chandab
Well-Known Member
Minis seem to be very sensitive to bute, I think its more of a dosage issue (I've used bute with no problems on my minis, but I'm very careful with the dosage), many give too much.Now, I'm new to minis so I have ZERO idea if they tolerate Bute or what the dosage is but among the horse communities I circulate in, it's more and more acceptable to give a low dose daily of bute for chronic pain. Hopefully, Dr. Taylor will weigh in on this. My big pinto mare had foundered before we got her. She had no rotation of her coffin bones but does have some sinking and as such, has very thin soles in her feet. Top that off with arthritis and she has some pretty uncomfortable days. She is otherwise spry, alert, engaging, and in good health. We feed her grass hay that has a small amount of alfalfa in it, a hay balancer and Biotin. She gets no pasture but will get the occasional nibble of grass but she is NOT cushings. anyway, what I am getting at is that we will give her a low dose of bute daily with her hay balancer made into a mash. A soupy mash and we precede it with hay... so her belly is not empty when she gets it. So far, after 2 years of on/off dosing, she's doing GREAT and is back to some trail rides.
I don't know if any of all that blabbering will help you but I thought I'd throw it out there.
Bless you!!!!!
For my foundered mini mare, when she has flare-ups, I give her B-L pellets (can't give to pregnant mares), it works quite well and isn't as harsh on the stomach as bute. [if she's having a really tough time, then she does get bute for a few days to get it under control, then the B-L pellets keep her comfortable.]