high dose bute - how long 'til it damages organs?

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Nevergrewup

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My 17 year old cobX has been on 2 bute a day for several months - he has severe arthritis in 3 legs + ligament damage and has been officially retired since Autumn. He was previously on 1 bute a day maybe 25% of the time for a couple of years.

My top priority for him is a really good quality of life and he needs this much bute to stay pain free. The vet says this is the max dose he can have given his size & bodyweight. He also has all the usual suppliments, magno boots etc.

My question is - given the bute dose, how long does he have until his organs start struggling? We have blood tests pencilled in to keep an eye on it but no-one will guess at a timeframe. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks.
 
I have a friend who used to feed her 14.2hh gelding a sachet of bute every day for three years (think it was for laminitis) and as far as I know it lived until it was 40+.

I read if its fed long term at high dose (2-3 sachets over 2 to 3 years) it can cause ulcers which is more common in ponies than horses (presumably because they are smaller ) and it also decreases circulation and healing by limiting blood gas nitric oxide.

Why don't you try danillon as its less likely to cause problems long term at high dosage?

This is a link to a H&H forum post about this subject which you will find interesting as it dispels some of the worry about high dosage/long term bute use.

At the end of the day speak to your vet for he/she is the one who is most likely to know. Or write to the manufacturer and ask them for guidance on long term high dosage use and what their recommendations are.
 
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sidewaysonacob said:
My 17 year old cobX has been on 2 bute a day for several months - he has severe arthritis in 3 legs + ligament damage and has been officially retired since Autumn. He was previously on 1 bute a day maybe 25% of the time for a couple of years.

My top priority for him is a really good quality of life and he needs this much bute to stay pain free. The vet says this is the max dose he can have given his size & bodyweight. He also has all the usual suppliments, magno boots etc.

My question is - given the bute dose, how long does he have until his organs start struggling? We have blood tests pencilled in to keep an eye on it but no-one will guess at a timeframe. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

a very long time in my case. I have had 2 horses on long term bute. Several years each. It is a long story that I won't go into but basically like you wanted quality of life for horses that had incurable problems. The aim was one a day but had spells of 2 a day and sometimes 3.
I worked on the basis that without bute the answer was a bullet. Bute would buy time and an acceptable quality of life. If their organs failed then they would be PTS. (They never did and in fact the bute never seemed to affect them)
When they got to the stage of being PTS if wouldn't really matter if their organs had failed. I saw little point in a dead horse with perfect organs when they died rather than a live one made comfortable who was basically going to be PTS with his problems one day anyway.
 
change to danilon my mare was on 4 danilon a day ( during flare up) last week she was on 3 now back down to 1 am 1 pm still hobbly tho.

My vet said most horses will die of old age before damage is to much .
is he on a joint supplement??
 
paddy555 said:
a very long time in my case. I have had 2 horses on long term bute. Several years each. It is a long story that I won't go into but basically like you wanted quality of life for horses that had incurable problems. The aim was one a day but had spells of 2 a day and sometimes 3.
I worked on the basis that without bute the answer was a bullet. Bute would buy time and an acceptable quality of life. If their organs failed then they would be PTS. (They never did and in fact the bute never seemed to affect them)
When they got to the stage of being PTS if wouldn't really matter if their organs had failed. I saw little point in a dead horse with perfect organs when they died rather than a live one made comfortable who was basically going to be PTS with his problems one day anyway.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. I had my retired 14.2 pony on one bute a day for many years and currently have a 15.3 retired gelding who has been on 1-2 Danilon a day for the last 5 years. It's quality of life which counts, not quantity. The bute didn't get my old pony - Cushings did, and his leg will probably get the 15.3 gelding before the Danilon does.
 
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