Tranquilizer questions

[Mominis]

On the 21st, Shake has an appointment with the vet to have his teeth floated and wolf teeth extracted, if needed. Always, for several hours after a horse is tranquilized, we remove all hay and feed from them so that they don't choke. But I had never thought about their eating before they are tranquilized and what effects it may have on the digestive process.

Does anyone know if the digestive process is slowed or compromised in some way if a horse is tranquilized an hour or more after being fed? Are there any other potenital problems associated with a horse eating more than an hour before being tranquilized. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Also, when tranquilizing a mini, are there any problems or things I should know (other than the dosage) that are different than when a large horse is tranquilized? As I said, my vet is doing the tranquilizing and the floating. I just like to be informed, so that I'm sure that the vet is doing the right things and using the right medications for my horse. I guess I'm a little over-protective. LOL

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

If its a stallion, absolutely no acepromazine.

 

[MountainMeadows]

Mimi

You might not need to tranq him - we have floated and pulled wolf teeth without needing to many many times -- far preferable IMO. If you can cross tie & also take a 3rd rope to the floor to prevent rearing your vet might have no problem with doing the job. I only tranq as a very last resort - I trust my vet completely, but if we can get the job done w/o it is better for all involved. And as Nathan mentioned -- NO ACE ! !

Stacy

 

[Coventry Lane Farm]

We pull the water bucket until they are back to normal as a saftey factor because of accidental drowning.

 

[picasso]

I have to ask "why no ace"?? I have not ever heard this, so curious to learn more. Thanks

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Ace can cause penile paralysis in male horses. Its more of a risk in intact males, but its still present in geldings.

 

[MountainMeadows]

Giving ace to a male horse can and often does cause him to "drop" -- in rare cases this can become a permanent condition and he will be unable to withdraw his penis - obviously nature has things figured out and being able to withdraw his penis is what Mother Nature intended - leaving it exposed can only lead to problems. From what I understand this can happen to geldings as well as stallions - perhaps Nathan can pipe in here and let us know if the geldings also have a potential problem

Stacy

 

[disneyhorse]

I have my horses sedated for floating... no sense in having it uncomfortable for them or the vet.

My guy had his wolf teeth floated... I can tell you he would have been MISERABLE unsedated as they were pretty tough to get out (but not overly huge). He sure was sore for a day or two after, I felt kind of bad. He's over it now.

As for feed, you don't have to worry about him eating before. He can eat or not eat, no big deal. Horses cannot vomit, so no danger there (the danger in most animals is vomiting while sedated and choking). It won't affect him. And most horses can have food in their stall within an hour or two after their procedure, as long as they are fairly alert looking.

At any rate, I think it will go fine

Andrea

 

[Mominis]

Thanks for the replies. If you haven't noticed, I'm a little bit of a paranoid new 'parent.' I have had the big guys for a long time, but I want to make sure I'm fully informed about differences in the minis. You have all been a wonderful source of information with all of this.

I will make sure he does not get Ace. I've always skipped Ace in stallions, but I've given it with the geldings many times. It makes sense that it would effect them the same, I don't know why I never thought of it that way before.

His appointment is at 1:00, and if his new vet runs according to veterinary standard time, that means he'll be there around 1:30 LOL. Shake usually gets his lunch at noon, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't have anything to worry about with his digesting the feed that he consumes before the vet shows up to do him. It was originally supposed to be just an exam, but the other day, I checked his teeth myself. He hasn't been dropping any feed at all, but he does have sharp points on his molars, so I called the vet's office and upgraded the visit to a float and wolf teeth pull. Thanks again for all the good information.

I'm a little nervous using a different vet than the one that I've used for years, but my regular vet hasn't had much experience with minis. So, I checked around and found this one, who does do minis. Another bonus is that he lives just 5 minutes from the boarding facility and so he can be there with a moment's notice in an emergency.

My regular vet knows me and knows that I am meticulous when it comes to record keeping, reseraching any procedures that I'm having done that I'm not familiar with, and is okay with the fact that I'm very Type A and want to know everything he's doing to my horse, up to an including what drugs are given, in what amounts, with what gague needle, and what the potential side effects are as well as getting detailed follow up instructions.

LOL Now even I feel like I sound a little like a control freak. LOL

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Yes geldings have the same problem, but the risk is 100x less, plus (as bad as this sounds) amputation is an option with a gelding, whereas its not an option for a breeding stallion. Ace is used very often to get geldings to drop for sheath cleaning.

 

[AppyLover2]

I was just going to ask about sheath cleaning. Thanks Nathan for confirming that. Just had my 2 geldings cleaned on Friday and found myself wondering if it was Ace that he used.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

More than likely that's what he used

I use ace on geldings as well, its very common. Like I said, the risk is 100x higher for stallions then geldings.

 

[~Lisa~]

we had a gelding at our hunter barn who was given ace to be clipped. He had to be amputated I personally will never use ace on a gelding or stallion even if the risk is less in geldings that doesnt help much when one of your horses is the one it happens to

 

[Ellen]

My vet insists on tranqilzing. but he used xlylazine. No stalion interactions.

ntil this vet, no one ever sedated by horses. And they all did well. This is simply his protocal. Sometimes IMHO Ace can have the opposite affect. Also domosedan works well too.

 

[Mominis]

The update

Shake's vet visit was postponed until today because the vet got hung up doing some cattle. This was my first time using this vet and I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!!! He used xylazine (spelling?) to tranq Shake when he floated him and before he very smoothly pulled Shake's wolf teeth, he gave him some lydocane (spelling?) injections to make it easier on Shake. I've seen a lot of wolf teeth pulled and this is the first time I can recall seeing the vet be so considerate as to give lydocane. I really like this guy. By the way, the wolf teeth looked like little tiny Tic-Tacs. ROFL!!

 

[Julie/Azariah]

if ANY sedation is used here to do ANYTHING on a big or little horse, stallion, gelding or mare... they are tied tight until they are wide awake.

We lost a wonderful stallion to choke about 3-4 years ago.

We removed "all" the hay from his stall, but there were little pieces left on the floor that he nibbled on.

Within an hour of him being floated, he was choking, thousands of dollars later attempting to dislodge the blockage failed. Necropsy showed a 2-3" "wad" of hay in his esophagus. If they can be done without sedation it is best, but sometimes it just is not possible.