I'm confused about Bute......

[Mini Wonders Farm]

Hello everyone!

I'm so confused about the use of Bute in miniatures.

We have a 2 year old mare that is acting a little off, she's off her feed and isn't drinking like she usually does. Which is just about the way her mother was 6 weeks after she was born and she died within 3 days.

So we called the vet. He came and checked her out, couldn't find anything right off, we're waiting on blood work which should be done tomorrow. Until then give her half a bute twice a day is just about all he had to say. I thought you should listen to what your vet tells you, but I don't want to hurt my mini either. Could anyone help me out???

 

[Genie]

Banamine is preferred for minis by our vet. We have never used bute and from what I have heard it would make me nervous.

 

[WeeOkie]

Banamine is preferred for minis by our vet. We have never used bute and from what I have heard it would make me nervous.

I don't know what happened to my post, just said basically what the next post does.

 

[Mini Wonders Farm]

I am nervous and at the time I never thought to ask about Banamine.

This same vet had us do the same thing for a mini stallion we had gelded, he was a bad boy, hard to deal with, normally a very sweet boy, just not so around the vet. Anyway we did give it to him not knowing at the time what we are fast learning now. We only gave it to him twice & it didn't seem to hurt him, it helped with the swelling.

 

[Minimor]

Minis are very touchy about bute--you want to give a Mini the smallest dose possible for as short a time as possible.

Are your tablets 1 gram each? If so, that's a 1/2 gram twice a day--an amount I would be leary about giving to a Mini. For a 1000 lb horse the maximum dose is, as I recall, 2g twice a day, and that is for short term only. While 1g per day may seem okay, by weight, for a Mini, from everything I've heard Minis have a lower tolerance for bute than big horses do--which is why I would be leary of that dose for a mini.

I am not a vet, but have had horses and have played vet for them enough to know if and when I should question my vet on a prescribed treatment, and in view of that I would question my vet if she were to tell me to give bute to a Mini that is somewhat off. Here we use banamine for that. The only thing we have ever used bute for is arthritis and laminitis. For a horse that is off its feed, colic would be our first suspicion, and for that we would give a dose of banamine.

 

[Mini Wonders Farm]

Thank you so much Diane of Castle Rock Miniatures, you make me feel better. By the way I love

your avatar picture, I just happen to own her full bother, Reeses Buckeroos Top Cat. Thanks again.

 

[shorthorsemom]

My vet gave bute to my pony for founder, she said it was safe and she used it all the time. My pony died from bute toxicity. Horrible experience. My 10 hand pony survived the founder and was recovering only to die from complications from the bute. Just thought I would share my experience, didn't take very long for the bute to react either. Horrible,

I would never use it again no matter what, when there are safer things out there to use for pain that work well. This was the vet doing the dosing and recommendation, not me.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

I've used Bute a few times, but I've never given half a tablet. The most I've given to my minis has been 1/4 tablet. I'm wondering if your vet is overestimating the weight of your mare?

 

[wildoak]

I have had vets overestimate the weight on minis, even my vet who works on a lot of them. Easy to do I think especially in winter hair. I've used Bute - carefully - on little ones who have foundered or have particular lameness issues and I dose it pretty minimally, but Banamine is usually my first choice esp for a colic type problem.

Shorthorsemom, so sorry about your pony - each horse is an individual, she must have been particularly sensitive to it. When our mare broke/dislocated her femur a couple of years ago the vet put her on bute post surgery and she stayed on it daily for 6-8 months! I would never have even considered using it like that but bute seemed to be the only thing that worked for her extreme situation and in her case, if she didn't survive the pain and post surgical issues she would have been put down anyway. She never went off feed, never got ulcers....but she's proven herself to be a pretty tough old gal.

jan

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had a mare with a mild case of laminitis a few years ago, and my vet had me give her 1/8 of a tablet of Bute once a day for a week. He said Bute works better for laminitis than Banamine. This was a 32" mare, if that helps. Good luck with your girl.

Melba

 

[GypsyMoonMinis]

Ya, I've heard the same thing from the vets about bute for laminitis, that banamine often won't touch the pain really. I did talk to my vet also about the use of bute in minis, as I was told not to use it. She said that danger lies in the dosage, as many who have already posted can attest too. It can be difficult to guess their weight and dose them properly, so with such a small window for error its better to be safer with another drug unless you must use the bute. I would be terrified to give it though. She also said she doesn't advise mini owners to use Quest wormer, as it also has a higher chance of over dosing where as zimectrin for example is much safer. Something else too though is that bute can cause ulcers, and i've learned just how quickly ulcers in horses can occur. Hope all goes well for you!

 

[normajeanbaker]

I have given bute to one of my Mini's a few years back. She had a very, very high fever and I was told by my vet that the bute would help reduce hte fever. It did. My mare is about 225-250 pounds and got 1/4 tablet. We had no problems giving her that amount. Like any medication, you just need to be careful on a dosage. Bute doesn't have that "safety zone" on dosage size like some meds do. I have used it with no ill effects, but was also very careful on a dosage size. I do, however, feel safer using Banamine on these guys then bute.

Jen

 

[mizbeth]

Yes, I had a colt that was sick and treated by a Vet in Floresville (Dr. Hill) and he overdosed him with BUTE IV, for days even though I insisted Bute was not for minis, he insisted it was and banamine was not good. A BAD vet, my horse died some days later a horrible and painful death on a Sunday morning - he was screaming in pain and died before the Vet got there to put him down. It was the most horrible experience I have ever had. I will not use Bute unless it is absolutely necessry and also very conservative with when I do use it.

Jan - you gave your mare medications for ulcers as I recall. Everyday in fact to prevent side effects from the Bute. How is she doing now BTW?

 

[mizbeth]

Sorry this was a double post. It did not appear the message loaded, so I hit the key again.

 

[Mini Wonders Farm]

First off I want to thank everyone that posted, It's nice to have other people to talk about minis!

Update, 2 year old mare still not well, maybe eating a little better, nothing like normal and now has diarrhea. Got blood work back, kidneys, sugar, liver all okay, low in calcium, could be from not eating like usual and her white blood cells are a little high could be viral. We haven't given her any more bute, the one time we did, it didn't seem to do any good, if anything made her worse. She hasn't had any or much or of a fever. Has any one had something like this before?

 

[chandab]

Update, 2 year old mare still not well, maybe eating a little better, nothing like normal and now has diarrhea. Got blood work back, kidneys, sugar, liver all okay, low in calcium, could be from not eating like usual and her white blood cells are a little high could be viral. We haven't given her any more bute, the one time we did, it didn't seem to do any good, if anything made her worse. She hasn't had any or much or of a fever. Has any one had something like this before?

Not the usual symptoms, but any chance she has ulcers? Bute would likely worsen ulcers, since it is known to cause them. Just a thought.

[speaking of which, I have a girl that is a little off, and will try ulcer meds tomorrow, as she is prone to them. Got them on a regular basis when she was younger, outgrew most of the things that would set her off, but there are still a couple things.]

 

[~Lisa~]

Bute and Banimine are not interchangeable. There is a time that Bute is called for and Banimine will not give the desired effect. The key to proper Bute treatment is an accurate weight- the lowest dosage and for the least amount of time to treat the issue

 

[txminipinto]

Bute is generally reserved for orthopedic pain while Banamine is much better for soft tissue (colic) pain. But can be given safely to minis but only when there is an accurate weight. Good luck with your mini!

 

[HGFarm]

I have used both Bute and Banamine with no problems with either, but never for an extended amount of time. I think they both have good uses, but be careful it's not abuse. I dont think either are made for long term use or to over dose.

 

[lil hoofbeats]

Well,... everything has "side effects"... One of the side effects of water is drowning, but in spite of repeated warnings, i have drank 2 glasses of it by eleven o'clock this morning.

I would take your Vets advice, otherwise why pay him for his opinion.