Injecting your own horse?

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Rollin

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I wonder how many of you do this?

I had never injected my own horses until coming to France. Whilst I am happy to do the vaccinations for my stallions, who both dislike one particular male vet, I have a real problem with anti-biotics.

I don't ever remember having to inject a horse when I lived in Scotland.

My problem is that the needles provided here have hard to remove covers. So far this week two needle stick injuries for me!! Viscous antibiotics in 20-30mls an injection are difficult to administer particularly with a sensitive horse.

How do others get on?
 
Can you get the antibiotics in a powder version instead?

I have injected horses, but only ones I have seen the vet do first so know they are not going to kill me!!
 
Presume this is intramuscular injections, especially since you say its viscous. I had to do this into the muscle in the rump of the horse, so checked for an area that didn't seem to twitch too much and then just thought 'dart board'!
 
I am happy to inject but like you can find antibiotics rather difficult it helps if they are not given straight from the fridge a little time to come to room temperature once in the syringe can help, I often put it into the quarters rather than neck as there is less risk of a reaction having a detrimental effect as long as it is safe to be at that end!
 
Had to inject mine for first time last month, course of 4, vet gave first and left me to do others. I had never injected & didn't even realise needle came in 2 parts. He gave me a spare needle which I didn't need, found it easy after first one when I struggled getting whole bottle into syringe till I realised when pull needle out bottle it all stays in.....dime ! Also surprised how firm you have to be to get needle in smoothly.
 
Yes have done it quite a bit. Depends on the horse. My mare was a nightmare as knew it was coming and used to tense her buttocks and break needles. As previous poster said - dartboard - you have to use quite a bit of force and I always massage area after injecting. Some are easier to do in neck or chest. If a problem get the ABs in powder form.
 
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I've done it. No problems apart my courage the first couple of times! Can you get some different (same size) needles from the chemist? If you loosen the needle cover at the base by twisting slightly holding the base, that might help. Don't jerk/use a lot of force to get the cover off as your hand will rebound and get pricked as you have discovered. x
 
The trick is to hold the needle between your index finger and thumb, tap at least 5 times on horses rump, then on the 6 tap push the needle in, then attach the syringe and push the plunger down slowly, when it is pushed down fast is when it hurts the horse and you get bad reactions and long memories from injections.

Tapping the rump a few times will cause the horse to relax so no force needed to insert the needle
 
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I practise beforehand, if I haven't injected for a while, by using a spare needle to inject an orange!

Agree with others that it takes a surprising amount of force to inject a horse. I favour the hindquarters. I make a relaxed fist and gently massage and pummel the horse's backside then insert the needle, then attach the syringe afterwards.

I prefer powders if they are an option, though!
 
Yes, lots, unfortunately. I don't think it is very unusual as the last 3 practices we've been with have given me IM drugs and assumed I can inject (I can so that's fine, I'm sure if I'd have looked doubtful or been a novice they would have given me powders automatically).
 
Is it legal? It is illegal to microchip your own horse but not any other animals you own. I was told microchipping was an "invasive procedure" so had to be done to horses by a vet so I assumed injections were the same. I've always injected all other stock, including microchipping my own dogs.

Then the vets refused to supply the combined vaccine for dogs over the counter saying that they had to do a health check first (for a large fee of course!). A bit pointless as I usually have to point out that the elevated temperature and heart rate is because it is their first car journey, first time at the vet, and they should know to expect that!
 
I don't have a problem but mine is easily distracted by food. I tie up with a haynet, put a bridle over the headcollar. I get someone to stand at the head with treats with the aim of keeping the neck straight. I half stroke half pat the neck a few times then kind of stab the needle in on the last go, check I've not got a vein then inject slowly. I was taught its the needle moving that causes unnecessary discomfort, so try to stop horse bending round with needle in its neck and make sure needle goes right in first time. I'm not a vet so I don't know if there's a better way of doing it but I've never had a problem and its over quickly.
 
Never had a problem with it. But I've been doing it to all manner of animals. Since I was 16 :p. wouldn't catch me doing IVs even if it were legal though!
 
It's legal to do injections on your own horse but not someone elses.
We've regularly done shots, for IM antibiotics it wold be ridiculously expensive for the vet to come out every day to give the shots. The only time I've ever had trouble was when we were giving IM antibiotics to a 5 month old foal (he got an infection where he was gelded) and he tolerated it for a few days then said 'no more' but happily took orally syringed antibiotics to finish the course.
 
I favour the rump to the neck purely because you have a bigger surface area to work with. I will do necks on my own but get someone to hold the horse whilst I do the backend. I take the needle off and hold it between my thumb and index finger, pat the pony and after a couple of pats pat the needle in in a oner. You really do get a surprise with just how hard a pat you have to do on a muscley bummed horse!
 
putasocinit said:
The trick is to hold the needle between your index finger and thumb, tap at least 5 times on horses rump, then on the 6 tap push the needle in, then attach the syringe and push the plunger down slowly, when it is pushed down fast is when it hurts the horse and you get bad reactions and long memories from injections.

Tapping the rump a few times will cause the horse to relax so no force needed to insert the needle
Click to expand...

To clarify, those pre-injection taps are with fist not needle- I have seen someone mistake similar instructions and try to tap a few times first with needle, unsurprisingly the horse did not appreciate it!!

If injecting into the neck, no tapping needed but take a big skin pinch with your other hand once de-capped the needle and hold for few seconds before inserting needle just behind and most horses wont notice. Be careful to get a vet show where to inject into neck as there's lots of important structures around and the vertebral column is surprisingly low.

Always try to use new needle each time and use separate needle to draw up drug from bottle; I personally wouldn't want a partially blunted needle into my muscle so why should a horse?! Needles are super cheap and vet shouldn't have any problem providing you with enough. For the thicker/ more viscous liquid a wider gauge needle is easier to put in quickly, though you might get more reaction when first inserting needle!
 
Intramuscular and sub-cutaneous injections can be done in the UK by anyone who has been specifically told to by a vet. In other countries the rules are much more lenient, if the nearest vet was several hours away you'd want to be able to give a shot of Buscopan to a colic!

Getting cheap needle caps off can be tricky, personally I use my thumb nail to hold the needle firmly onto the syringe and pull the cap off with my teeth, this is NOT the way I was taught and the H&S lot would have a heart attack but I stab myself less this way and leaves my left hand free to reasure the horse.

As far as injection site, bum is more comfortable for the horse when large amounts are involved but skin is thicker so it's hard to get the needle in and obviously there's a safety risk. Neck or chest are a lot easier as the skin's thinner so you can just slide the needle in, downside is more crucial anatomy to avoid, stiff necks or swollen chests.
 
The best way to do IM antibiotics is to use the largest bore needle you can, make sure the needle you inject with is the one you have new and use a separate one to draw the injection up. I always inject in the neck and can do it smoothly and quickly. Always make sure where ever you inject that when in you draw back slightly to ensure you are not in a vein.
 
I've given IM antibiotics to a previous loan mare the other year. Wasn't fun. Am used to injecting myself (diabetic) and patients at work so this was a challenge! Much easier on humans, at least you can tell them what is going on - I felt awful!

Agree with the above re: tapping the hind with your fist. 4 taps and needle in on the 5th. Works a treat!
 
I'm in France, and yes my vet just gave me the bottle of ab suspension and left me to get on with it. Ok he did show me the first time I ever did it, which was after Blitz was castrated, but for subsequent times I was very much left alone with it.

Even with the relatively large amount of suspension, I've always done Blitz loose in the box, and it can take up to a minute to inject the full amount, but he's never bothered by it.
 
Draw up the syringe, recap the needle and put the syringe in your armpit for a few minutes to warm it up (vet taught me that trick!), then wack in the needle and off you go - depress the plunger slowly as it does hurt a bit. When you withdraw the needle, rub the area to dissipate the fluid. Remember to alternate the side you inject each time to reduce bruising. The hardest bit is putting in the needle - it is far easier to inject a strange furry bottom than your own horse's. Go for speed and force. One vet I had never desensitised the muscle by banging it first, just walked by and slapped it in in one as he passed.
 
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