Suggestions of administering meds please

[Brandi*]

I have to give the new guy 4 pills, twice a day in some kind of good tasting soup. The problem is, I have tried apple sauce which he doesn't seem to care for and I tried molasses today. The applesauce is much less messy but I can't seem to get it all in the suringe! OH! I lose a lot of it out the other end. The molasses just smells gross and is VERY sticky! When Melody was sick all I had to do was crush her pills and mix them in applesauce and she would lick every last drop up. Not this guy. He doesn't seem interested so I have to shove it down his throat. Maybe I am not using the suringe right? Is there a technique to getting all the applesauce in it?

 

[Black Magic]

Are you using a 60cc medication syringe with a big end on it? Shoving down the throat works for me with some horses that will spit it out if it's in any sort of soupy stuff. There is a pet syringe for dogs and cats that holds pills my Mom used to use. I'd look for one of those. ONe horse, I drove a screw driver through and made a deep hole the size of a straw.. she loves apples.. and you know.. she found it and still spit out the pill... Horses.. just too darn clever sometimes.. Lol..

God Bless

 

[Boss Mare]

I had a very picky older horse that had to get Bute quite often (not a mini), however.. he was picky, picky, picky in his old age and what I did was buy plain ol' oatmeal from the grocery store.. I mixed a teaspoon or so of applesauce in a palmful of oatmeal.. maybe a hint of molasses for more taste.. I made it the texture that would allow me to make it into a ball.. I hid the pill(s) inside.. he never knew!

OR.... if I had to, I would break the pill up into SEVERAL small pieces and give it handful by handful of grain until he eventually got the whole pill.. talk about time consuming..

Oh, the things we must do..

It's so much easier to give a dog a pill.. wrap in a piece of cheese or meat.. yum, yum..

 

[Mona]

I have a mare on Thyro-L powdered medicine. She needs 1/2 tsp daily, so what I do, is put a teaspoon of applesauce into a tiny plastic container, sprinkle the powder on top, mix it all in, and draw it up in the syringe.

Now for the syringe...I use a 20cc syringe. I had my husband drill out the small part inside where the needle would screw onto, and that then leaves a little large hole. It works great for sucking up the thick apple sauce. If you get too much air and you run out of room to draw up the syringe any more, just place your thumb over the tip (holding it upside down) and give it a couple good shakes to get the stuff down to the bottom, and then slowly push up the plunger, giving yourself more space again. I just squirt this directly into the back of the mare's mouth each morning.

I will see if I can get a couple pics here for you. Give me a few minutes...

 

[Mona]

OK, here are a couple of photos of what I use every day.

 

[disneyhorse]

What sort of pill is it? Most pills (Bute, SMZs, Metronidazole, etc.) can be dissolved into water which makes it easier to eat. My horses get a full bucket of beet pulp, grain, supplements, etc. each day so it's easy to mix a couple little dissolved pills in there with little change to the overall taste.

The syringe idea works the best in case the horse is adamant about not eating it. In that case, dissolve it with apple juice or even just plain water and shove it on down.

Andrea

 

[Brandi*]

The pills dissolve nicely in water. But I am having a problem getting the apple sauce/water mix into the syringe. I think it is just too darn big! It is a 60 mL one. I will go tomorrow and find a smaller one. The vet gave me this one probably because thats all they had. The tip of it makes it hard to suck up all the stuff. Do you think I could cut the tip off of this one? Would that make it easier?

I am going to try the yogurt in the morning! He might like it better then the applesauce. I would mix it in with some grain but he isn't hooked on that yet either. He has only had milk and hay so he is just now being introduced to different types of treats.

 

[Genie]

A turkey baster from the dollar store works well.

 

[disneyhorse]

Yep, saw the end off of that syringe and it will work just fine. Just make sure you grind down any sharp parts (I'm ghetto and rub it on the concrete until it's smooth after I use a good pair of scissors to cut the end off...)

Andrea

 

[Brandi*]

Ok great! Thanks

 

[ThreeCFarm]

My horses love vanilla pudding. I dissolve pills in a small amount of water (in the syringe), then shake it up, suck up some vanilla pudding and shake it again. Then I give it to the horse and after a few times, they follow me around wanting more!

I got this tip from Charlotte several years ago.

 

[barnbum]

One of my fillies had a sinus infection and needed SMZs twice a day for 7 days. I dissolved it in a little hot water--then added a tbsp or 2 of Karo's syrup. I took the smallish bowl to the barn and Blessing licked it clean every time.

This method took much less time than syringing it in--for her anyway. I was surprised it was so easy. All horses are different though.

 

[cjmm10]

+

I use cherry jello . Just put your pills in the syringe in hot water, put a 1/2 teaspoon of jello powder

in there & shake it up. There ya go, they love the sugar taste

Just be sure it is cool when you

give it.

 

[Dream]

Brandi,

The syringe you have is perfect even with the tip on. Here's another way to do it if you don't like sucking the mixture out of the cup. Pull the plunger out, put the pills, molasses and the warm water in (keep your finger over the tip), carefully place the rubber of the plunger over the opening and turn the syringe over so the tip points up. Once the stuff slides away from the tip you can remove your finger (otherwise everything will shoot out from the pressure of the plunger). Now expel some of the air so the plunger is back in the syringe. Cover the tip with your finger again and shake vigorously until all the pills are dissolved. Sometimes you get pills or sludge left in the syringe after to give it to the horse. Suck up a little more water, shake again and give the rest.

Aim to make the mixture a little runnier than paste so it's harder to spit out.

 

[Laura]

[SIZE=12pt]Becky (Redrock) recommended pudding to me many, many years ago for mixing dissolved or ground pills with. Butterscotch is a favorite for our guys [/SIZE]

 

[Brandi*]

Thanks so much everyone

I cut the tip off this morning and it was much easier to keep the stuff from shooting out the end. I only lost a tiny bit this time. He still didn't seem thrilled about the whole experience but what can you do lol. I wouldn't want someone shoving that thing down my throat either. Then again I would probably just lick up the applesauce and be done with it already

 

[Charlene]

i use big marshmallows. i've never had a horse that didn't like them. you might have to poke it into his mouth the first time but once he gets a taste, he'll climb a tree for them. i just use a sharp knife to poke a hole in it, jam the pill down the hole, squeeze the end together and viola!

 

[Alex]

if the pills dissolve heres what i did.

I dissolved them in a tiny bit of water and added a little honey to it.( my guy loves honey!) i got all his grain ready and put it all together and he ate it!

 

[Miniv]

Apple JUICE works in a syringe too........

 

[Brandi*]

He actually seemed to enjoy his dose tonight