Has anyone's vet ever prescribed......

[Sanny]

And did you have any reactions or bad side-effects because of it.

The mini is getting Penicillin 10CC one time a day (AM) and Tribrissen dosed for the horses weight one time a day (PM) for two weeks. The penicillin is a higher dose than usual IMO for his size, the mini is 29" and weighs approx 175 lbs. The vet wants to treat him very aggressively in order to clear up the infection and get him healthy and hopefully avoid what would be about a $2,000 surgery. He did several x-rays before making the decision about how to treat it and he felt he was borderline as to whether or not we could avoid surgery which I think basically would be a complicated root canal. he wants to see how he is doing in two weeks but already says he will probably be keeping him on antibiotics for longer than that.

I trust my vet, he is excellent and specializes in horses, is trained to do equine dental work and is very experienced with and knows minis very well. I'm just curious about this approach and anyone elses experiences with that much antibiotic in the system for so long and mixing different antibiotics. The mini hates the shot, which I am giving him and I feel bad too. The penicillin dose is a lot to give in one shot and I am sure it is painful and uncomfortable and it takes a while plus it is cold from being refrigerated and that can't feel good either. Anyone with suggestions on how to make it a better experience for him? He is going to hate me by the time this is all over.

It is for a retained cap that became infected. The tooth/cap has been pulled. The permanent tooth was unable to come down because of the cap and got involved in the whole infection. It caused a lot of facial swelling and an abcess on the face on the outside of the upper jaw in the area of the tooth. The abcess has been lanced and drained and throughly cleaned and flushed out. It has only been two days and he looks so much better and except for when he has to stand for his shot, he seems to feel much better.

The vet does also have me giving a Pro Biotic to hopefully avoid stomach problems and/or diarrhea.

Just an FYI / learning experience about all of this too...I called my vet when the facial swelling started and he had me take his temp to see if there was an infection going on. I also clipped his face all around the swelling to get a better look and there seemed to be marks on his face right below the worst of the swelling. Temp was normal and based on my description the vet thought maybe he'd been kicked by another horse so we gave him Banamine and just watched him for a few days. Swelling seemed to go down but actually things got worse. I should have just taken him in right away when it first appeared. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten so bad. The vet said sometimes with a localized infection it is tricky because they won't run a temperature.

 

[Becky]

10cc is a lot of penicillin for a horse that size. I think the max I have given to any of mine is 5cc at a time. But to answer your question, yes the two antibiotics can be given simultaneously. Depending on the infection, my vet has occasionally prescribed both. They are used to treat different types of bacteria.

My personal recommendation is to be sure to keep him on daily probiotics while you are giving the antibiotics. You need to keep the proper gut flora active.

If you're not doing it, I would warm the syringe of penicillin in my hand or under my arm before injecting it. It will inject easier and faster if it is room temp.

Good luck with him and be sure to let us know how he does.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

As said...warm the syringe in your hand or quickly run it under warm water before injecting. Be sure to move your shot sites around as you can so no one gets sore. Penicillin is a great drug bit is hard to push in....10mm seems a but much for such a small horse tho......the norm is 1mm/100 lbs so (JMHO I'm not a vet) 5mm would be aggressive enough for one so small and easier to get all in quickly. No harm is asking your vet.

 

[CKC]

I can't give advice on both, but I had to start giving our weanling gelding penicilin this week. We were left with 10 shots. We were unable to give the shot. It was just too much so I got them to give me a powder. I can't remember the name right off, but it's so much nicer. Luckily, my boy is eating it mixed with his feed(soaked beet pulp, bran and grain). It only has to be given once a day.

I hope your boy is doing better soon.

 

[Pepipony]

When I was first diagnosed with a couple tick diseases ( bacterial and ricketsial) I did many rounds of antibiotics, 2 at a time, for over 4 years. Like other said, keep up the probiotics and watch for a Herxheimer reaction. With the dosage that high he 'may' kill off too much bacterium too quick and have that reaction. Which looks and feels like an allergic reaction. Its when too many toxics are released frlom the dying bacteria. I drank tri-salts/water to help clear my system, dont know what your mini would need.

Best of luck! Hope you can avoid the surgery. Heather

 

[Jill]

I'm not sure if this will help or not, but just in case, I am pretty sure than in 2003, my then filly (Khaki, grown now) got pnuemonia at her trainers and the vet put her on both Naxcell (sp?) and Tribressen. She recovered well... probably just about in time to nearly die from colic but that's a whole other situation.

 

[CyndiD]

I recently had to treat a mare with Penicillin and tribrissen, mostly because I thought I had another tube of tribrissen on hand and didn`t...so when I called they told me it would be OK to finish the antibiotics with the penicillin (which I DID have in the refrig)...so I did that. He told me about 10 cc as well, but that is a LOT for a mini, IMHO, and so I only gave her 8 cc...and she is fine now.

I think that 5cc of penicillin would be about max for a horse this size and want to discuss this with my vet when I talk to him next time..

:

 

[Sanny]

I'm going to call the vet this morning about the dosage. I thought 10cc was a lot for his size too. Originally we were going to give him just penicillin twice a day so maybe when he said 10cc he meant 5cc twice a day. After we discussed it more and he decided to give penicillin in the morning and Tribrissen in the evening maybe the penicillin dose should have been changed. I will let everyone know what he says. The horse is doing MUCH better. He has been really kind of crabby for a few weeks so I suspect the tooth was bugging him before we could see anything or the swelling started because he is friendlier and friskier already. (except when he sees me coming with the needle).

 

[Ashley]

And did you have any reactions or bad side-effects because of it.

The mini is getting Penicillin 10CC one time a day (AM) and Tribrissen dosed for the horses weight one time a day (PM) for two weeks. The penicillin is a higher dose than usual IMO for his size, the mini is 29" and weighs approx 175 lbs. The vet wants to treat him very aggressively in order to clear up the infection and get him healthy and hopefully avoid what would be about a $2,000 surgery. He did several x-rays before making the decision about how to treat it and he felt he was borderline as to whether or not we could avoid surgery which I think basically would be a complicated root canal. he wants to see how he is doing in two weeks but already says he will probably be keeping him on antibiotics for longer than that.

I trust my vet, he is excellent and specializes in horses, is trained to do equine dental work and is very experienced with and knows minis very well. I'm just curious about this approach and anyone elses experiences with that much antibiotic in the system for so long and mixing different antibiotics. The mini hates the shot, which I am giving him and I feel bad too. The penicillin dose is a lot to give in one shot and I am sure it is painful and uncomfortable and it takes a while plus it is cold from being refrigerated and that can't feel good either. Anyone with suggestions on how to make it a better experience for him? He is going to hate me by the time this is all over.

It is for a retained cap that became infected. The tooth/cap has been pulled. The permanent tooth was unable to come down because of the cap and got involved in the whole infection. It caused a lot of facial swelling and an abcess on the face on the outside of the upper jaw in the area of the tooth. The abcess has been lanced and drained and throughly cleaned and flushed out. It has only been two days and he looks so much better and except for when he has to stand for his shot, he seems to feel much better.

The vet does also have me giving a Pro Biotic to hopefully avoid stomach problems and/or diarrhea.

Just an FYI / learning experience about all of this too...I called my vet when the facial swelling started and he had me take his temp to see if there was an infection going on. I also clipped his face all around the swelling to get a better look and there seemed to be marks on his face right below the worst of the swelling. Temp was normal and based on my description the vet thought maybe he'd been kicked by another horse so we gave him Banamine and just watched him for a few days. Swelling seemed to go down but actually things got worse. I should have just taken him in right away when it first appeared. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten so bad. The vet said sometimes with a localized infection it is tricky because they won't run a temperature.

Just curious is this Scooter?

I dont know about the amount but I was haveing to give a foal 3ccs so ??? Dont know

 

[bfogg]

Cash was on the shots as well and i asked the vet for something else that would not have to be injected and he gave me a powder that did not have to be injected.

Cash is happier and so am I!

I am such a wuss I would not do the shots had a neighbor who is anurtse do it. In the past I have HAD to do it but if I can get out of it I sure will!

You are a good momn.

Poor little guy i will send him some "stuff"

Hugs

Bonnie

 

[MiniHGal]

Pencillin hurts when injected cold. What I do is I warm it in my hand(so that it is near body temp) to inject it. It will make the muscles sore, so rotate injection sites, and massage the site after injection(this helps to disperse the drug). Also remember to redirect the needle after every 5 ccs or so--then its not so much in one area.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

As said...warm the syringe in your hand or quickly run it under warm water before injecting. Be sure to move your shot sites around as you can so no one gets sore. Penicillin is a great drug bit is hard to push in....10mm seems a but much for such a small horse tho......the norm is 1mm/100 lbs so (JMHO I'm not a vet) 5mm would be aggressive enough for one so small and easier to get all in quickly. No harm is asking your vet.

Careful giving dosage advice... there are many different kinds of Penicillin out there. One example is an IV version that must be given very slowly. If you give the more common Penicillin in an IV shot, or even hit a blood vessel doing an IM shot, you can have serious problems (death if enough gets in the blood stream). 1ml per 100lbs is a tiny dose for the pen we use here. 30-60cc is not unusual for a 1200lbs horse. That's 2.5 the dose you suggested.

My advice is to rotate where you give the shot. Right neck one day (I'm assuming you have the IM version?), left neck the next, right thigh the following day, left thigh the next. If you go back and he's STILL sore there, you can float in the right and left pectoral too. I'd suggest using a nice fat needle (16g) and not putting more than 5cc or so in one spot (10-15cc for a big horse). So if you put the needle in at a slight angle, then give half the dose, then pull the needle almost out, then redirect and go in again (without actually leaving his body). That way you spread the fluid out. Then rub vigorously

And don't forget to always pull back each time you find a new spot to make sure you aren't getting any blood back. If you do, DON'T PRESS IT IN!! Pull out, change needles, and go to a new spot. I hope he gets better soon!

 

[Jill]

I'm pretty sure her mom is a vet. Who knows, she might even know more about horses than you do

:

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

All the reason she should be more careful giving dosage advice. She probably does know more than me, but everyone makes the mistake of thinking there is only one concentration of a drug once or twice in their career. Think of the trouble one would have if someone gave dosage information for using Xylazine in a dog. The small animal and large animal vials are 10x stronger than the other. "1ml" is a very bad unit of measure unless everything else is 100% sure to be equal.