Genius ideas for getting my horse to take his meds?

[fivestrideline]

I am doing a round of omeprazole and sucralfate granules/pop rocks for my cranky sharky gelding. The problem? He will. Not. Eat. Any. I can usually (80% of the time) get most of the omeprazole in him with a double fistful of soaked alfalfa. The sucralfate is a NOPE, and he’s not easy to syringe. Syringing him 2-3x a day would likely get someone thrown through a wall.

He won’t touch his grain with anything suspicious in it, including most supplements. For the meds, I’ve tried applesauce, syrup, soaked Unbeetable or hay stretcher, Senior Sport “sweet” feed, you name it. He won’t touch alfalfa or Safe Starch with the sucralfate in it - dry or soaked or dissolved, doesn’t matter. I know sucralfate is supposed to be on an empty stomach too, but since my horses never really have empty stomachs I figure a handful of hay or grain won’t change much. Still, I haven’t had success with anything in a reasonable volume.

Any other magical solutions? I’ve seen that some sweet feed like Omelene can be a tempting option. I could also try the pill pocket treats? Are any of those pretty palatable?

[Training_Cupid]

Does he like peppermints? The peppermint syrup, like the kind you put in coffee, works for some horses.

[fivestrideline]

Loves them. Do you put the meds + syrup on a handful of grain, or just syringe it?

[Simkie]

Is he IR or cushings or otherwise sensitive to sugar? If not, smother that shit in molasses or pancake syrup.

[fivestrideline]

Not that I know of. I tried pancake syrup in some grain and he wouldn’t even touch the bowl

Maybe if I balled it up like “treats”? He’s Mr Picky - but we think some of it is ulcer caused, which is what I’m trying to treat, ya dingus

[cayuse]

I had a little luck crushing up pills adding a little water to dissolve it into a slurry and then mixing it with applesauce and little bit of molasses, then mixing the mess with feed or mash. Dissolving what’s left of the pills after crushing them seemed to help with masking the taste/smell.
ETA: never mind , I reread your post and I see you tried dissolving the mess. Horses

[Simkie]

@fivestrideline

I tried pancake syrup in some grain and he wouldn’t even touch the bowl

Ugh, it sounds like you might be syringing it in regardless but making it tasty does make it easier!

[clanter]

might try some Vicks Vaporub on his nose as most likely if he is like one of our mares she smells everything before eating, if does not pass the sniff test its not touched

[CHT]

Dates or figs can help as pill pockets.

[sascha]

I got Sucralfate pills a couple of rounds ago because they’re a bit cheaper. I recently found out that a handful of pills with a handful of peppermints followed by plain peppermints gets them eaten out of my hand. My horse and another I tried this method on are peppermint junkies though. YMMV.

[fivestrideline]

@cayuse

I had a little luck crushing up pills adding a little water to dissolve it into a slurry and then mixing it with applesauce and little bit of molasses, then mixing the mess with feed or mash. Dissolving what’s left of the pills after crushing them seemed to help with masking the taste/smell.

Well I haven’t tried doing ALL of the above - I may give that a shot. Maybe with the peppermint coffee syrup!

I’m tempted to try Nicker Makers or some sort of pill pocket - he is a treat hound but still a bit picky.

[fivestrideline]

@sascha

I got Sucralfate pills a couple of rounds ago because they’re a bit cheaper. I recently found out that a handful of pills with a handful of peppermints followed by plain peppermints gets them eaten out of my hand. My horse and another I tried this method on are peppermint junkies though. YMMV.

Huh. Maybe that’ll work - he LOVES peppermints. The little sucralfate pop rocks won’t hand feed easily, but I might be able to cobble something together.

He’s already half dangerous to syringe - well, he can be wormed. But try again the next day? It’s WWE. He’s a stubborn guy sometimes . Even applesauce ONLY in a syringe is met with a fight. Though perhaps I haven’t tried it for long enough.

[sascha]

Hmm. I have only used the sizeable brand-name pills from the vet so no idea about the pop rock ones, but worth a try.

About the apple sauce, you have to do it daily with plain apple sauce for as many days or weeks as it takes for the horse to start looking for it eagerly. If not, it won’t work for nasty stuff. And always follow any nasty ““mistakes”” right quick with a second syringe of plain apple sauce. I’ve totally converted a couple of dangerous to deworm creatures that way. It was a long slog though.

[fivestrideline]

Yeah, I definitely haven’t tried it for long enough

Not hard to add to the daily routine, especially if I’m not trying to also syringe meds

[Heinz_57]

Any chance you could stuff them inside a German horse muffin? I have no idea what volume of stuff we’re talking here.

[Training_Cupid]

Mixed in with grain

[LiveTheDream]

Smart horses are wonderful, except when they know you’re sneaking them needed, expensive meds. So, instead of feeding them, you end up wearing them.

One horse loves rice bran. Soaked and soupy he’ll still slurp it up. The bonus is that it dissolves quickly in hot water. But he loves his peanut butter Cliff bars. As in he’ll turn himself inside out just upon hearing the wrapper crinkle. He will eat the pill pocket treats, but they are clearly not a favorite.

For peppermints, my ponies seem to prefer the softer, puffed ones that can be found at Fred Meyers or Walmart. They too dissolve well. You can also buy crushed peppermint - I use it in peppermint molasses horse cookies.

Hope you find something that works for your boy.

[bdj]

I’ve used dollar store fig newtons, split open like a book, loaded with whatever the pill du jour was, and then smooshed back together with good results before. It helps to offer a no-pill one (or part of one) first and last to help disguise the “poisoned” one.

[SweetMutt]

My horse will eat almost anything with Gatorade powder mixed in (and otherwise KNOWS there are meds in there!). You can get it in packets or tubs. Mine likes the red or orange, no thanks to the lemon lime.

[LilDunFilly]

There are those Stud Muffin type cookies. They’re pretty gooey, so you could stuff them with his meds and shove it in his mouth. Maybe feed him a few un-doctored ones so he doesn’t know what’s coming. I remember reading about someone who did this with some type of creme-filled stuffing, like a twinkie.

Depending how he is with snacks, I’ve also used Fruit by the Foot (sweet fruit-flavored candy) wrapped around meds and popped in the mouth.