Getting a horse to take Prascend

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AWBrooke

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Hi everyone... my mare was diagnosed with cushings last year.. aged 20... never been ill, lame anything a day in her life till then. She's been subscribed Prascend which was fine, took in a piece of carrot no problem at all, re-tested and her levels had come way down and all back to normal. Unfortunately for the last 2 months it's a big no no, I cannot get it down her. I've tried everything, apple, carrot, fruit, in her food.. she just kicks it over the floor. I've tried all the tricks, inc marmite, jam, polos, I've tried to syringe it but as soon as it's been dosed she throws her head around to try and get it out. Has anyone got any ideas as her levels have gone back up. I asked the vet and she just said well she needs to take it as there is no other solution....not much help there....🙄.....Here's hoping someone out there can help.. cheers.
 
Our cunning old pony we have been able to fool by hiding the pill in a handful of the pony nuts she has in her dinner. She gets a handful of pony nuts before her dinner is offered. It has become a habit so that when she comes in for dinner she seeks out my hand first.

At the beginning if refused the handful of nuts with the pill, I left her and fed the other horses, then came back and offered it again. No dinner until the nuts and pill had been consumed.

Before we got her into this habit, I would put the pill in her cheek and it would dissolve and be consumed as she ate her dinner. This did involve a bit of wrestling with her though. Not ideal.
 
I hide pills as roasted chestnut does - I use a yummy mix of foods they can resist, and pop the pill into the feed 2cm, they’ve never noticed, and some are quite bitter tasting pills, but in combo with chunks of carrot/apple/mash/chaff mix they’re too busy munching to notice!
 
It found the pill capsules worked for a while, but in the end only syringing worked. If your pony isn't keen try putting apple juice into the syringe, so that she associates a syringe with tasty things. You only need a small amount of liquid to dissolve Prascend. I think the main problem is that they associate a syringe with wormers, so automatically think it's going to be awful. If you can break that association it'll be easy.
 
Mine just has it popped in his bottom lip or cheek. Where is dissolves. I keep an eye on him to make sure it doesn’t exit.
 
I'm another that gives in feed and if/when that fails in summer as grass reduces keenness for feed just pop it in the corner of mouth into cheek pouch and monitor until dissolved, usually feed some treats at same time. Never had an issue despite pony regularly being on back legs at worming time!
 
i’ve only had to give the tablets - to begin with we had to hide it inside a chunk of carrot/apple, then give a bit more to make sure she didn’t spit it out…few years on she knows the drill and will just take the tablet and accept a treat to swallow it😂
 
Thanks for the info... I've just ordered some gel capsules from Amazon... arriving tomorrow.. hurrah, and I like the idea of the liquorice... she has some cough medicine which is liquorice/aniseed flavoured and she loves that so I might try a little bit squirted in the capsules with the tablet. Thanks again for the ideas...🤞
 
I had to chop and change. My pony took it hidden in a bit of apple, until he didn’t, we switched to carrot and all sorts of fruit/veg.
Then mix or nuts, at one point he was having a little handful of Dodson and Horrel Micromix!
I just had to keep switching it up.
Weirdly the last year he’d been eating it in his normal food with no issues.
 
Follysmum said:
I make a hole in a carrot and plug it in
She doesn’t even know it’s there
Click to expand...
I do this, making sure the carrot shavings are well stuffed in. If she turns her nose up at it, I offer untainted carrot first and that generally works.

My dog once snaffled a Prascend carrot. Not a good idea - there was much puking 🤢
 
I tried the carrot first of all, it worked wonders for about 6 months then she wouldn't go near a carrot, then began to spit out apples, melon and anything hand fed to her she reacted like it was evil...🙄. Starting crushing it up putting in her food... that was OK for a while, then a big no no. She's started taking treats again and I got the empty gel capsules today, put a tablet in, gave her a small treat then while she was eating that offered her a bigger treat accompanied with one of the capsules, she was too busy eating her treat I don't think she realised, but I stood next to her until she stopped chewing just to make sure. Then she wanted more treats..😄. Fingers crossed it stays that way. Why can't it be like giving a dog a tablet.... wrap it in cheese... job done...🤣🤣.
 
I used to sandwich the tablet between 2 extra strong mints - if you lick the mints, the tablet will stick! With the pony we have now, I push it up into his mouth, and then very quickly give him a treat.
 
I’ve found you have to be inventive. Mine was ok with carrots then got suspicious , pill pockets worked for a while. I’ve tried everything. He’s very much on the fat side so giving any additional feeds or treats is a no no. It’s frustrating as it’s for their own good
 
myheartinahoofbeat said:
I’ve found you have to be inventive. Mine was ok with carrots then got suspicious , pill pockets worked for a while. I’ve tried everything. He’s very much on the fat side so giving any additional feeds or treats is a no no. It’s frustrating as it’s for their own good
Click to expand...
My vet always says that it's better for them to have a small amount of something if it means they get their meds.
 
If all your tablets have been the same brand I’d be tempted to swap brands to see if prefers the taste of another brand.

There’s also a paste version available that may be worth trying as I believe it is flavoured.
 
HURRAH....I seem to have found a solution, I crush up the tablet then mix it with a tsp of Horslyx Original (she loves the taste and it disguises the tablet) spread it on a plastic plate and she kicks it clean.
Whoop Whoop... let's hope she doesn't get wise to it....🤞😃. Thanks for all your other suggestions, I'll keep them in mind just in case..
 
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