Giving Pills to Horses - Do They Make Something to Use?

[R3]

Since the discussion on ulcers and giving Prilosec (the human medication Omeprazole) which is the same active ingredient that is the expensive Gastroguard, I have been wondering about how to get a Prilosec pill into a horse without crushing or liquifying it. (If you crush or break the pill, it is damaged by the stomach acid and loses its potency.)

I know in cattle, they have a plastic or metal device that you can put a pill into, insert the tube into the mouth to the back of the tongue, then press the plunger to expel the pill over the back of the tongue. But, even the small cattle pills are HUGE compared to a human size Prilosec pill, so I don't know how you could adapt a cow one for a little pill.

Is there something like that for horses, that would work on small pill, and could you safely 'push' a pill into a horse without them choking?

 

[txminipinto]

I've always crushed them and mixed them with apple sauce. But I've never used Prilosec.

 

[wwminis]

You can get a small animal pill popper from a small animal vet! We have one for big dogs and cats! I think it would work great on minis! Though, I haven't tried it myself!

Bill

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The dog one works fine, although so does just taking the tongue and holding it gently whilst slipping your hand in- I coat the pill in margarine or butter- this will not affect it but will help it go down OK.

 

[Charlotte]

Julie, I have had discussion with some vets about using that drug in horses and the problem with the 'off label' uses is that the drug has to be in the correct form in the correct area of the digestive system or it isn't effective. For that reason I have been sticking with Ulcerguard or Gastroguard (same drug-different strengths) as they are formulated for horses.

Not much help am I?

Charlotte

 

[mini1]

Find a supplier that sells sheep products. They should work well with your horses.

Kelly

 

[hhpminis]

I was looking around at Petco today and I did see a pill popper for dogs. It was about 6-8 inches long and it was kinda like a plunger, similar to a wormer tube only with a big opening, and I thought it would work for minis. It was under $10, cant remember exactly but I was not put off at the price at all.

For that matter, why could you not convert an empty wormer tube to work?

 

[Robin1]

Mix it in a teaspoon of peanut butter so that it is completely covered. Then put it on your finger and stick it in the roof of his mouth.

I have horses that get excited when they see me come with peanut butter and will wrap their lips around my finger and suck off all the peanut butter. OH!

Robin

 

[Jill]

I like Robin's peanutbutter idea.

With the pill poppers and pushing it down the horses throat, is that likely to cause choke? (I don't know, sincerely asking.)

 

[Margo_C-T]

Although peanut butter is an excellent way to get a pill 'down' a dog, I'm not so sure it could be counted on to get an UNBROKEN pill down a horse, because anytime a horse gets something edible in its mouth, the instinct is going to be to CHEW it, and if they get it the 'blob' of p'nut butter over to their molars, well....

If you don't want the horse to be able to 'chew' a pill, you will HAVE to get it far enough back that the horse immediately 'has' to swallow it whole, which isn't easy, even on a mini. A 'balling gun'(which is what the basic implement for this purpose is called; the 'pill poppers' a just a form of this), that is made for other livestock, WILL probably have too large an opening to 'hold' a small, 'human-sized' pill inside of it until you can get it back far enough into the throat;they are made to 'hold' relatively large boluses/pills, and what is likely to happen is that the pill willl fall out of the implement before you can get it where you want it. Jill, I don't think that choke would be a problem, as what you are putting back there is so relatively small; choke is almost always caused by something of some size, and/or that won't 'slide' easily down the throat.

Balling guns are trickiest to use successfully in horses, because horses have such a full complement of teeth, compared to most of the other animals they are used for(cattle, sheep, etc.) I'd have to see the ones for dogs to see if I thought they'd work for minis; I still have a couple of 'big' horse-sized balling guns around somewhere, but haven't tried to use them in MANY years.

I really think the 'best' way might be pretty much as Rabbit suggested- dry your hand, take a firm grasp on the tongue and bring it out one side of the mouth, then use your extended fingers to push the pill 'way back in the center of the throat, release tongue, elevate muzzle and massage throat to encourage an immediate swallow. Lubing the pill just a bit might not hurt. This likely won't be easy; horses aren't usually very cooperative when it comes to things like this! But if it is IMPERATIVE that a pill 'go down' whole, then you have to do whatever will yield that result!

BTW-I have had good results using ranitadine to treat presumed ulcers. When I had to use it on my miniature gelding(34", @ 250 lbs. in weight),I crushed up @ 8 75 mg. pills, added just a bit of water, administered it w/ a dose syringe daily for, I think, three weeks to a month. When my full-sized Paint mare showed classic signs, mainly loss of interest in her hay(and she was ALWAYS an eager eater!), and general depression, I hauled her down to town to my vet. We didn't scope her, but presumed ulcers based on her symptoms, and she was prescribed 'horsey' ranitadine-LARGE pills, that I crushed and gave in the same way, for a month. By the end of the second day she began receiving the ranitadine, her appetite AND general happy demeanor were back, and she never had any more issues. I did change her feeding routine a bit, and added @ 3/4 cup/day of corn oil, because I'd read in Equus of a study that suggested that a good amount of daily corn oil might act as an ulcer 'preventative'. I still give a daily recommended dose of U-GARD to the miniature who apparently had ulcers, and so far, so good.

FWIW, from my experience.

Margo

 

[Witts Mini Horse Ranch]

I came across this at Valleyvet.com,

PillCrusher/Medication Syringe

A faster, easier, more convenient way to crush pills and administer medications. This 60cc syringe has special "grinding teeth" to crush tablets, then allows the addition of water to dissolve the crushed tablet. The dissolved medication can then be administered orally or added to feed or water.

Valley vet pil crusher/medication syringe

kinda nifty