doing your own vaccinations

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PHF Fancy

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I know many of you here give your own vaccines to your horses. How did you learn to do it? I'm curious as it seems to be a very big cost savings and I'd like to learn since I now have 6 horses/donkeys. I've been on various supply websites and the amount of vaccines is just plain confusing. How do you select which ones are right for your horses? I know some of it is based on your area etc.

Thanks so much.
 
I learned how to vaccinate my ponies mostly by reading about it. I read in magazines and online. You need to do some research on what vaccines your horses need and on how to give them. The Horse is an excellent resource and there are many others out there too. Of course, you can always ask your vet to show you too. I think many of them are willing to do so. Your vet could also help you in choosing for what you should vaccinate.
 
I learned how to give vaccinations when I was in college, many, many years ago majoring in animal science, and then working for years with animals.

However, I do not give my horses their vaccinations now, even though I could and it would save me money. My vet comes over twice a year to vaccinate my 8 horses, do annual exams, get to know all of us better and make some money. When I had an emergency (breech abortion) this past week, my vet returned my phone call within 5 minutes but unfortunately he was across the state and could not get here. But I also have a good relationship with a second vet who does my ultrasounds. He had no problem with my calling her, and SHE came immediately, assessed the situation and sent us off to the nearest veterinary hospital. My mare lost her foal, but she is alive today because of that quick response. I know from the pain she was in that she would not have made it without getting to the hospital in a hurry.

Please keep this in mind in making your decision to do your own vacinations.
 
I understand that having a good relationship with your vet is very important and I do all I can to ensure my vet is happy with us as clients. That being said, I spent over $800 last year on shots alone. I also spent several hundred dollars more on sutures and one or two emergency calls. If I can properly vaccinate my horses myself and save a few dollars then it's worth it. My vet routinely stops by for visits so my crew is looked over by him a lot so I don't worry about them not having an exam.
 
I do my own shots here, even rabies. When I learned, a friend of mine / former trainer showed me how and also got tips from the vet. I've been doing them probably 10+ years. Here is an article that helps teach:

How To Give Shots
 
We do give our own. In this day and age gotta save money where you can! I learned from a friend many years ago. It is not hard to do at all. Sheila
 
Do you all use the combined vaccines or do you separate them out?
 
I've done it all kinds of ways. This year and last, it's been a WNV combo (WNV, E/W Enceph, Tetanus) and rabies separate. Flu / Rhino for the show horses.

I gave my pregnant mares a 5-way and will give WNV and rabies post foaling.
 
I do all my shots. So much easier and cheaper. I give my horses what's on sale (generally). Prestige 5-way and WNV. I give them in the muscle of the butt since its easiest for me. My husband does it in the neck, but I worry about hitting the wrong spot. So I just do the butt. I grew up doing it, so I guess its fairly easy to me. I give the two shots at once. But each gets given on each side so they aren't sore on one side.

The only problem I do have with the butt is I do have a couple minis that like to buck when I do it that way. So its easier in the neck since they don't know its coming.
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You can also look in certain magazines. Most have a page stating where some shots are required and some aren't. We don't do Potomic Fever shots here or Rabies.
 
We give our own, we learned from our vets, we give combos a lot and some combos
 
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My mom is going to do our vaccines soon but she does them on our goats at my 4H barn. She's a dentist so she already knows how to do shots but you can probally just ask your vet or look it up online, im sure that theres somthing that tells you how to give shots.
 
Our primary annual shot that we give is the 5-Way from Prestige. We give our own. We also give our newborns a selenium shot, which I find is the easiest to administer.

To learn how to give shots, I would recommend working with either your vet or the vet tech. initially. Then, practice on an orange with a syringe and water. And finally, if you have a horse breeder in your area that you are friendly with, who gives their own shots, ask if you can visit and maybe even help..........This is all what we did.

I should also add.......I went through a health issue years ago where I had to give myself a shot in my thigh daily, and Larry had to give me one in the hip. This experience was also rather valuable for when we acquired horses later on. I don't recommend it, though.
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So its easier in the neck since they don't know its coming.
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That must be nice. My mare who hates shots with a passion instantly knows if I have a needle anywhere near her. There is no sneaking!

I do like to give shots back in the muscle alongside the tail the best. I also use the neck and the chest at times.

I give mine WNV vaccine (have been using Recombitek), EWT (have used Encevac-T), and rabies. I moved here to CA almost 2 years ago and had the vet out last spring to geld my yearling colt. She asked about the rabies and pointed out that rabies is 100% fatal. In CA only vets are allowed to administer this vaccine. So, mine now get to see the vet yearly for that one. I wouldn't want to have anyone get rabies and die and know I could have prevented it.
 
I learned pretty young by being shown how to in Pony Club and just through experienced teachers...And books...
 
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I learned from our vet. She is awesome and when we had our first foals she was with me when I vaccinated them for the first time (at my request), she had more confidence in me than I did. I still don't order my own vaccines. Our vet lives nearby and when I need a vaccine I call them and they draw the dose and I pick it up and go.

I don't believe that all vaccines are created equal and I feel more comfortable getting them from the vet. Even this route I still save a lot of money.
 
A vet we used years ago was expensive in general and would nickel and dime us for everything. Calling her for anything at all always meant a big bill. I had a sick horse once that needed a penicillin shot every day for 10 days and she refused to teach me how to do it and instead charged us a farm call fee for every day plus the shot plus a charge to give the shot each day. She lived 3 miles from us, by the way, and drives past our house to visit many of her clients on a daily basis, yet wouldn't give us a break even on the farm call charge every day. She would also send a bill if you called her and she gave any advice at all over the phone. The last year we used her I don't remember how many horses we had but I DO remember we spent $1,700 having her do all the shots, coggins, etc. Whatever the breakdown was, that was the last straw because I do remember it worked out to be a LOT of money per horse. She also told me, by the way, that unless she does the "well-horse" care like shots, coggines, etc. that she wouldn't do an emergency call.

t was after that big bill and my conversation with her and her refusal to teach me to do shots that I looked for another vet and reconnected with one we'd used long ago that I thought had moved out of our area and I was thrilled to learn she still had many clients around us. She taught me how to do shots and sold me the shots at the same price as ordering them online. I think we spent about $400 buying the shots the next year for about the same number of horses. Her attitude is completely different from the other vet and she is very willing to teach me to do shots and is always educating me and always looks at options for saving money when we can.

She does know all of our horses very well -- well enough that she remembers ALL their names and other little details about each one -- and also does their coggins and health exam every year and is always a phone call away and available for emergencies, etc. So now she gets the majority of our business and the other vet gets nothing.
 
Urgh! That vet who made a farm call for each antibiotic shot must not have enough clients for real! What a jerk
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My vets would probably wring my neck if I called them needing them to come give a shot. They expect me to be able to do the routine things, which includes vaccinations and if needed, medical shots.

When I call my vets, they either tell me what to do if it's something I can handle alone, or if it's more advanced, they come out. They try to help their clients help their own horses wherever possible.

I figure they do not have time with all their other clients to come out here and give one of my horses a shot. When I have them out for routine things, I do sometimes have them give the odd shot (vials of vaccines come in 10 so sometimes, I do this) and one state we plan to show in requires the vet give Rhino (stupid!).
 
I vaccinate my own horses. My vet receommends what to give, and I buy the vaccines from him. My vet showed me how.
 
one state we plan to show in requires the vet give Rhino (stupid!).

Jill, what state is that? Is it one where they had the neurologic form of Rhino? I'm guessing it's not a state we show in since I haven't heard anything about it.

Charlotte

p.s. Give our own vaccinations. I do have a vet give Rabies so there is an 'official record'.
 
Charlotte --

It's DE that is requiring a vet give that vaccine (at least that is my understanding). Kind of a pain in the butt, but that's how it goes I guess. It's my understanding they did have the neurologic version, but also have read that the vaccine is not effective against such? But, anyway, my vet will be the one giving this absolutely routine / basic shot to my show horses this season as a result of the rule.

Jill
 
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