Allergy shot procedure?

[Critter]

Can anyone talk me through the do/don’ts of giving the allergy shots? My mare had the testing done, and we were sent the serum to do the injections. My vet office handed the box over with the guide and basically was like, just call if you need us!

So, I do feel a bit overwhelmed with it. It looks like she will need two shots (as there are two sets of 3 color coded vials). They have the mapping of what days to give the shots. I asked my vet if I needed any meds in case she reacted…vet was like, well we’ve never had that happen (of course, this is MY horse! LOL).

One question…it says to take the vial out about an hour before giving the injection. Can you pull up the shot and just leave the shot out for the hour, or do you have to leave the entire vial out and only pull up the dose right before giving it?

Any tricks and tips with the subq injection? I’ve never done one on a horse (plenty on myself and a dog). My mare is generally good about her shots for vaccines, etc. so I am hoping these won’t be much different.

I guess I am just looking for any tips…or general reassurance! Thanks!

[GoodTimes]

I keep my vials at home in the fridge. They only leave the fridge for a few minutes when I draw up a dose, then straight back in the fridge. Wiped with an alcohol wipe before and after.
The syringe then travels to the barn with me. If temperatures are extreme (ex: -25C in winter, +30C in summer) I’ll put it in a cooler bag.

I usually do the shots subq on the chest. My gelding has lots of loose skin around his pecs.

Edited to add that I had dex on hand in case he had a severe reaction to the shots.

[cayuse]

Well, my welsh was one of those rarities that reacted negatively to the injections (big hives and generally NQR) so it does happen. I’d have some antihistamines on hand just in case. We had to discontinue treatment about 1/4 of the way through as he just couldn’t tolerate it. He would just recover from one shot and then it was time for another. We tried titrating the dose down but it didn’t work so the vet said just stop.
I gave him his subq injections in the neck, he never seemed to even feel them. I pulled up the injection and put the vail right back in the refrig.

[Cowgirl]

It is easy to give the shot. I like to do it in the neck (but you can do the chest) where the skin is loose (closer to the shoulder). Pull the skin up until it tents and inject into the tent. Pull back to make sure there is no blood and then inject. My shots differed in amount so I got two sizes of syringes and they have teeny needles (1cc syringe, what is called a tuberculin syringe, and a 3 cc syringe). I use the 1 cc for up to .6 cc and then I think it is too much pressure to inject and move over to the 3cc. The largest shot in my pack is 1cc. (I also use the tuberculin syringe to give my chihuahua adequan–which is also subcutaneous for dogs! haha). My horse did react with some hives in the first half of the initial protocol. They weren’t bad until about halfway through, and I think I introduced another allergen through a new unwashed blanket (allergy testing will not capture everything). I did not have to use any antihistimines until this point and then I only used a normal dose of hydroxazine and they went away in a couple of days. Before allergy shots, his hives would be so bad that we would need a steriod shot, sometimes even two, to get them to calm down and go away. So I know this is working. Keep a bottle of hydroxazine or zyrtec on hand, and maybe even a dose of dex. My horse is now at the highest concentration and does not respond to it–but we will see when the weeds come out. When he had his reaction, we called the allergy company (they wouldn’t speak to me, only my vet) and they sent a slower protocol. That would have required another vial to be ordered. I found that giving a few day of hydroxazine worked and I stuck to the original schedule and he was fine. They did tell us that if he continued to react, they would pay for a consult with a specialist…