it in a small amount of this feed. It smells of apples and they lick the bowl clean (have used it for Danilon as well). Good luck. X

 

[J&S]

Our vet tells us not to wet the feed. It is the wet that makes the Bute taste bitter.

 

[Auslander]

Another here who doesnt wet feed that's to have bute in it. I use AlfaA molasses free, as that already has a slightly bitter taste, so the bute is less noticeable, and feed it dry. Alf won't eat bute in anything wet, but hasn't noticed it in dry alfa

 

[chocolategirl]

Our vet tells us not to wet the feed. It is the wet that makes the Bute taste bitter.

Thanks, Tried this too ?‍ He takes a mouthful of it then spits it out. The thing is I’ve tried tricking him by giving a feed with no Bute at all and he won’t eat that now either ?‍

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Thanks, Tried this too ?‍ He takes a mouthful of it then spits it out. The thing is I’ve tried tricking him by giving a feed with no Bute at all and he won’t eat that now either ?‍

If you're having a problem with him eating it I really would suggest tying my syringe trick. It's so quick and fuss free that it's no real drama to them or you, it just tastes rotten for them for a short while.

 

[Annagain]

Been there, done that, got the food splattered t-shirt. I see you've tried the dry Danilon. It's the only thing that's worked consistently with my fussy share horse. Everything else we've tried worked for a couple of days and he then gets wise to it. A marmite sandwich and mind games was the next best thing. Make two (maybe three) marmite sandwiches - one with danilon and one (two) without. Cut the one with Danilon into bite sized chunks (about 4-6 pieces) and the other into smaller chunks so you have lots of them. Feed two 'clean' chunks to get his trust, then go in with a laced one. As he takes that one wave a 'clean' chunk to hold his attention so he's focussed on getting that, rather than what's in his mouth. Even if he starts to suspect there's something, the next bit being 'clean' should convince him he's imagining things. Then it's a case of repeat, repeat, repeat (you might need to go for three or four 'clean' ones between each laced one if he's extra suspicious) until it's all gone. You really need the next chunk right in front of his nose and almost tease him that you're not going to give it to him as he's eating the Danilon filled one though so he's really focussed on getting that one and almost forgets what's in his mouth.

Mashed banana is the other one that worked for longer than most things with him.

 

[Skips11]

Another vote for syringing - if you get a big dosing syringe and shove it in far enough you can shoot it all down and they don't have the option of spitting it out! If mixing with water, make more of a thick paste rather than a watery mixture as it's much harder for them to spit it out. Holding the head up and massaging the gullet (bit like a dog/cat) will help make them swallow before it all ends up in your hair

As mentioned before, my vet also told me to cut the end off a 40ml syringe and fire the dry powder in to the side of the mouth. You can crush tablets and do this in the same way. It all sticks to their mouth even if you don't get it in very far and they can't spit it out.
I also find that treats before and after syringing helps for it not to be a fully traumatic experience and improves your chances of catching them next time

 

[Deleted member 150717]

Honey?

 

[mariew]

I had the same with my girl, 3 x big syringes of antibiotics 2 x per day after refusing it in food when she was about 4. Not the kindest of ways but me and a friend basically ended up hanging on her headcollar and syringed it being flung around. She was strong!

She got used to it very quickly though, and I got fast at doing it. After a couple of days she would just stand there without stress and just accept the fact. I never had any issues with syringes in her too short a life after that including wormers.

It was either that or likely die from an infection so I didn't have the luxury of taking forever or chancing not getting the whole dose in.

 

[Illusion100]

Give a handful of feed with a good dose of garlic in it from your hand. Wait a few mins then give feed with bute. The garlic will numb taste on eating the next feed with meds in.

 

[chocolategirl]

Thanks everyone. To those suggesting syringing, as I said, I spent an hour (after watching a you tube vet tutorial) trying to get it in his mouth, it ended up all over me instead ? yesterday, as suggested I tried him with spillers super senior mash with nothing else in it, he scoffed the lot! Result!? so this morning, I sneaked the Bute in but didn’t mix it, covered it with a handful of sweet chop and same of hi fibre cubes, and unbelievably he ate the lot ????? I’m not getting my hopes up though as he’s done this before, so if he eats his tea tonight and his breakfast tomorrow, I may have actually cracked it ??????

 

[Durhamchance]

Our old boy has bute in his feed, we mix it with neat apple cordial (sugar free) and he wolfs it down.

 

[Birker2020]

Melt some strong mints in boiling water and add the cooled water to feed.
Or mix apple juice or mint cordial in with the feed.

The more you disguise it the easier it is for them to work out its something 'bad'.

Or use horse phycology and start again but feed in a different bucket. After all a different bucket won't have poison in it, will it?

 

[ponios]

One of my horses was on some vile smelling meds for two weeks post illness and I had a real struggle getting him to eat. I found treacle and apple sauce was the best best. I swapped which one I used every couple of days which seemed to work well. Mix the meds with the treacle or apple sauce then add to feed as normal and don't be stingy with the good stuff!

 

[HollyWoozle]

Thanks everyone. To those suggesting syringing, as I said, I spent an hour (after watching a you tube vet tutorial) trying to get it in his mouth, it ended up all over me instead ? yesterday, as suggested I tried him with spillers super senior mash with nothing else in it, he scoffed the lot! Result!? so this morning, I sneaked the Bute in but didn’t mix it, covered it with a handful of sweet chop and same of hi fibre cubes, and unbelievably he ate the lot ????? I’m not getting my hopes up though as he’s done this before, so if he eats his tea tonight and his breakfast tomorrow, I may have actually cracked it ??????

Fantastic news! Fingers crossed!

 

[LaurenBay]

Jam sarnie always worked with my fussy mare. I spread Jam on one slice of bread, tipped the danilon on, folded the bread in half and she loved it.

 

[rabatsa]

I found that a much smaller feed works better than a larger one. If it can be eaten in one mouthful all to the good. The more stuff added to the bucket the more there is to turn the nose up at.