This a post I never thought I would write!!! Pony won't eat his bute

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mulledwhine

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I posted about a bad reaction to his vaccination , thanks for all your advice.

Today he was no better so rang vets, who gave me some bute.

He is a proper greedy pig, but he turned his nose up, so added apple juice, nope.... Syrup, nope..... Carrots , nope ... Etc etc.

He now won't eat his good doer, so have had to give him a few grass nuts.

On the upside, he seems to be a bit brighter this evening, so hopefully he will be his self soon, and the vets have said they will put a note to only vaccinate him on his chest now.

Thanks again for all the advice
 
I did think of that, but his neck is so stiff and sore that I did not want to add to his discomfort.

Wanted to worm him today as well, but vet has said not to and do a worm count instead so save him any more pain, the poor little lad is really suffering.

Good tip though and one I will keep for any future need for bute :)
 
Another vote for a sandwich. Black treacle, golden syrup or honey. & not tried it myself but read a similar thread where someone said marmite.
 
Going to try marmite sarnie tomorrow, don't know why I did not think of it before :) it is his favourite, although we have stopped eating bread in this house, I will get a load for him :)

It is funny though , ad my fussy TB did not even notice bute in his feed, and greedy piggy does!!!

Thanks again all, I was in minor panic today thinking it was laminitis, even though I know it was not, felt much happier when he grunted at me and came for a cuddle, will feel even better when he bucks and farts again xxx

Who would have thought something I did to keep him well made him feel so poorly :(
 
Ha ha, this makes me laugh - I have a pony who is the same! A few years back he had a bad infection in his foot. Vet gave him a penicillin injection - well, turned out he was allergic to penicillin!!! I have had him 18 years (maybe 16 at that point) and this must have been the first time he'd had penicillin - anyway, although he was very very poorly, he came through and we had to feed him antibiotics - well, he thought otherwise and whatever 'tricks' we tried he wasn't having it so we eventually gave up. Recently he went quite lame and I decided after his tea to mix a bit more up and put some bute in to make him comfy. Now this pony is a pig but he wasn't going to touch that either!

I cannot believe they know but they just seem to know it's 'poisoned' somehow and, if yours is anything like mine, no matter how you try disguise it you're going to struggle so, all I will say is good luck!!! :D
 
I had good results with blackstrap molasses , but only buy the small jars in a health food shop and not the massive flagon ( cos you'll never need that much of it ) Mix the sachet into the molasses first and then you can always thin that mix down with a little warm water and pop in a really tiny feed.
 
In all honesty, if it's just bute you're trying to feed and the horse won't eat it then don't bother. If it needs pain relief then get the vet to give it a jab - much simpler!!
 
Small tub of custard & an old rinsed out wormer syringe.
Drop a bit of custard into the wormer syringe, pour in the bute & add another spoonful of custard - stir well with handle of spoon/knife etc, pop the plunger back in & give as per worming.

tip: use low fat custard ;)
 
Try Danilon instead of Bute, most horses will eat this in the feed as its sugar coated it is a pain killing anti inflammatory
 
My old girl is a pain to get bute in to. I have been mixing it with the garlic supplement and adding it to her food. That has worked so far, maybe the garlic hides the smell and flavor
 
My friends greedy pony wouldn't eat his bute either. Tried jam and syrup sandwiches, the 1st 1 he ate but then wouldn't touch subsequent 1s, so they kept having to change the treats!
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
Hollow out an apple slightly or similar treat :)
Click to expand...

The first bowl of pony nuts sprinkled with bute was kicked over as if I had poisoned it!

So I now soak the pony nuts in water in a polythene bag and put bute in stuck to a spoonful of jam(any flavour) with chopped up apple and give it a good shake. However the apple is ommited now. Today for the first time no jam. Just soak and sachet.

Good luck.
 
mulledwhine said:
I did think of that, but his neck is so stiff and sore that I did not want to add to his discomfort.
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TBH, as you know that the bute is for his own good, I think you have to decide whether a small amount of increased discomfort for a short time is worth it for the benefits it brings, bearing in mind that it isn't just a pain-killer but also an anti-inflammatory.
I remember trying to give a Shire bute in jam sandwich, she dropped it into her be. I rescued it (twice). the third time she threw it into her water bucket. No way could I offer it to her again, lol!
We used to give our old, arthritic Appaloosa bute mixed with hot chocolate powder in a syringe. She did complain but it was more of a token complaint than anything else.
 
Can't you get bute in a liquid form in the UK:confused:

I have a big bottle of strawberry flavoured stuff they love it.

I don't give medication in feed at all now, everything gets mixed with water, added to apple sauce and syringed down.
 
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