Bute and Miniatures

[wildhorses]

I have a mini mare who is aged and we believe she has a bit of founder. I am looking for ways to make her more comfortable. She must have foundered on grain as she's not on pasture.

I have seen daily Bute do wonders for my older quarter horses who had founder, and given them great comfort and relief. However I've been told by some not to use Bute in minis and I've been told by others that it's ok to do so. My vet says he doesn't see any reason why not too, however he admits he doesn't have enough knowledge with the miniatures to make a safe decision.

So I would like peoples opinions on why or why not to use bute. The risks involved with using it. What other alternatives would be available to bute for daily use to make her more comfortable. We have a great farrier and adjusted her diet, so need other management options. Thanks in advance!

PS...I want to add that her feet were terribly neglected when I got her about 7 years ago from a large breeder, she had the "elf or ski" feet, about 10 inches long...so she's always been tender on her feet from that neglect.

 

[chandab]

I've had pretty good luck with B-L Pellets for pain relief for my mini mare that foundered (had to use bute for about a week to get her pain under control, then the BL worked great). [i like the pellets, as its easy to just add to feed.] BL pellets (and BL paste or BL solution) is an herbal product, it can't be used in pregnant mares, otherwise pretty safe. I use a tablespoon daily, when she needs it, she's been fine for awhile, so I took her off it.

http://www.horse.com/B-L-Pellets-BWB16.html

 

[Hosscrazy]

I'm going to share my experience with you and ultimately, the decision is up to you as how to manage your horses' pain.

My older Cushings/IR mare (since deceased) foundered in both front feet as a result of her Cushings/IR - she had 6 degree rotation and was in severe pain.

There was a lot of information I read on this forum that led to my decision not to use bute, and I tried to manage her pain with banamine (my vet was involved the entire time). After a few days, we realized this was ridiculous and something needed to be done to help her pain level. We ended up calling UC Davis and discussed it with them. They strongly felt that with the correct dosage (1/4 gram per 250 lbs), my mini should be on bute.

I immediately put her on bute and it was the only thing that helped her pain. I kept her on low level bute and zantac for an extended period of time and again, this was the only thing that helped manage her pain.

I wish I had not waited, and I wish I had started the bute earlier with her. I wish my vet and I called UC Davis sooner to find out what they thought. So there may be many here who fully disagree and will list their negative experiences, overdosages, etc.

My experience is that it was the only thing that helped her founder and I should have used it sooner.

Liz R.

 

[kaykay]

I do think Bute is the only real med that can control the pain of founder. That is the only time we give it to a mini and we are very careful to give the correct dose. Bute is just harder on their tummies then banamine and can lead to ulcers very quickly in a mini. But there are times when you have to give it

 

[Jill]

If you feel it is a mild case of founder, while I have (thankfully) limited experience with it, I've had good luck with a couple days of banamine followed by buffrin / buffered aspirin (like for people) 2x a day for a few days.

You can also buy tubes of aspirin that is buffered for horses, however, I found that hard to dose out for a mini. The human kind was easier to dose for a mini as I recall. There is some research that the aspirin actually helps the healing of founder by improving circulation.

Aspirin was a tip from a friend on LB and if you google it (aspirin horse laminitis) you will find additional supportive information.

Confining the horse, preferably to a heavily bedded stall, is also a really good and helpful thing to do (important step).

For any of the pain killers (bute, banamine, or buffered aspirin), it cannot hurt to also dose some Ulcer Gard 1x a day while on that treatment course.

Good luck!!!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

You are right that Bute should be used with caution, but the problems are with the dosage, not the drug, as is often the case.

I always suggest the use of Banamine as opposed to Bute, Bute is damaging to big horses, so it has to be damaging to our tinies.

But, in the case of founder Bute is definitely the drug of choice, Banamine offers pain relief only, it does not help with inflammation, not as well as Bute.

So long as you are prepared to sit down and read the notes that come with the drug, and work out the dosage carefully based on your knowledge of the animals weight, I think you should be OK.

Use gastrogard or Ranitidine at the same time, in case of ulcers, and do not continue dosage for longer than five days, even with a Vet telling you too (unless it is a severe case and the animal is under Vet supervision)

If it were that severe I would want a Vet involved anyway.

Good Luck.

 

[wildoak]

I don't use Bute unless it's really a necessity, but there are times that nothing else works as well. As rabbit said, problems are with dosage - and the fact that it's hard on their stomachs. I have an extreme case - Artie, the mare who dislocated her femur & had surgery last fall, has been on bute now for seven months! I would never have considered that a remote possiblity, and have tried stopping or switching her off to banamine or B-L paste, but nothing works as well for her. It's been rather interesting that she has tolerated it so well. She was also on Gastroguard the first month or so, then switched her to U7. When it ran out a couple of months ago I didn't get around to re-ordering and she has been fine, aside obviously from her disabling injury. Her appetite has remained good, her outlook bright.....no sign of ulcers. I don't think by any means this is typical, but under the right circumstances it is possible to use bute in minis. In her case, her injury was severe and due to the limitations it imposes on her I don't think her long term prognosis is particularly good so we made the choice to keep her as comfortable NOW as possible. She continues to amaze me.

Jan