Reaction to sedation ??

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racebuddy

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My horse had his teeth done early this am under sedation , vets caught the gums and then bled quite a lot , teeth rasped all ok quick job as they were not to bad , booster given , I've had him for 15 years always has teeth and booster together with sedation never any problems , recovered well , left for few hours came back to finish eveing jobs one unhappy pony struggling to eat feed did manage it but not comfortable , he was shivering from head to toe , checked temp was normal , out more rugs on settled on and off shivering , poss reaction to sedation ?? I am a bit worried one his gums have never bled in all the years I have had him plus never reacted like this any thoughts , wàoti
H on call back from vets
 
Never really heard of this before either. We once did have one sedated, and the dremel (electric rasp) caught his gum, it bled only slighty, but he never had what your gelding is experiencing, and recovered from sedation fine, but this was in the summer (so warmer).

Could he of just been cold re the shivering? Is he clipped or a thin skinned type? We've got lots of snow here, and my mare who's hunter clipped was shaking when I brought her in, despite being in a fleece & HW combo with a long neck piece.
What weight rug was he in?

Perhaps his gums were a bit sore, and that's why he was struggling to eat?

Have you called the vet, just to see what they think?

Hope he's OK xx
 
Yes. My horse was sedated to have a wound flushed about 3 years ago, and within seconds she was pouring (and when I say pouring - I literally mean pouring as if someone had thrown a bucket of water over her) with sweat all over her body. Vet was shocked, but said it was something called (I may have got this slightly wrong but it was something like this) an alpha 2 reaction to the sedative. Put her in her stable out of the sun (mid summer) and watched her for a while, and she stopped sweating etc. Left for an hour, came back to check her, and she was colicking. She did recover, but it was an ordeal. I have no idea why that happened because she has been sedated many times before with no ill effects.
 
Hes not clipped , he had a cooler on post sedation and then a stable rug over the top plus a rug with a neck on too , he's quite hardy and doesn't generally feel the cold , his gums are ok and no signs of any bleeding , vets advised to monitor , as shivering is settling down ,and is eating , x
 
Mine had a terrifying reaction to sedation last year. She bust a splint bone and went to horspital for x rays etc, sedation was fine. Returned home and needed re x-raying a week later. Same dose of sedative and she suddenly went TOO wobbly, pulse weak and thready, dripping with sweat. Vet and I were both very alarmed and surprised. Thought we were going to lose her.

keep a close eye and get it noted in his record. I keep a note in her passport too. Millie will never receive that drug again.
 
milliepops said:
Mine had a terrifying reaction to sedation last year. She bust a splint bone and went to horspital for x rays etc, sedation was fine. Returned home and needed re x-raying a week later. Same dose of sedative and she suddenly went TOO wobbly, pulse weak and thready, dripping with sweat. Vet and I were both very alarmed and surprised. Thought we were going to lose her.

keep a close eye and get it noted in his record. I keep a note in her passport too. Millie will never receive that drug again.
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Now that sounds worryingly similar to what happened to my mare.
 
I will never have IV sedation ever again unless there is no other option. It wasn't strictly necessary then- millie is well mannered and did all follow up x rays with no sedation.
I Won't have any of ours sedated for dentist etc unless absolutely desperate. I really was frightened that day. :(
 
Drugs given for sedation / anaesthesia can have the side effect of interfering with the mechanisms normally used by the body to control temperature (this makes sedated animals more prone to becoming too hot or too cold. More often than not they're more at risk of being too cold in the climate we live in!). Just because temp was normal when you checked it doesn't mean it didn't drop below normal in the few hours you left the horse to come around as sometimes they can continue to shiver for a short while even after temperature has returned to normal and I don't know where you are but it was very cold and frosty most of the day here. Alternatively it could just be some kind of reaction to the drug of course (and it's definitely worth discussing with the vet just in case). I'd say struggling to eat is likely related to soreness from where vet caught him but again keep an eye and discuss with vet if concerned. My old pony nearly fell over the first time he was sedated (x-rays) and after that he was only given a tiny dose and that seemed to work well (years later he was tried with a different drug and reacted perfectly normally to that). Current horse sweated profusely and took longer than expected to come around after sedation but he did rear up when the needle was going in so guessing his high stress levels probably didn't help matters there and it won't put me off sedating him again (in this case for his teeth to keep everyone safe)
 
milliepops said:
Mine had a terrifying reaction to sedation last year. She bust a splint bone and went to horspital for x rays etc, sedation was fine. Returned home and needed re x-raying a week later. Same dose of sedative and she suddenly went TOO wobbly, pulse weak and thready, dripping with sweat. Vet and I were both very alarmed and surprised. Thought we were going to lose her.

keep a close eye and get it noted in his record. I keep a note in her passport too. Millie will never receive that drug again.
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Mine had a reaction EXACTLY the same to sedation. Dripping with sweat, shaking, wobbling like he would fall, extreme panting. Most terrifying thing.
 
dark_prince said:
Mine had a reaction EXACTLY the same to sedation. Dripping with sweat, shaking, wobbling like he would fall, extreme panting. Most terrifying thing.
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It's horrible to watch, isn't it. The vet told me afterwards that she had been worried, and was amazed that I had been so calm. I was dying inside, but really you are powerless in that situation -what will be, will be :blue:
 
milliepops said:
It's horrible to watch, isn't it. The vet told me afterwards that she had been worried, and was amazed that I had been so calm. I was dying inside, but really you are powerless in that situation -what will be, will be :blue:
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The horrible thing was the fact that he didn't need it! The vet was new and should have been accompanied to such an injury. He was well behaved just sore and rather than just persist she sedated him. Genuinely thought we would lose him. Yes, there is literally nothing you can do in that situation except not panic.
 
Boulty said:
Drugs given for sedation / anaesthesia can have the side effect of interfering with the mechanisms normally used by the body to control temperature (this makes sedated animals more prone to becoming too hot or too cold. More often than not they're more at risk of being too cold in the climate we live in!). Just because temp was normal when you checked it doesn't mean it didn't drop below normal in the few hours you left the horse to come around as sometimes they can continue to shiver for a short while even after temperature has returned to normal and I don't know where you are but it was very cold and frosty most of the day here. Alternatively it could just be some kind of reaction to the drug of course (and it's definitely worth discussing with the vet just in case). I'd say struggling to eat is likely related to soreness from where vet caught him but again keep an eye and discuss with vet if concerned. My old pony nearly fell over the first time he was sedated (x-rays) and after that he was only given a tiny dose and that seemed to work well (years later he was tried with a different drug and reacted perfectly normally to that). Current horse sweated profusely and took longer than expected to come around after sedation but he did rear up when the needle was going in so guessing his high stress levels probably didn't help matters there and it won't put me off sedating him again (in this case for his teeth to keep everyone safe)
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I can remember coming round from a GA and finding my self shivering violently in the recovery room.
 
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