Thank you everyone for your comments and well-wishes for Quaid. Within a few days of starting on his antibiotics his appetite returned and he's back to his normal self.
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| happily grazing |
You wouldn't know anything was wrong at all, except that I keep shoving a syringe in his mouth twice a day. Quaid will not eat meds in his feed no matter how I disguise it. And I've tried everything to make it palatable (even in a syringe): apple sauce, molasses, sugar, maple syrup, etc. All it does it make us a sticky mess so I now just dissolve the antibiotic in a small bolus of warm water and squirt it to the back of his troat.
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| prepping the drugs |
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| locked and loaded, lol |
Quaid is really good about me administering his drugs. He clearly doesn't like it and yet he still accepts that I'm doing it. I'm not sure where Carmen and I'd be by now. I don't even need a halter. I try to do it fast and matter of factly and not make a big deal out of it. I find that usually makes things worse.
One thing I've really learned with Quaid is drug administration. And how to take a temperature. Poor guy. He's had to have a course of medication every year since he turned two. Hopefully at some point this won't happen anymore.
Doozy is the same — much MUCH easier to just dose her vs hoping and praying she’ll eat it on her own… tho I have found nature valley granola bars crumbled into grain did help a little bit when she was on SMZs once. Re: oil on the plunger, that’s a good idea I might try. Usually I just submerge the plunger by itself in water before trying to push it into the syringe barrel … but it can be a real PITA sometimes. We do it often enough (she gets dosed with sucralfate before every trailer ride) that I’m always interested in ways to make it easier!!!
ReplyDeleteI find that over time they get harder to depress. The oil definitely helps.
DeleteOh! I'm glad he's doing better. Thank goodness for antibiotics. I forgot to reply to the first post, do you have something like Equi-Spot in Canada? It is a 3 week high concentration topical permethrin. I wonder if it is not legal there because I suppose your vet would have recommended it already.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure. I’ll look into it.
DeleteEqui-Spot really works! Unless your horse is allergic : ( It's like Frontline for horses. I had some sent to me via post from a kind blogger and the customs in Cologne took it straight away from me and made me sign that they could destroy it. Yah, no sending meds via post! ~lytha
DeleteI can’t get it here in Canada but I’m looking at some options
DeleteAh, frustrating...
DeleteBrooks is exactly the same he's so bad about taking any sort of med or supplement - I swear he can smell it because the second I get near his stall with it he turns away from me and won't come out of the corner until I put it away - I'm also happy to hear Quaid is doing better!!
ReplyDeletePoor Brooks.
DeleteSo glad he's feeling better! I am making a note about the oil on the plunger, I've never thought of that! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI dose Al with some antacid before we ride. 6 oz of it. Which I have to break into two giant syringe fulls. It's a LOT! And he's gotten so good about it he actually opens his mouth for the syringe. Horses can be so smart sometimes. Glad that Quaid seems to know it's for his own good too.
Quaid really is a sweetheart
DeleteWynnie cut her forehead super badly as a yearling and patiently tolerated everything I did to help her, even though it was really painful. The vet who stitched her head, though? She sees him twice a year for his shots, and he absolutely cannot get near her. I don't need a halter to give her shots, but this poor guy can't touch her!
ReplyDeletePoor vets. They get such a bad rap with horses!
DeleteI’m happy to hear he’s feeling better. The oil on the plunger is a good idea. Necessity is the mother of invention when it comes to horses!
ReplyDeleteIt really is!
DeleteAww, good boy (even if it would be easier if he'd eat his meds in his feed).
ReplyDeleteIt would be so much easier.
DeleteWhat a good boy! Glad he is feeling better .
ReplyDeleteHe’s a good boy.
DeletePhantom was the same. Not a chance of eating any meds voluntarily, but had no issue with my syringing it in for two years of Prascend.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that Quaid is on the mend!
What a good horse Phantom was.
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