Paracetamol as a pain killer for horses

[oldie48]

The old TB, who developed cellulitis on Thursday is making a good recovery, thank goodness. Not out of the woods yet but walking, eating and is a lot brighter. To get him comfortable enough to move he had an IV painkiller but also 20 tabs of paracetamol x2 daily. He's still on the paracetamol, amongst other things which work very. I thought I'd share this as I'd never heard of using it for horses, it's obviously a lot cheaper if you buy it from the chemist and it can be used alongside other pain relief. My husband has been out buying it for me. As you can only buy 16 from supermarkets, he went to our local Boots and asked how many he could buy for a horse, pharmacist told him "none" so he had to do the rounds of all our local shops. He was out again this morning in a different town doing the same and came home with 96,couldn't buy any from Boots as it was the same pharmacist who obviously covered 2 branches and she recognised him. I could have had them from the vets but I suspect it would have been a lot more expensive. Wilko was the cheapest at 20p for 16!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

never tell a pharmacist you are buying anything for an animal-they cannot legally let you have it. I've not heard of using paracetamol in horses before though, interesting! Can you not get a prescription from the vet? still probably more expensive than OTC but less hassle.

Aldi are good for cheap OTC drugs fyi.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I have given my mare paracetamol when she had a abscess, it definitely eased her discomfort.

 

[hobo]

Never heard of that, was there a reason that you have not used bute ? I would think it is a lot easier to get bute in to a horse than 40 tablets.

 

[oldie48]

He knows that now, they an sell you 32 for a person and I think he hoped they'd sell him more! Yes, I could have got them from the vet but they would have been very expensive in comparison. He'll have had over 100 by the time we're done and I think the vet bill will be pretty big anyway (not that I begrudge a single penny)

never tell a pharmacist you are buying anything for an animal-they cannot legally let you have it. I've not heard of using paracetamol in horses before though, interesting! Can you not get a prescription from the vet? still probably more expensive than OTC but less hassle.

Aldi are good for cheap OTC drugs fyi.

 

[oldie48]

Never heard of that, was there a reason that you have not used bute ? I would think it is a lot easier to get bute in to a horse than 40 tablets.

He's on 2 sachets of bute twice daily as well but you can give paracetamol as well. Pain relief is really important with cellulitis as you need to make the horse comfortable enough so they will move. You crush the tablets into a fine powder and I mixed with a little hot water then added little orange cordial and then used a syringe, got the bute in at the same time.

 

[Enfys]

Here in Canada we use aspirin.

 

[FinkleyAlex]

Never heard of giving bute but I sympathise re the cellulitis - my old boy (24) got cellulitis in February and it took a good 3/4 weeks of substantial painkillers and 2 changes of antibiotics before he recovered...he was very nearly put to sleep! Luckily he has made a full recovery.

 

[oldie48]

so please that yours has got over it, did he respond to the first lot of antibiotics? Did you discover what had triggered it? Mine is still not there yet but the swelling has greatly reduced and he's able to walk now without dragging his toe. He initially presented with what looked like an abscess in the hoof, very lame and uncomfortable but nothing noticeable on the leg, perhaps a bit of warmth in the hock but he has some arthritis. Went down hill unbelievably quickly late Thursday morning. Farrier had come to check hoof and noticed some swelling and heat on the inside of the hock, within an hour he was down in the stable with a huge leg, a high temp and TBH I thought we'd have to PTS as he was in so much pain. Vet was superb, gave him a massive IV painkiller and three of us managed to get him to his feet and out into the field so I was able to walk him every half hour. I honestly didn't think he'd last the night but here we are Saturday and I've just taken him for a 20min walk down the lane and he nearly pulled me over to get at the long grass. He's 28 and been exceptionally well all 17 years I've had him, has a very good quality of life and an important job (Mr B's BFF) I hope he makes the full recovery yours has.

Never heard of giving bute but I sympathise re the cellulitis - my old boy (24) got cellulitis in February and it took a good 3/4 weeks of substantial painkillers and 2 changes of antibiotics before he recovered...he was very nearly put to sleep! Luckily he has made a full recovery.

 

[milliepops]

no idea at all whether the same can apply with horses, but don't see why not... but when I got it in my face, the normal ABs they give made a marginal improvement but not as fast as expected, so I had to to back and get some different ones.I then had an extended course to get on top of it. I asked for the long course of different ones immediately when I got it the second time.

Just mentioning it in case he seems to take a while to get back on track - might be worth asking if he needs some different ones to kick it. Glad to hear he's on the mend though.

 

[oldie48]

thanks. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for you. Do you know why you got it?

no idea at all whether the same can apply with horses, but don't see why not... but when I got it in my face, the normal ABs they give made a marginal improvement but not as fast as expected, so I had to to back and get some different ones.I then had an extended course to get on top of it. I asked for the long course of different ones immediately when I got it the second time.

Just mentioning it in case he seems to take a while to get back on track - might be worth asking if he needs some different ones to kick it. Glad to hear he's on the mend though.

 

[milliepops]

The first time I was at dressage camp and it was probably just from being grotty and scratching my face, so bit of something manky got into a tiny scratch. There was nothing to see by way of an injury, doctor had a good look and couldn't see anything either. I remember being a bit itchy when I was there - I'm so allergic to everything horse related that there's rarely a day I'm not itchy or sneezy so I probably just should have been more aware of having clean hands haha!

second time i was staying away for work, so in theory I was already clean and tidy - just bad luck I guess. the Dr did say I'd be more susceptible to it, and my mother gets it from time to time on her legs, just from bramble scratches etc so perhaps it's an inherited predisposition? Who knows.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Never heard of giving bute but I sympathise re the cellulitis - my old boy (24) got cellulitis in February and it took a good 3/4 weeks of substantial painkillers and 2 changes of antibiotics before he recovered...he was very nearly put to sleep! Luckily he has made a full recovery.

I have had cellulitis myself. It's excruciating. I had it in my leg from an infected insect bite. It's awful, isn't it Milliepops?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Paracetamol is a crap painkiller. I wouldn't go through all that bother for something that is so ineffective, there must be something better that the vet can prescribe.

 

[pixie]

You can buy up to 100 paracetamol tabs from a pharmacy at one time, though it is at pharmacists discretion. Certainly it shouldn't be difficult to buy 2x32 tabs from one pharmacy anyways. If asked you could perhaps say that you are stocking up your holiday home in a foreign country?

 

[oldie48]

The paracetamol is being used alongside other painkillers that are being used at the maximum safe dose, point is that horse needs to be comfortable enough to move but not so doped up that it will fall over. Having seen the horse respond I'm confident that I don't agree with your comment.

Paracetamol is a crap painkiller. I wouldn't go through all that bother for something that is so ineffective, there must be something better that the vet can prescribe.

 

[Moomin1]

so please that yours has got over it, did he respond to the first lot of antibiotics? Did you discover what had triggered it? Mine is still not there yet but the swelling has greatly reduced and he's able to walk now without dragging his toe. He initially presented with what looked like an abscess in the hoof, very lame and uncomfortable but nothing noticeable on the leg, perhaps a bit of warmth in the hock but he has some arthritis. Went down hill unbelievably quickly late Thursday morning. Farrier had come to check hoof and noticed some swelling and heat on the inside of the hock, within an hour he was down in the stable with a huge leg, a high temp and TBH I thought we'd have to PTS as he was in so much pain. Vet was superb, gave him a massive IV painkiller and three of us managed to get him to his feet and out into the field so I was able to walk him every half hour. I honestly didn't think he'd last the night but here we are Saturday and I've just taken him for a 20min walk down the lane and he nearly pulled me over to get at the long grass. He's 28 and been exceptionally well all 17 years I've had him, has a very good quality of life and an important job (Mr B's BFF) I hope he makes the full recovery yours has.

My mare had cellulitis a few years ago from a tiny superficial kick wound on her upper hind leg. I honestly thought she had broken her leg from the way she was dragging her leg behind her, and the swelling all the way up from pastern to stifle was immense. She had AB's and bute, and made a very rapid recovery over a week or so.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

The paracetamol is being used alongside other painkillers that are being used at the maximum safe dose, point is that horse needs to be comfortable enough to move but not so doped up that it will fall over. Having seen the horse respond I'm confident that I don't agree with your comment.

I'm glad that the horse is responding well to the painkillers, but it's not just my own experiences that lead me to be critical of paracetamol. It has been shown (in a proper study) to be ineffective with chronic pain.

 

[Moomin1]

I'm glad that the horse is responding well to the painkillers, but it's not just my own experiences that lead me to be critical of paracetamol. It has been shown (in a proper study) to be ineffective with chronic pain.

Would that just be one study? One study does not prove anything. In any case, cellulitis is not necessarily 'chronic' pain, as my mare proved. She recovered from the pain within a week or so, and after that it was simply subsidence of the oedema which needed to take place.

 

[Regandal]

Way back in the dark ages, when I worked in orthopaedics, we gave the major ops a cocktail post-op. Diclofenac, codeine and paracetamol. The intention was to hit as many different pain receptors as possible. Very effective. Using non-steroidals and paracetamol together seems somehow to enhance the effect of each.

 

[Moomin1]

Way back in the dark ages, when I worked in orthopaedics, we gave the major ops a cocktail post-op. Diclofenac, codeine and paracetamol. The intention was to hit as many different pain receptors as possible. Very effective. Using non-steroidals and paracetamol together seems somehow to enhance the effect of each.

I can fully see how that would be very effective. Diclofenac is fab, and codeine too. Paracetamol deals with minor stuff for me. Ha, can you imagine my reaction when I was offered two paracetamol 5 hours into my labour when my baby was back to back? I have to say I was a little curt in my response.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Yes, a study into chronic back pain. However having unfortunately needed to attend a pain clinic and combining my own experiences and those of the other attendees, I'm not surprised by the outcome of the study. I have indeed tried combinations of drugs myself, including morphine, codeine and ibuprofen along with paracetamol (not all at once LOL) and the drugs singly. I would put paracetamol in the useless category.

Sorry to derail your thread OP, having just had a horrid hospital appointment yesterday, painkillers and their effectiveness are a very pertinent topic currently. I hope your horse fully recovers soon.

 

[fburton]

It wouldn't surprise me if the efficacy of painkillers varied as much in our animals as it appears to do between people. I personally have found paracetamol to be highly effective with certain types of pain, while ibuprofen is less effective (and happens to make me feel ill - maybe why it's less good as a painkiller in my case?). I haven't yet seen any literature that specifically recognizes the subjective element of pain relief and differential efficacy.

 

[oldie48]

No problem, actually I do think the combination has worked well for my horse and thanks, hopefully he's on the mend.

Sorry to derail your thread OP, having just had a horrid hospital appointment yesterday, painkillers and their effectiveness are a very pertinent topic currently. I hope your horse fully recovers soon.

 

[Regandal]

I found boswellia (for humans) very good. As effective as naproxen for arthtritic pain, without the side effects. I give my wb the horse stuff for sidebone and ringbone.

 

[darli]

Way back in the dark ages, when I worked in orthopaedics, we gave the major ops a cocktail post-op. Diclofenac, codeine and paracetamol. The intention was to hit as many different pain receptors as possible. Very effective. Using non-steroidals and paracetamol together seems somehow to enhance the effect of each.

This is exactly what I was given when I had my leg reset - it does the trick!

 

[Whoopit]

Yep, used it for my dainty 15.1hh chestnut Thoroughbred mare who was so accident prone.

We worked it out that put in a blender and ground to a powder so I could mix into feed, she needed about a teaspoon of it.

Worked just fine with no issue.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Apparently paracetamol is poisonous to dogs though?? Just flagging up in case anyone is thinking of giving it to Fido...........................

 

[fburton]

Apparently paracetamol is poisonous to dogs though?? Just flagging up in case anyone is thinking of giving it to Fido...........................

Good point - I'm glad you mentioned this.

Paracetamol is even more toxic to cats, btw.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Apparently paracetamol is poisonous to dogs though?? Just flagging up in case anyone is thinking of giving it to Fido...........................

hmm, the dosing is completely different in dogs but it used to be used quite a lot- its ibuprofen thats really toxic. there's now better painkillers available and I am not recommending it whatsoever fwiw.