Do you give your own vaccinations?

[MiniHoofBeats]

Just wondering if anyone here gives their own spring/fall vaccinations, what do you give and where/how? I am looking into doing them myself, any help would be much appreciated!

 

[FoRebel]

: I tend to like giving them in the neck. IMO, have your vet show you how to do it. That's how I learned to do shots...

:

 

[misfitminis]

I use to give my own until a vet told me that sometimes cataloge compaines do not store the vaccines properly and that if my horses came down with the illness that they were vaccinated for that there is no recourse. If a vaccine is given by a vet and the horse gets the disease it was vaccinated for then the drug company will foot the bill for health care cost associated with treatment for the illness as long as a vaccination history is on record with a vet.

In my area good veterinarians are hard to find. We have very few vets in our area. Some vets will only keep clients that have them give annual vaccinations. They tend to not service people who only a call a vet in an emergency. This puts many people in a tough situation. Especially those who can not afford a huge vet bill. I choose to have my vet vaccinate my horses for the added comfort of knowing if I have an emergency I will have a response.

 

[whimsical]

I do also give my own vaccines.

I give them in the neck. You may want to do a search of the forum. I know months ago someone posted some really nice pictures of the proper place to give it in the neck and hindquarters.

It is such a savings to do it myself.

Although I hadn't thought about recourse from the drug manufacturer. But luckily I haven't had a problem. And my horses haven't gotten sick.

 

[maplegum]

I used to vaccinate my larger horses years ago. It took me a while to get the hang of it. I remember getting the courage to *** in the needle in his neck, then panicked and ripped it right out again! Then had to put it back in again - That poor horse was a pin cushion :new_shocked:

Now we have Bailey and the vet came out and taught my hubby how to do it. Right into his cushioned little butt. The vet said that this was a good spot for him rather than his neck.

Hubby has to do it for the 1st time next week. All I can say that i'm glad that it is him doing it and not me...for Bailey's sake!

My vet bought along the vaccines with her so they came directly from the surgery, not a stockfeed place.

 

[Ashley]

Yep we do our own......or I should say my uncle does them for me. I cant handle shots or anything "tramatic" like that the horses. I have a tendance to try and faint.

WE only give ours 4-way. But I am thinking about haveing the vet give my show horses/traveling horses strangles this year as well.

OH and we give them in the butt. THat way if they have any soreness after the fact they can still eat fine. ONe year we had alot of them sore for a day or to. Much rather them walk a bit off then not be able to drop there heads to eat.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I do all my own here too. It saves a bundle of money, but you do have to know how to give a shot. Have your vet show you...(you can practice on a orange) I give mine all in the hindleg (hamstring~, it has alot of muscle in this area) . I also make sure I have a reaction shot on hand, just in case.(this I get thru my vet) I only use Encevac or Prestige shots. I have ordered form a few differant places. Corinne

 

[CLC Stables]

I am an in the butt advocate. I have always given my own shots.

 

[Miniv]

Butt shot giver here too........actually, I assist -- Larry gives the shots.

I'm okay giving foals their selenium shot at birth, but after that, Larry takes over. I know how, but am too tentative while he gets it done and over with.

Our primary annual shot is Prestige V. We quickly started learning to do it ourselves when our numbers got up there.

Highly advise that you have a vet or vet technition teach you and then stand over you when you start doing it on your own.

MA

 

[Katie Iceton]

I do my own but get them from the vet, and do it while the vet is there....but I o them myself...but I dont know if I would ever do it without getting a vet there to help....

 

[shminifancier]

Yes I do I give all of them from rabies to WNV and I have always given them in the Butt area, lots of muscle there.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

I give them in the neck - too many flying needles in the past from butt shots! I save those for when we have to give pencillin!

What we do - my son will distract the horse, scratch butt, give it carrots, and I rub neck, vaccinate and then we massage the area really well for about a minute. We never had a problem doing it that way. I do have a group of mares (same herd/age) that were given vaccinations too low on their neck and all have the same knot in the exact same place. It is good to get your vet or someone experienced to show you how to vaccinate.

We buy all our vaccines from Jeffers and pay for the styrofoam cooler and extra bag of ice.

 

[lilhorseladie]

I give my own usually in the neck triangle area unless I need to do it in the butt for a foal or something. I usually do the 1,2,3 method. Fist flat, I bump, bump, then shoot. Never do they jump, and then I rub it down.

 

[chandab]

I've been giving my own shots for the last 20 years; first with the big horses and now with the minis (still have 4 full-size, too). I usually give in the neck as that is easiest for me when I'm on my own; I usually have no help and would rather not tie up for shots. Today, I gave my first shot in the rump muscle, it was a piece of cake, she didn't move much at all (and when she did the needle didn't pop out like it tends to in the neck), actually had someone to hold for me today.

 

[Sue_C.]

Butt shot giver here too, and that is on the advice of my Vet. Less chance of sniffness causing the horse to stop eating, most times, it is easier to work it out in the bum.

I do have one mare, who honest to goodness, you can NOT get a needle in either her neck, or her butt. Her, I give the shots in the "big" part of her chest, and she doesn't even flinch. Anywhere else, and that darned needle will BOUNCE right off her body. Only thing I can think of is that she was badly "shot" as a youngster prior to us buying her.

 

[Jill]

I have been doing my own shots for about a decade and also prefer to vaccinate them in their butts.

 

[Girrawheen]

Hi

This is a very interesting topic for me also.

I was told by my vet to inject into the chest muscle, but then the breeder I purchased my horse from came over and showed me how to inject into the neck (the 1,2,3 ***).

I would be very interested to know more about injecting into the butt as I have tetanus/strangles due very soon. I know this might seem like a lot to ask, but if somebody has a digital camera would it be possible to demonstrate a butt shot (without needle would be fine) in terms of location.

Many thanks

 

[billiethekid40]

I've done my own too, and have used the neck. He doesn't even feel it when I use the neck. I too have had bent and broken needles from butt shots and have never had a problem with a sore neck from a vaccination. If I ever did have a problem, I would switch to the bum though. My horse just never seems to have any reaction to vaccinations at all, some horses do.

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Where can you purchase the shots? I like to do 5-way, strangles, WNV, and potomac (that's what my vets been doing anyhow) can you order the Intra-Nasal strangles or only the needle shot version? My vet gives intra-nasal and I like that because it's one less poke!

I will talk with my vet about which ones are best in the neck vs. the butt. She used to be my "everything" vet but recently she opened her own new practice and now she still does a little bit of everything, but she specializes in foaling, IA, mare care, etc. anything to do with mares and breeding! So I don't think she'd be offended if I wanted to start doing my own shots. Her old practice was taken under new ownership and they are who I would contact for emergencies and such.

But I still want to research everything and of course get my vets help before I start doing anything myself!

 

[Sandee]

This was sent to me in an email so if I've inadvertantly used someone's picture, sorry. It shows the areas for giving shots and it worked great for me. However I was so chicken the first time that my poor girl got about half her hip clipped (and it was winter) so I wouldn't have to deal with hair. The email reads: "...use 1", 22 or 23 gauge needles for routine vaccinations for the minis. I believe a 3/4" needle is too short, unless it's for a tiny foal. If giving antibiotics, which may be more viscous/'thicker', I would use a larger gauge needle-no smaller(or larger, for minis)than a 20 gauge."