vets that can't inject properly

Sorry to bring this thread up again I was really interested in it given my recent experience...

My 3 year old needed IV Buscopan and Finadyne for spasmodic colic a few weeks ago. She's being treated for hepatitis at the moment so has had a few bloods/IVs and was already a little wary but nothing awful. Vet tried to inject the drug but was having trouble aspirating blood back but injected it anyway- about 30ml in total. My mare was clearly in pain. Over next few days her neck swelled massively. Another vet was coming out anyway to do repeat liver bloods etc so got him to have a look. He scanned the lump and the left jugular vein which he said was completely occluded because of the injection. He wrote on the report that she'd had a 'reaction' to the drugs though.

I've never had this happen before (I do IVs on a daily basis for humans too, but appreciate this is different!) and was wondering if anyone else has had this experience?

Thanks
 
No, anyone can have a bad day and there's not a vet I know that can hit every vein every time even on a well behaved animal. That said if you don't gel with this vet / they seem to have problems with other horses on the yard as well then you can always request not to have them in future (although in an emergency you sort of have to take whoever's on call)

My own horse can be a bit funny sometimes. He's fine if injections are done either totally by stealth so he doesn't notice them or if they are done quickly but he gets suspicious if he sees the vet fiddling about and starts pratting about cos he anticipates. That said a very good and experienced vet who my horse normally behaves excellently for had fun sedating him IV to do his teeth last year as the little wotsit decided to rear and lurch forwards when the needle went in and neither me or the vet was expecting such a violent reaction (I seem to remember the needle DID stay in by some miracle though so we managed to get the job done)
 
Have you tried to do numerous IV injections into animals (particularly fractious nervous ones) OP? It is not easy and even the most experienced vets get it wrong.

What is with blame culture these days?
 
If they are going to be nervous or difficult I always twitch them , over the door if necessary , this gives the vet space and time to get the vein. Some vets take a bit of persuading but have never had a problem this way even when finding a vein to PTS. A nervous horse is a dangerous horse no matter how small it is and it is never worth taking risks ( mostly for the vet who is carrying a potentially lethal injection in his/her hand).
 
I have a very vet/needle shy pony (due to having a lot of vet treatments as a youngster before halter broken tame/sane) he's also pretty untwitchable because of this although i'd only twitch in an emergency anyway and I do have to manage vet situations in a similar way to boulty. So I sympathize with your situation but really think it's your responsibility to improve your pony's behavior not blame the vet for not being perfect. You can ask a vet to greet your pony give him a treat inject where he's calm etc etc you can't just tell them to get the vein first time IV injections are hard no vet gets them first time every time. fburtons article is great and have followed similar to improve my boys behavior. On the other hand if you prefer a particular vet then ask for them, I'm sure the rejected vet will be quite happy not to deal with a fractious horse owner combination.
 
If you have trouble getting the twitch on the following works. Had a 17.2hh 800kg " character" as the vet called him. He could toss anyone straight in the air at whim. Put a rope halter ( which he had to be led around in so he was used to it) on him in the stable, go outside and shut the door, pull his head over the door and get someone to hold it and then apply the twitch. Once under the twitch back him off the door go in and treat as normal. Much safer for everyone and the horse too. he liked his rope halter and didn't mind the twitch in the end, he had a lot of treatment over the years and eventually stood stock still for the twitch as if he would rather have that than face his demons. he was easy to deal with except with the vet and didn't do pain at any level. Prior to that method we were flung up the walls , he knocked two men through a bolted door etc etc. No amount of desensitising helped. I always found him easy to deal with with voice commands but he was frightened by a vet when he was two, she came at him like psycho and stabbed him with his annual boosters, had always stood quietly before but only needed the smell of a vet and he kicked off thereafter.
 
Nudibranch said:
Slightly off OP's topic, but I agree and have never out of choice had a horse put down by injection. However in an emergency callout there is not always an option. Vets aren't allowed to carry a gun round in the car "just in case" and in my case he persuaded me very convincingly that her frail state would ensure a swift passing by injection. Sadly he was wrong - but these things happen. I had even told the receptionist I thought she might need to be pts and that I specifically wanted her shot if so, but either the message was not passed on or the vet thought he knew better.

Anyway I no longer use that practice, but it's not quite the same as the OP's situation.
Click to expand...

very few vets have a gun liscence so cannot carry a gun at all
 
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