I know they give very strong painkillers/sedatives for colic but when Sunny's eye was at its worst he had bute direct into a vein and it certainly seemed to make him a lot more comfortable.
What's up with your ned then Bounty? Nothing awful I hope???
Will ring the surgery in a bit and ask, I keep wanting to say 'metacam' and 'finadyne' keeps popping up too. I've never ventured beyond bute before with my own horses though.
I want the strongest painkillers so that my girl can have a relatively pain free last few days. I was hoping to be able to give her something in her feed over the weekend and monday and then an I.V. dose of something on tuesday morning before she leaves us on tuesday afternoon.
finadyne is stronger than bute, not sure if it's the strongest though?
But you can get an oral formulation and I'm sure the vets will give it to you if they think it is suitable.
Oh Bounty. So sad. I'm sure it's Tuesday for a reason. I'd pump her full of bute til then. It can't do her any harm at all over such a short period. I'd ring the vets and check that she could have eg 2 sachets 4 times a day. Whatever it takes to give her a peaceful few days.
Oh dear. I am so sorry you've had to reach this decision and had hoped so much that the steroid injections would weave some magic and she could have a happy life as a mum. I would give her as much of anything that your vet can supply for her last few days. The side effects hardly matter.
Poor Boo, poor you and will be thinking of you. xxx
Edited to say she looked so wonderful in your photos the other day. Tragic.
Thanks all. Just waiting for a vet to phone back, and sorting out the insurance etc.
The steroid injections have really helped her, and she is looking and feeling much brighter - but it's just not feasible to investigate further now, with the prognosis being so cr*p. Obviously as it is a neurological issue there isn't too much that broad spectrum analgesics can do, but I just want to make her as comfy as I possibly can so that she can can have her last hoon without too much pain.
We're looking at monday now as well, my family descends here for xmas on tuesday, and I could do without having to deal with them as well.
As others have said, so very sorry and such a bad time for it to happen.
I would stuff her full of bute - Cairo at one point was on 4 a day and could have gone up to 6 if required - but he was a big lad.
When he had his liver failure, the vet did give us a strong painkiller which was iv injectable by her, but could also be given orally - though it tasted horrible. We had to squirt it down as there was no way even with the nicest treat he would have eaten it - and this was a horse that munched bute like sugar.
I am sorry I can't remember the name of it but your vet will know the stuff.
Thanks T,
I am just on the way out the door to pick up some finadyne for her. The vet is coming at 8am on Monday to top her up with IV painkillers so she can spend the next few hours being invincible, and then returning at 2pm to set her free...
Previously, when she returned from the first vets, she was having 4 bute a day (she's a 490kg horse - so that is quite a bit!) and it wasn't really touching the discomfort, but they had given her a really tough time of it. I'm not sure what lunging a sick horse until it is dripping with sweat is meant to achieve, but they won't be forgiven for it.
Finadyne is great stuff - we gave it to Sammy before he was pts to keep him comfortable for his last few days. Four bute a day didn't touch Sammy's pain but the finadyne seemed to work much better.
My thoughts will be with you on Monday. I'm sorry you're story has had such a sad ending.