Title is pretty self explanatory. I have an older retired horse that gets Prascend once a day. He won’t eat it in his grain so we had been putting it in a soft treat or piece of carrot and giving it to him. Unfortunately he’s picked up on that and decided that all treats must be poisoned so refuses to eat them. I’ve tried apple sauce, molasses (which he really shouldn’t have) and various other things that he would normally find palatable. My vet has advised against crushing it or mixing with water because of its chemical makeup. The best solution I’ve come up with is putting the pill in am empty ulcergard tube and syringing it in his mouth. This has been effective and he hasn’t been spitting it out. Does anyone have a better suggestion? He is good to syringe but I worry he may catch on to that too!
Ugh why can’t they get that we are trying to HELP them? And it’s always the tiniest pills too - my gelding was getting 1/4 tab of Previcox (teeny) in a handful of senior fed as a treat and he KNEW.
As far as your case, you’ve tried most things I’d suggest but I have used ulcergard a LOT. For the ulcergard tube method, I used to keep two or three tubes, feed one with just applesauce, next with meds, last one just applesauce. Sometimes skipped the first tube, sometimes last one was replaced with a treat. I also would give just an applesauce tube every time I groomed, to cut down on the meds-to-treat ratio associated with the tubes! Might work for you, or at least buy you some time.
Add some jelly or jam to the tube. I had a horse that needed meds for weeks. Filled a syringe with cheap jelly. It got to the point he’d run to the fence and I could give it without even haltering. I think he was disappointed when it was over
I use the same method as if it was wormer and dobbin doesn’t like it. Feed treat and force them to swallow while holding head up.
There are low-carb/low-sugar treats and syrups available. When my old man gelding had to take a medication he hated, I used sugar-free pancake syrup. I just poured a little on his feed and the stickiness made the medication adhere to the feed. You could also use the syrup in the syringe, if you wanted to go that route.
ETA: plain no-sugar applesauce might work, too. That can be put into a syringe. I know other COTHers have used that technique successfully!
Syringe works best for me and our mini!
Our horses must be brothers. My vet prescribed pergolide through Wedgewood. They have flavored powders, treats and capsules with a tiny amount of powder. He was eating the flavored powder mixed with a glop of molasses. They were out of stock so now we have the capsules. I just open them up and mix with molasses and so far so good. He hates being syringed, so if he stops eating the Wedgewood version I will put him down before his feet start to hurt.
This may be a good option for him. Right now I have a bunch of the Prascend left so will finish that out and then consult with vet.
I never thought he was the smartest horse in the world but somehow he knows when I’m trying to give him the tiny pink pill no matter how it’s presented to him!
Clearly not the best thing for a horse that can not have sugar but have you tried fig newtons yet?
I have to use fig newtons for my gelding. He only gets half a tablet but he will leave it every time unless I put it in a cookie. Lucky for me 1/4 of a fig newton is enough to do it.
While he is eating I stick the pill up inside his cheek very quickly. If it comes back out I do it again. Careful with the fingers.
You could try using a little “competition”? Bring over another horse, feed the other horse a couple treats where your guy can see him, hear the chewing, smell the snack. Cue jealousy, hey where’s mine? Give him one without the pill, a couple more to the other horse. Mom mom mom me me me! Give him the one with the pill, then one without. Mix up the order of things so he doesn’t anticipate it.
Works for my friends horse when he’s hesitant!
I’d add to your title/subject that it’s Prascend you’re struggling with, as that might attract “that” crowd. Prascend does seem to be in a league of its own when it comes to horses who have caught on :\
Is Prascend extra awful or something?
It has to be with so many horses who have worked it out and won’t eat it.
I compare it to something I had to do - I had one of these taper packs of prednisone. Holy mother of God did it taste bad, it tried to dissolve on your tongue immediately and would stick to your mouth and throat, and then the taste would linger forever. Every pill I would sit and stare at, trying to build the gumption to just suck it up and take it but it would take minutes before I was able to do so.
All that to say - if prascend is anywhere near that experience, I understand horses saying “no thanks ill pass” if they know it’s coming.
Sugar free pancake syrup is my trick of the week.
I’ve used homemade oatmeal carrot balls, jello powder, pieces of apple, pop tarts, handful of tasty grain, fig newtons, Gatorade, orange flavor water flavoring, crushed sugar free peppermints.
I’m running out of tricks as well.
A small quantity of molasses is unlikely to have significant adverse effect.
Standlee makes forage-based “pill pockets.” I haven’t tried them myself.
I currently am coring a hole in a carrot with a knife to deliver meds to my horse. Full disclosure- I’ve tried this method with other horses and they saw right through it. But this horse is just happy for her extra carrot no matter what’s hidden in it.
I’m guessing it tastes awful. My treathound never turned his nose up to anything until we started treating him with Prascend. Ever since, every one of his treats is suspiciously eyeballed. We had to stop the Figs for a while because he figured out even with placebo Figs that one of them had the pill in it.
Regularly switching the method of getting the dose into him now seems to work best.
I wonder what would happen if it was put in an empty gel cap.
That just popped in my head. Probably affect something it shouldn’t.
