Would you say something?

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shadowboy

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Litttle Orange mare had her second jab in a course today- See post in Vet section. I was shocked to find vet had to do 4 attempts to get it done. It wasnt just this, it was the way he did it- he would tap the neck then while holding needle in his hand like a fist would then thump it in- this was done four times. Poor little thing she was a nervour wreck by the end- shaking and really upset. Came back this evening- she wouldn't let anyone touch her- she was soooo scared she pooed herself- I feel like we went back a whole three weeks- I played the seven games which helped a bit- but shes really nervy now- would you make a comment to the practice about this or is this sort of reaction common? With all the vaccinations i've been present at, i've never seen the vet have to attempt more than twice. Oh and we found one of the needles on the floor (in its lid/cover) this evening.
 
I'd probably just leave it to be honest.
Why did he need to do it four times ? Did the needle not go in correctly? I take it that they were giving the injection into the muscle and not the vein?
 
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i would CERTAINLY say something. this sounds like the vet didnt have a clue what he was doing. they should NEVER have to thump the horse. in fact, last time ellie was done, the vet injected her in the chest. this alarmed me at first, but she didnt flinch! and it seemed much more gentle. your poor girlie!
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some vets work like this, i have seen many do it and it scares and upsets seren a bit
thankfully though vets i have had in recent years to give jabs have pinched the skin instead and then injected
personally i would just make sure next time they do it like this as opposed to the the rougher method as some horses are more bothered by it, just say clearly how you want it done due to your horse not being happy with the method she just got, they should be able to do as you ask
hope that helps
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i would personally be horrified if the vet tried to do that to mine however i did complain about how useless my vet was when coming out to do sarcoid treatment. Nothing was done about it though so i quess its up to you
 
Proper thumping or tapping with his fist? I was taught to inject by tapping my fist on the horses neck 3/4 times and on the last time sticking the needle in, if done properly the horse doesn't realise the needle is in as it just feels it as another tap. I certainly wouldn't thump the horse though.
I have seen a vet miss when injecting the stuff, the horse moved and the vet wasn't quick enough and half pulled the needle out but carried on injecting so half of it didn't go in the horse. When I pointed this out she (the vet) said it didn't matter!
 
He was trying to get it into the muscle and couldnt seem to get the needle in. Now- i have no idea if the thumping is normal, but when shadow/storm/Jake/deno have been done the were just gently injected and never even noticed it. If its normal obviously I wont mention it, but I am worried about how she will react when she is due in 6 months.....
 
The first time he had a go she just snorted and went very wide eyed, but when she saw it coming again she started backing into the corner of the stable, thirt time she was almost sitting on the floor- the final time she was dead still -with fear- se was very tense which is why i thought he was having problems..... I cant really say how hard he thumped her as I didnt feel it- but i could hear it, and she flinched every time. As it is, I'm not happy but this seems to be common practice from all your comments, my last vets must have been very skilled at doing it almost without anyone noticing! but they were both quite old......
 
Sounds like he could of been using the wrong needle. Hopefully in 6 months she will have a nicer time and it won't be a big issue for her.
 
Yeah my vet taps with fist - I was told this is so that the horse doesnt notice the needle going in.

Have your other horses had injections into the muscle before or IV injections? Iv there is no tapping with fist
 
If im honest Shadow has had alsorts when he had his Scintigraphy scans etc, Jake had a blood test which is different, Storm and Deno(mums little one) have both just had regular jabs which just were done without the tapping- in and out without any issues, never seen a vaccination done with the tapping (or in this case thumping -it was more than a mere tap) I didnt realise they could be done differently.....They say you learn something new every day
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To get a needle intra muscular in a horse needs a bit of a thump to be fair.... same with cows, sheep and pigglies, muscly critters.... 4 times to me means he was using a blunt needle to begin with... might mention that!!
 
Most vets in the practice use the thumping method.I was quite suprised last week when the vet came out to give my mare her second tet jab that he dident 'thump' her and dident take the needle off the syringe either.She diden't flinch with either method.
 
I was always taught to inject with three fairly firm taps with the back of the wrist then flip the hand and in on the forth. This is for 2 reasons, it slightly nums the area so the horse does not notice the needle and it helps the person injecting to use the correct force to actually get the needle staight into the muscle with no fuss as horse muscle is quite tough especially when tense! However 4 attempts and leaving a needle lying around does seem a bit unproffessional.
 
It's not really necessary to thump them when giving a i/m in the neck, mainly because it winds them up! You do when injecting in the hindquarters because you have more muscle to go through.
 
It is actually quite normal to 'thump' the area three times before putting the needle in. I don't see why the needle should be blunt as they always use disposable needles these days, they are used once then thrown away.
 
I know how you feel I had someone out to do my horses yearly booster jabs and he made a right hash of it and could not get the needle in properly. The more he faffed the more upset my horse got so it was a vicious circle. I wrote to tell the practice my experience and they wrote back defending the vet to the hilt! But it took me some time to un-due the trouble caused and he was nervy of the vet this time around for the first time ever.
 
I've always tapped with back of hand before turning hand to inject - I'd be more bothered about the location he chose if he kept hitting blood whilst doing IM on the neck - I've never had that (or seen it)
 
I would just make sure that you ask for a differnt vet in future.

A lot of vets 'thump' when they put the needle in - but four attempts??????? I wouldn't want them again.
 
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