I got a tube of bute paste from my vet. It is impossible to use as intended because it takes 2 hands to depress the plunger. I dont have a 3rd $&#* hand to hold the horse. Horse is very good and I don’t even need a halter but I need to steady her head. The brand is Equi-Phar. Is there a brand that actually works? I do keep it in the house, so it’s not cold. I’m about to return it as defective and go back to playing mad chemist in my kitchen with the tablets and molasses.
Not sure about the brand I keep on hand, but I will depress it onto my finger when it’s difficult like that and run my finger up into the corner of the cheek and deposit it there. It works in a pinch.
I had paste Banamine that was like that. What made it easier was to use a hairdryer on the tip and bottom third or so.
Or consider going to the injectable, delivered via needleless syringe, sublingually.
Quantity for the average horse is 10cc, so a lot less “stuff” to administer.
EZ-PZ to squirt into a mouth through the bar.
Acts nearly as fast as injected - within 5-10min.
Cost is about the same & it does not require refrigeration.
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Not defective. I’ve never had a tube that was easy to use. If you can get the horse to eat tablets, go with that! I had one horse who would eat anything bitter and I could squirt it out (2 hands) into some senior feed and he’d eat that right up, but that is not typical!
Banamine paste is much easier if that’s an option for the future.
Learn to inject. It’s cheaper, and just way less hassle for everyone. Your vet can show you how to hit the vein. It’s not difficult. And you KNOW that the horse got the full dose you needed him to have. It works faster. Learning to inject can save a horse’s life.
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I stick it in the waistband of my pants while I do chores. That warms up the bottom portion enough to make it easier to depress.
Or… If you’re a weenie like me & fear a needle abcess, sublingual is nearly as fast-acting & foolproof.
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Thanks! Turns out, it’s a moot point. Mare went off her feed, so no more bute for her. But I did find out that a warming it up worked.
If you like your horse, please don’t use injectable Banamine orally unless it is a complete emergency. It is awful tasting, burns your mouth and throat and makes you feel sick for hours.
You know this from personal experience? Fyi bute and banimine are not interchangeable. Equiox would be an acceptable alternative according to her vet.
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Had the same observation - the Banamine paste is easy, the Bute is like cement. I had good success with powdered bute. Make a paste with some water, draw it up in a syringe, squirt in the mouth. My horse didn’t really hate it as much as I expected. Some people can get their horses to eat it in feed - I was not that lucky, but the paste solution did work.
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I have used a tongue depressor (fat popsicle stick), push the paste onto that and then stick it in the horses mouth.
OP, I had to laugh at your post. I feel ya!
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I work at a compounding pharmacy where we make flunixin (banamine) paste and phenylbutazone pastes, and injectables as well. The flunixin is a lower dose so when compounded, is less API per ml compared to phenylbutazone, so of course the flunixin is a bit thinner and “runny”. But I must say our phenylbutazone paste is easily administered with one hand, even at the higher dose and larger syringe (60ml compared to a 30ml flunixin syringe) 
I also do not like using injectables orally - but of course they would work and would be great in a pinch, but they are not compounded to be used orally. Some of the compounds in them would taste terrible (ethyl alcohol, PEG, benzyl alcohol, pH adjustments - so acids and bases used to adjust pH levels etc), while suspending agent with glycerin, sweeteners and flavours are used in our oral liquids/pastes to be more palatable of course. I’ve also used powdered phenylbutazone and added water in a syringe to give orally. The API is very bitter and is hard to mask, so does not always work putting the apple powdered flavour on their grain. It does dissolve well in water and works perfectly in an oral syringe.
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I was administering paste bute twice daily to a foundered horse during February. What I found worked best was putting the tube in a plastic box and running hot water on it for several minutes. The bute came out much more easily when it was warmed.
Injecting Banamine IM can cause significant problems at the injection site. An infection called Clostridial myonecrosis (also known as “gas gangrene”) is not uncommon and can be fatal. Giving the liquid in the mouth is comparable to an IM injection without the risk. There is an article on TheHorse.com website about IM banamine injections that states:
“Most importantly, the consequences of clostridial myonecrosis, although rare, far outweigh the perceived convenience of giving IM injections that could be avoided.”
The vets in the area used to sell a really nice first aid kit that included banamine paste, SMZs, and an eye ointment (the one that is not longer available, of course). There is a deal on products with a use-by date. They replace it before the date runs out with a new one at no charge. The not-quite-expired dose could be used in their practice. It is a good way to always have banamine paste and SMZs available.
The other deal our vet had was with a friend who was an MD. The surgical sponges they use to wash up before surgery have a one year expiration. He picked up the out-of-date sponges for the vet. Expiration is irrelevant if you are using it in the barn.
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Both banamine and bute are injected IV, not IM. Until about 20 years ago, banamine was considered OK to inject IM, but since then as the risk of clostridium infection became more known, it has not been advisable, obviously. There is no issue with infection at the injection site if banamine is administered correctly into the jugular vein, not IM. An owner with horses at home and some adequate level of horsemanship can easily learn to plump the jugular vein up, and inject into it as correctly and safely as a vet can. Really! For long term use and for ease of administering, making sure that the horse gets all the dose, and for quicker effectiveness, ask your vet to teach you how. Often, giving bute orally does tend to reduce appetite, IV injections- not so much or not at all. IMO, learning how to inject correctly is part of the learning process to be a horseman. It’s very useful. You will get over being squeamish. You never know when you may be in a situation when your horse who NEEDS to be injected with some common drug that you have on hand (like bute or banamine or acepromazine) for the horse’s best interest or for his survival, and no vet available to attend in time, and having this skill can be a live saver. It’s a skill that is worth learning, as a horseman.
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There are still plenty of people around who inject Banamine IM. There are still plenty of people around who grab a handful of ivermectin and deworm their horses every couple of months.
As good a horseman as the BO is, some habits die hard. Colic is a very rare occurrence at this barn. We’re talking years. She usually has 45-55 horses. The need for IV administration of anything is a rare occurrence. I don’t want her doing IVs on my horse, starting with Banamine. Professional phlebotomists have aimed for, but missed, my well-placed, easily accessible vein. If I miss the vein on my horse I still risking exposure to clostridium. The liquid administered by mouth may not work as fast, but there is plenty of documentation that it works as well.
Our retired vet teaches the large animal management course for the vet tech certification. He brings them to our barn for a lab. I’ve watched these highly motivated students learning IVs, IMs, and finding pulses on my horse. He’s patient and stands quietly. Drawing blood is not that easy to learn and retain if you are not doing it regularly. Some horses don’t cooperate. It’s just as important to exercise some judgement and decide not to expose the horse to risk. It’s unnecessary when the liquid can be used safely with good results.
Sometimes being a good horseman is knowing you have limits and working within those limits to do what is best for your horse.
In other words, no amount of ‘you should be able to do this and if you are not doing this you are not a good horseman’ should push a person do IV injections if it is not something they feel comfortable doing. Too much of a risk.
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@jherald,
I hear you, I struggle with the bute paste too. I tend to avoid it as it’s more expensive than the other types and I never remember to warm it up to make it easier to administer. I only keep it on hand for tiny (10H) founder-prone pony, putting bute in feed is counter productive for him. My go to is the powdered, flavored bute, my horses will eat it readily in their feed.
As far as the advice that everyone should learn to do IM and IV injections, eh, I don’t think so and I don’t think most vets would agree either. I know my vets have certain clients that they trust with injectables and those that they would prefer not use them. Also, there’s a level of comfort that comes with practice. If you have a small backyard barn and only need to give an IV injection once every 5 years, you’re not going to get very good or very comfortable with it. (I do know of a woman who killed her own beloved, lovely horse by injecting Ace for clipping into the artery by mistake. No, I don’t know how that’s possible, seems like a difficult mistake to make, but it happened.) There’s also the issue that if you have a small barn at home, it’s hard to keep in date medications on hand. I keep a bottle of Ace and a bottle of Banamine, and they are both currently expired. It’s kinda crazy to keep buying in date drugs and then throw out the entire bottle.
Because of the potential liability, I would do IM and IV shots on my own horses, but not on client’s horses except in an emergancy and with explicit permission from the owner. Just wasn’t worth the risk.
Is it good to know how to do? Absolutely. Should you have to know to be considered a horseman? No, that’s just not a reasonable expectation.
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