Help. The best way to give a horse a pill????

[KathyB]

Last week my 2 yr old gelding was bit by a rattle snake on the nose. After a week at Auburn University he is home. They sent him home with some heavy duty antibiotics, in pill form. I am suppose to give him 5 pills 4x a day. I have tried mixing them with everthing I can think of, he won't eat them. I have pushed them as far back in his mouth as I can but he holds them in his mouth and pushes them out as soon as I let go of his head. He is getting very good at spitting them out. Any suggestions? I have tried banana,molasses, jello, soaking them and then putting them in with his grain, and crushed with horse treats.

Also, he is just not himself. I know he has been through alot but he seems so depressed. He is eating/drinking but slowly with none of his usual enthusiasm. He is very very quiet not at all like his spunky self. I have seen alot of posts about ulcers. How do you know if they have them?

Thanks,

KathyB

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Crush them, soak them and put them in a syringe and squirt them down his throat.

He will take a while to forgive you!!

:

 

[Nancy]

My husband usually gives the meds but has had good luck crushing them mixing in a little warm water and putting them in a syringe and sliding it into side of mouth as far back as possable and squirting it in the back of there mouth holding head up a little so it doesn't run out.

 

[Charlene]

awww the poor guy!! i'm guessing it'll take a while for him to get back to his normal enthusiastic self.

when i have to give pills, i poke them down inside a jumbo marshmallow. i have never had it fail yet. of course, if your horse isn't used to marshmallows, that'll take a time or two of popping one in his mouth. my horses will climb a tree for a marshmallow, whether or not it contains a pill.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Lay the pill between 2 napkins and use a rolling pin or mortar or even a hammer and pound them to powder, IF you have a syringe, add the powder (keep the needle on and covered at this point) then add applesauce or water or juice then add the plunger (you'll have to uncover the needle to let the air out) and shake, then go the poor guy, remove the needle cover and all and squish it into his mouth back on the side like wormer. NOW if you don't have a syringe mix it into a bit of feed he likes, seeing as he isn't feeling well he may not be eating well so maybe a bit of applesauce in a dish. Also are they addressing the possibility of ulcers and also he needs probios for his gut! Hope it all works out, light and prayers.

 

[Nancy]

Crush them, soak them and put them in a syringe and squirt them down his throat.

He will take a while to forgive you!!

:

Sorry Jane I was posting the same time as you.LOL

awww the poor guy!! i'm guessing it'll take a while for him to get back to his normal enthusiastic self.

when i have to give pills, i poke them down inside a jumbo marshmallow. i have never had it fail yet. of course, if your horse isn't used to marshmallows, that'll take a time or two of popping one in his mouth. my horses will climb a tree for a marshmallow, whether or not it contains a pill.

LOL I bet that does work I will have to try that some time. I doubt there are very many that could resist a good marshmellow

 

[KathyB]

Crush them, soak them and put them in a syringe and squirt them down his throat.

He will take a while to forgive you!!

:

Thanks all. I will try the syringe.

 

[nightflight]

You might try taking the syringe apart, inserting cut but not powered pills through the top, then reattaching the plunger so that you have the dry pills in the syringe. Then you can put some water in a cup and draw it up into the syringe. If you let it soak long enough it will turn to mush and you can be sure the horse gets 100% of the pills without the mess of crushing in another cup.

Usually I will add a lot of berry flavored syrup (made for coffee and such) to the water - the horses love it!

Regards,

 

[Miniv]

I own two coffee bean grinders.........One for the kitchen and one for the barn! :bgrin

Coffee Bean grinder is great for grinding up horse pills.......then pour the powder in a big syringe, add some water, shake, and squirt it into the horse's mouth.

I quickly follow the above with a mouthful of either grain or a treat, so I'm forgiven.

:

 

[wantminimore]

Crush the pill, mix with applesauce and put it in a syringe. I had a mare that I had to give pills to and at first I tried just putting them in her grain, she wouldn't touch it. It took her a few days to figure out I stopped putting them in her grain, she hated the syringe but it worked.

Leslie

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I do the same thing found it easier all the way around I put the pills depending on type cut in half or quarters into a syringe.. then I will add apple juice slightly warmed wait a bit again depends on the pill some youhave to wait longer and then give it to them

another option is many forms of antibiodics come in paste form or something that will work simular you can ask your vet

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Dissolving only works with some pills- not all- as I found out when a couple failed to dissolve OVERNIGHT!!!!

: Now I at least cut them in half but it is a lot less messy.

 

[Sunrise Valley]

We crush ours with a mortar & pestle, mix with a little light Karo corn syrup and dose with a large syringe. The Karo is sticky and helps to keep them from spitting it out, plus most really like it.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

syringe and applesauce here! except for good old Rosie who will eat a slice of bread with the pills soaked and mashed and spread in it like a sandwich :aktion033: but her pills are for pain and i think she knows that after she eats the bread she feels better... (got this idea off this forum, someone does it with wormer for her problem children...)

but WOW i will have to try the marshmallow thing! because lots of my critters now know about the syringe and try to avoid it...

 

[Charlotte]

Use a syringe large enough to hold the pills and some water and some pudding. Pull the plunger out of the syringe. drop in the pills and put the plunger back in. suck up enough water to dissolve the pills. Once pills are dissolved suck up some vanilla pudding. Shake.

Give this like you would a paste wormer. The pudding holds the medication in suspension so it doesn't settle out and horses quickly learn to like the pudding.

If your boy seems depressed and not eating well I would sure consider ulcers. If he isn't on ulcer meds I'd get some from the vet. He has been through a very stressful time and often antibiotics can be hard on the stomach too.

I hope he is feeling better soon.

Charlotte

 

[funnyfarmnorth]

I had to give my Morgan 15 pills twice a day for 30 days. In the beginning I tried everything. The way that worked best and I was sure she was getting every speck was with a slice of bread. I crushed the pills into powder,spread a light coat of molasses on the bread and sprinkled the crushed pills on that. Then fold the bread in half and mush flat with you hands. Tear off bite size pieces and hand feed. She loved them and looked forward to gobbling them up. Hope this helps. Donna

 

[Charlene]

I had to give my Morgan 15 pills twice a day for 30 days. In the beginning I tried everything. The way that worked best and I was sure she was getting every speck was with a slice of bread. I crushed the pills into powder,spread a light coat of molasses on the bread and sprinkled the crushed pills on that. Then fold the bread in half and mush flat with you hands. Tear off bite size pieces and hand feed. She loved them and looked forward to gobbling them up. Hope this helps. Donna

i'm gonna remember that one! if i gave my guys 15 marshmallows a day for 30 days, they'd EXPLODE!!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I have had one bitten by a rattlesnake also. We gave the antibiotic in shot form in the muscle. We sure felt badly about stabbing him so many times, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It doesn't sound right for him to be depressed, unless the antibiotic itself is causing it. Maybe you could ask the vet about a different kind. Some people react differently to different antibitoics, and horses probably do too.

Good luck. It is sure a worry.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Are you keeping track of the horse's temperature? From your description, it sounds as if the horse may not have been getting the dosage of the antibiotics(due to its reluctance to let you administer it) that it is supposed to be getting? If that is the case, that could be problematic--as with antibiotics, it is VERY important for the ENTIRE course of treatment to be taken. You might want to be taking your horse's temp at least daily, and check with your vet about 'replacing' any missed doses so that you are sure that the horse gets ALL that was prescribed-especially if the horse seems to be running a temp. If it were me, I'd likely be

administering some kind of 'buffering agent', like plain live culture yogurt, ranitadine(Zantac), or the like, to help in minimizing/preventing ulcers(I suggest you ask your vet about that, too!)

I have given MANY a course of oral treatment with various pills/powders--a DOSE syringe is best to use, IMO-you can order them through livestock supply catalogs, or from your vet, surely--I keep a couple of new

ones on hand ALL the time. They have a large 'spoutlike' end, similar to many paste wormer containers.(In a pinch, you can save a used-up paste wormer tube, take it apart and wash it out thoroughly, and use it a few times for this sort of thing--IF the plastic end on the plunger will still work well! Several good ways for 'mixing' have already been given, so I won't repeat that good advice; however, I will say that it is easier if the mixture is a 'bit' thick, and contains something 'tasty' to the horse, at least in my experience.

I have had two small equines bitten by rattlers in my years here...the vet stressed that INFECTION was probably the biggest overall risk to the horse! Back then, we had to give antibiotic shots for awhile; giving it in pill form should be easier on both you AND the horse, but can still have its challenges!

Best of luck,

Margo

 

[miniwhinny]

When Twoie was very ill last spring she was on loads of meds daily...what worked?...A coffee grinder. Grind the pills up add them to half a teaspoon of maple syrup...yum yum pour it into a wide syringe. The syrup binds the pills and the horse licks their lips. This was was recommended by Bend Equine one of the top Equine facilities on the West Coast. It worked. Twoie looked forward to pill time.

Just make sure you clean the grinder after using it LOL

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