tazycat, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt since I know your recent posts suggest a real turn-around in your thirst for knowledge, and obviously, you’ve benefited immensely from the education this forum has given you –
but for the love of God, do not write off one of the only quick-acting, powerful abx that the equine industry has just because it caused a sore neck. that’s a lot better than a dead horse.
The insinuation was not that you caused the problem. It is simply a fact that among all the abx, how Exceed SPECIFICALLY is given, it extra important. And no, not all vets do all the “right” things.
I have a friend who was telling me how her vet prescribed Exceed, she told me the dosage, how it was given, and I had to question her quite specifically. Not only did the vet under-dose the horse (10cc for a 1500lb horse, and yes, that was it - not 20cc split into 2 10cc needle sticks) but he said he just needed the 1 shot, and he just stuck the needle in and pressed it all in lickety-split.
Given the 2nd dose in the same spot increases the odds of a reaction, but some vets still do it.
IMHO, this shouldn’t be given in the neck, for obvious reasons. But it’s still done. It’s not “Exceed is known to cause sore necks”. It’s “Exceed has a higher rate of injection site reactions due to its makeup” and by default that should mean it should be given in locations that are less likely to interfere with how the horse behaves if something does get sore. It’s a heckuva lot easier for a horse to put his head down of his chest or hamstrings are sore, than if his neck is sore.
It wasn’t given all in one spot didn’t use same side of neck every single time. And more power to the person who wants to give my horse a shot in the hindquarters. He will kick your head off. I never said if Exceed was needed i wouldn’t use it,if there’s another option i’d rather go with that.
I personally won’t EVER give Exceed shots again. Whether it be chest hindquarters or whatever. Once horse is sore whether it be neck or where ever he will and does react violently to being poked again with needle.
Vet can do the injections he can deal with the violent reaction to needles horse has. But don’t ask me to hold horse for shots i value my well being.
I had the same thing happen with my mare. I contacted Zoetis (not sure that’s spelled right) and talked to their vet on staff. The problem is the med is so thick it should be used with a 16 gauge needle not a size normally used by horse owners, nor is it stated anywhere on the box or literature provided with it, nor did my vet say anything regarding meddle gauge. Vet said it was damage to the muscle. It has taken a year and a half for the knot to go away. Still a bit of hardness there but you can’t see it. I personally won’t use it again.
I talked to my vet today. He said he doesn’t see it often but it does happen, especially in sensitive types (like my boy). He said to monitor his temp and treat with banamine. If he spikes a fever it’s probably an abcess but neither him nor the others vets in the practice thought it was likely.
I’d consider using it again. It treated a tricky, dirty, large wound wonderfully. If I do need it again however I would administer in a larger muscle group in the hindquarters. Unfortunately my sensitive boy was the guinea pig.
Except that you said
I personally won’t EVER give Exceed shots again. Whether it be chest hindquarters or whatever. Once horse is sore whether it be neck or where ever he will and does react violently to being poked again with needle.
Vet can do the injections he can deal with the violent reaction to needles horse has. But don’t ask me to hold horse for shots i value my well being.
It’s an owner’s job to teach the horse to at least stand still for an injection, or use a twitch, etc. It’s really the rare horse who is so needle-phobic that injections are just not an option. The horse doesn’t in any way equate being stuck with a needle, and the soreness that develops hours or a day later. But people can very easily behave like it’s going to hurt them, and transmit that fear to the horse, without ever realizing they’re doing it.
And of course it’s your right as an owner to refuse a given treatment, and hopefully your vet can come up with something you will agree to.
If you could look past your pride and read my post you would see that I wasn’t talking about you specifically. ANY animal can have a site reaction to a shot. Doesn’t matter if it is Excede or any other antibiotic or a vaccine.
If yours react then don’t give it. Plain and simple solution. Even the most experienced shot giver can make a mistake every now and again.
Hey tazycat, Have you ever heard of cataracts being caused by Excede ? Our vet has given our foal donkey Joey 3 doses of Excede for a potential lower respiratory infection along with bentamine for fever. Within a few days our lil Joey was suddenly running into the barn wall.after two doses. He also developed the scours within 24 hours of his first shot. I know Excede is not given for ophthalmic issues in horses, however, since inflammation in the body can cause N-acetyl Carnosine to site of inflammation there by depriving the eyes and hence developing cataracts potentially. Since your gelding had Excede over a year ago have you noticed any problem with cataracts ?
You’re talking to a banned poster. She cannot respond. (See how it says “banned” under her name??)
Thanks so much Simkie sorry new to this site and donkeys. Had donkeys just about a year. Have you or anyone here ever heard of a foal developing cataracts following Excede ? Joey had 3 doses with greatly increased lethargy post administration and suddenly developed cataracts and scours as well. We helped his scours with a bit of baking soda, slippery elm bark and marshmallow root and honey. Is there any natural alternatives to antibiotics you have used or might suggest ? We have also been giving him probiotics too btw
Has anyone experienced severe scours and sudden onset Cataracts or necrosis from Excede in a young foal 5 weeks old ? Sorry new to this site and horses/donkeys. Joey had 3 doses with greatly increased lethargy post administration and suddenly developed cataracts and scours as well. We helped his scours with a bit of baking soda, slippery elm bark and marshmallow root and honey. Is there any natural alternatives to antibiotics you have used or might suggest ? We have also been giving him probiotics too ! But it seems like perhaps someone else has experienced cataracts from Excede if this was the cause. I know Excede is not intended to treat Ophthalmic issues, but I know scientifically inflammation can cause the excess N-Acetyl Carnosine stores pulled from the eyes (which prevents free radical damage causing cataracts) and is drawn to any area of inflammation in the body…
I’ve certainly not had that happen, and I’ve used Excede quite a lot. Why did your vet (or you?) continue with a second and third injection of Excede if you saw such a negative reaction to the first one?
No, if Excede is being used, there is usually not an alternative that is not an antibiotic. There certainly are alternative antibiotics that can be used, though. It sounds like perhaps the donkey should be hospitalized until you have a handle on his illness.
I have a 4 year old mare that had a runny nose and slight cough with exercise. Additionally, she swells up like crazy at the smallest nic or cut. Not sure why the vet went with Exceed instead of SMZs but I’m glad he did because getting her to eat all of those pills for several days, twice a day, would’ve been torture for the both of us. Anyways, she has not shown any kind of reaction at all from the two shots of Exceed given to her and her symptoms seem to be clearing up. I’ve had a great experience with this medication. If you look up these things on the internet, you will get 80% horror stories. Try and keep that in mind before losing sleep.
Hi Blondeguy, I had a similar exeprience - my horse developed sudden cataracts in both eyes and blindness in one eye after a tooth extraction, where he was given Excede at the end of the procedure. He started to have the regular adverse reaction of local swelling, but then I realized he got startled everytime I approached him from the left. Vet confirmed he was pretty much blind on left eye and had some significant cataracts / cloudiness in the right eye as well. I talked to my prior vet (we had moved) and she said she had a lamb she had treated with Excede and it had developed cataracts and blindness as well. For her, it fortunately cleared up as sudden as it came on after 6 months; however, she said she had always wondered if the cataracts had developed because of the antibiotics. Sadly, my guy stayed blind - but he is also 24 years old and a hyper-reactive horse. I wish I would have educated myself on the side-effects before the vet suggested giving it, just because my horse reacts to a lot of things. Obviously it’s hard to tell if there is a true link, but reading your comment makes me think that there might be something to it. And no, he did not have cataracts before Excede was given and yes, it was a very sudden onset of blindness and this was the only thing that had really changed for him. Thanks for posting your comment!
A zombie post, but thought I’d note in passing that horses which may experience reactions from the long-acting formulation of ceftiofur (Excede) may do better with Naxcel at more frequent dose intervals, Same active principle, but shorter duration.
Also, I am not aware of any connection between ceftiofur and cataracts.
What a timely bump to this thread… I see I chimed in this in the past, but, I just had to give one of my guys Excede again on Tuesday. Follow up dose is today… Gelding was fine at noon, but when I went to PM feed his leg was fat from hoof to knee. Called vet right away because it was seeping a clearish liquid at the fetlock, which made me worried it was some sort of joint puncture we couldn’t see – but vet could not find a puncture site. Nothing on x-rays or ultrasounds – and he has been ultrasounded five times since… Tuesday we finally saw a change in ultrasound, a small gas pocket between his ligaments. They tried to aspirate it but nothing came out, they’re going to be coming today and will probably try aspiration again. He’s had multiple blood tests run, abx, sweats, and we couldn’t get the leg’s swelling down… It looks like cellulitis, but it isn’t responding well to treatment; the clear seeping we saw was from the fluid having nowhere to go. His leg has been seeping since 6/7, and now his skin is sloughing off where the leg was most inflamed… He’s been on a 3x cold hose, 2x animalintex wrap, standing wrap combo since.
I do have to say, those animalintex wraps are awesome… but expensive!
The reason we had to give him Excede is because while we were trying to control the inflammation, fever, and pain, he went off of his feed and was starting to lie down a lot – probably a combination of his SMZs and the Baytril, neither of which seemed to make much of a difference in controlling the inflammation. He had already been on Gentomucin (sp?) and the Baytril/DMSO for the last week, so it was time to try something better… And… what do you know… This morning was the first day since 6/7 that I have been able to see some definition in my gelding’s leg.
My vet broke up the Excede into smaller doses. We’ll see how the follow up goes. :encouragement:
Just wanted to update; today my gelding had the Excede broken up into three (!) shots; two in the HQ, but then he kicked out at the vet… Big reaction for a horse that has so much as never pinned an ear at a person – but the vet said this is very common with Excede being administered because it’s a big needle and it’s very painful. The remaining bit went in the neck.
I just wanted to show the difference in inflammation with Excede added to the regimen; these pictures were taken 2 days apart. Prior to Excede, he was getting SMZs orally 2x a day, 500 dose of Banamine AM/PM, and Baytril/DMSO drip daily. I know they’re not the greatest photos as I was more concerned about snapping pictures of the wound[s], but now there is finally definition in his leg after a week of serious ABX.
First photo is 2 days ago. 2nd was today. Huge difference in swelling & inflammation. Unfortunately we have no idea what caused this all; the vets have run a lot of blood work, done five ultrasounds in the last week, and also x-rayed - can’t really find a cause so their suspicions are either a very awful staph infection following a bite, or a snake bite. His skin is necrotizing in the second picture and expected to slough off over the next few days, so it “looks” worse – but the swelling is down significantly. Last Monday his leg was so fat we were afraid there was a fracture somewhere.
Holy cow!
I also used naxcel/exede last year for a “wow, are we sure this is a cellulitis and not a fracture?” that was, indeed, a cellulitis. The vet’s preference was to start with naxcel, and switch to excede once it was moving in the right direction. Would that be an option for you, if you need to continue? Naxcel is twice daily, IV or IM. I always went IV, since I was also giving banamine.
The way I learned to give excede is two injections in the neck, redirecting halfway through each. It’s not fun, but it’s never even seemed to cause soreness that way… :eek:
Yes it can happen…I’ve used it many times over the years without incident …however …I have a horse that is super sensitive and she got a huge injection site reaction on her neck …I mean huge…extremely sore …we gave her Banamine and I also surpassed and put sore no more all over her neck …I don’t give her that anymore
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