Ibuprofen for horses?

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Baileyhoss

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Hello, please don't shoot me down if this is a really stupid suggestion, but I haven't ever thought about it before. I had the physio out to my horse this evening and she found fairly significant muscle spasm and tenderness just behind the saddle area, she worked on this and he was responding, but she advised that it was tender for him, advised a week off and gave me some stretching excersizes etc to continue long term. You could feel the heat over the inflamed area and poor b didn't look very comfy when she was working him Anyhoo, I was talking to non horsy oh about it and said I might start him on a joint supplement as he is 13 now and maybe something with a natural antiinflamatory ingredient and he said I should just rub in some ibuprofen gel, obviously not long term, but when i feel the inflamation.
Now I know it's toxic to dogs, but what about horses - anybody investigated this before?

Fi x
 
Haven't investigated ongo but I'd be VERY cautious! Ibuprofen gel gets absorbed into the system almost the same as if you'd swallowed it so if it isn't safe for horses you could then be in big trouble. I'd google it first - sometimes American websites have more info - or just give your vets a quick ring and ask. If you find out, it would be really helpful if you could pop a post on the Forum coz it would be useful information for everyone to know. x
 
IF there is heat,, then equine 'leg ice' gel.

Or some bute/ Danilon from the vet as an antiinflammatory.
 
When Han had a haematoma, I asked the vets for some Tensolvet... one very kindly advised me to go to boots and get some Ibruleve as it was the same stuff and cheaper
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I always have some in now, just in case
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However, my vet had looked at the Haematoma before advising this.
 
Hi there, just spoke to vet, I think I sounded a bit of a muppet, but at least I have a definitive answer. He said that horses skin is a completely different set up from ours so meds that are absorbed through human skin, shouldn't be put on horses. any meds like that should be given orally.

Also, for the tenderness I described he said not to give anti inflams as tenderness isn't the same as pain and tenderness is also a protection mechanism, which means that we will notice the problem reoccurring and know to stop what I am doing and treat the problem, before bashing on masking the tenderness and causing more damage!!

Kind of as I suspected, but worth asking.

So I think I am going to invest in a nice prolite or gel pad for under the saddle, batteries for my hand held massager and start him on corteflex. 1 week off and carrot stretches every day (he'll not be complaining about that).
The reason I am so concerned this time is because the physio mentioned kissing spines, but she said it was a good sign that the muscle spasm did start working out,, which didn't indicate KS, I really need to look after his muscles to support the skelatal frame properly, but I am also realising he's getting older now (had him since he was 4) so I need to stop treating him like peter pan and helping him look after himself.

She did say that as long as the tenderness wasn't present there was no reason not to continue work as normal. I was hoping to do quite a bit of xc this year, and some intro events, so we'll just see how it goes.


On that note, while googling, did you read about the race horse that failed the drugs test because the groom made up his feed after he had rubbed ibuleve on himself. there was traces of it all over the stable & equipment!! bet he's popular!


Fi x
 
I feed MSM for tenderness in the back, my vet in gemany is a very famous olympic vet and he advised me to use MSM when my horse had tenderness which made him look slightly lame behind, it really has worked for a few of my horses.
Have you also checked your saddle fits correctly or your horse has not put a joint out in his back?
 
I have used Ibuprofen gel on my horses legs last year after a sponsored ride when his legs were swollen and looked sore.

I did call my vet first who said it shouldn't be a problem but said that in some horses it can make the swelling worse (can't remember why tho). It didn't cause any problems for my horse.

On his next visit he gave me a supply of bute to give my boy in situations when he is likely to get swollen / sore legs as he is no spring chicken and has always had windgalls and legs prone to swelling.
 
Interesting. Thanks for your posts. I don't think I'll try the ibuleve on him. Good news is he seemed to find the right carrot stretch easier last night, that's the one was struggling with and hopefully now it's day 3, i'll feel a difference in the inflammation tonight. fingers crossed!.

Fi x
 
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