Bute or Banamine???

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zoey829

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I have banamine but not bute. The vet rec to give a horse bute for hoof pain. She relized she doesnt have Bute, but I have Banamine. Is it the same? How much do you give a mini? I think it is 1 cc. We can not get a hold of the vet either. Any help???
 
It is usually not a good idea to give Bute to minis. The margin for error is pretty small, and you can give a horse ulcers by overdosing (it can happen at the correct dose, too, but not as easily.) Banamine is considered safer. I don't know what the dose would be, but it's usually stated as"so much per pound of body weight" somewhere in the labeling. If you don't trust your math (I'd have to run the calculation at least three times!!) you may have to wait until you get up with the vet again, but at least you do have the right meds.
 
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Yikes!! It is the vet that told us bute!!! Thanks for the info
 
The problem is not the bute, its the person measuring the bute. If you can accurately measure out the correct dose it is just fine. Problem is how difficult it is to measure such a small quantity.

Banamine and bute are very different. They are both NSAIDs, but Banamine is targeted more towards soft tissue pain and bute is targeted more towards joint and feet pain. Giving banamine for hoof issues isn't useless, but it is not close to the efficiency of bute.

The dosage for bute is 1-2 grams 1-2 times a day for a 1000lb horse. No vet I've ever worked with has suggested I use such a high dose unless its a huge injury for a very short time. Two grams per day is the max I'd suggest. For a mini, that'd be .1 -.2 grams per 100lbs per day.

For Banamine the dosage depends on the form its in. Injectable is normally 1cc in the vein per 100lbs per day. Paste can vary, usually a tube is 3 full doses for a 1000lbs horse.

Next problem is estimating the weight of your pony. This can be just as hard as measuing bute! My very trim 38" stallion weighs in at 300lbs on a good day, measured by a livestock scale. A fat 38" pony could easily top 400lbs, and a trim 28" could easily be under 200lbs.
 
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Nathan is so right, its the measuring that is so difficult with bute (especially since it comes in tubes marked with 1 gram doses or 1 gram tabs and 1 gram is the dose for 1000#). When my mini mare foundered a couple years ago, I tried banamine for her pain and it didn't even touch it; bute worked wonders for her, but it is difficult to dose right (her treating vet for founder recommended 1/3 gram per day as she about 350#). [Also, when I use bute, I use an ulcer med along with it to hopefully keep them from getting ulcers due to the bute. I've used equine ulcers meds and also OTC human ulcer meds (generic Tagamet is what I have now).]
 
I am not sure what you mean by hoof pain. If you are talking about laminitis or founder, more often than not bute is the onlu thing that will relieve the pain. However, as the others have mentioned, your horse would need to be dosed based on weight and there is very little room for error.

Liz R.
 
"Bute" seems to be one of those medicines that minis can have trouble handling it. Question is to be "SAFE" or "SORRY". Knowing one of people that developed it, " we avoid it like the plague in dealing with minis!".

Large animal vets use it alot but minis are not large animals; and too many vets try to administer it like usage in a larger animal. Had minis spend extended times in vet care when "bute" was misused this way.

This is only speaking from personal experience & not in any way from a vets/medical view point.

ANY medicine when handled by people with in-depth knowledge can be used with great success, BUT it is those of us with limited knowledge that try to use a marginal medicine that can get our minis in deep trouble.

Not all vets understand minis; again only from personal experience & not as an authority.

.
 
I just had a discussion with my vet about bute and minis.

Her theory was if giving it to them, to give them meds to

protect their stomachs at the same time.

She also said there is a paste for dogs now and that the

tube increments is much better for suited for minis than

the tube used for large horses.
 
What about the stuff jeffers sells that claims is is like Bute it is called AspirEase ?? Is that harmful on minis???
 
Both are hard on the stomach. Is the hoof pain from a trim? If so Iodine will fix them right up in 24 hours.
 
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The Phenylzone Paste my vet sold me, states 1-2 g per 500 lb not to exceed 4 g daily. I just happen to have it out because I was debating giving it to one of my mini's. He had sold this to ma a while back for a mare that was showing signs of founder. I couldn't remember how much he said.
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