Posting for a friend. Aged STBD needs daily bute…anybody know good tricks for something to mix it with to get him to consume? Liquid in syringe also not going well…
I gave up on powder and usually use paste.
I used Pill Camo treats for a round of Nexium and that worked really well, so I picked up some bute pills/tabs that I can break in half and stick in a Pill Camo. The treats then get tossed in his feeder on top of his dinner. Not 100% guaranteed the Pill Camo will disguise the bute pills, but I’m going to try it.
I used a small coffee grinder and ground the pills up with 2 peppermints. The peppermints mask the taste. This can then be added to grain.
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Some horse who resist being given bute do so because they have ulcers and the bute causes them intense, heartburn-like, pain.
They typically try to avoid bute being put in their mouths, or try to hold it in the mouth instead of swallowing. They will often grind or grit their teeth and act irritable once the bute hits their stomach.
If the horse is ulcer free, and will receive bute for any length of time one of the many products to prevent ulcers should be used.
Mixing crushed bute tablets with peppermint syrup, molasses, or frozen orange juice concentrate, and syringing into the mouth is how I give it.
My powdered bute is orange flavored and I usually just mix in with feed (Triple Crown Senior) and he eats it just fine. If he is being fussy about it, I will take a small amount of feed, wet it slightly and add the bute and mix. Usually he will eat from the bucket or I feed him it by handfuls if necessary. Good luck!
Cause it tastes like crap. Mix it with crushed peppermints or a little bit of jello powder or molasses. If you plan on syringing, mix it with molasses and water, shake and dose. Alternate with applesauce and randomly good tasting things. I usually add flavor that you add to water bottles to flavor since it’s easier to store.
If the horse will eat soaked feed, add a little-soaked beet pulp, bute powder, and a little molasses. Just a small amount so you can make sure he eats it all.
Don’t forget the ulcer meds for long-term Bute use.
Mush it with an aged banana! It sticks and goes right down.
I mix it with applesauce and put it in a dosing syringe. My horse loves it so much that now he gets excited any time I show up with a syringe.
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What have you been using to syringe? I find mixing with applesauce and a couple drops of warm water in a drench syringe (https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?PGGUID=FEB5ADC1-1209-4CF1-B16B-55721B659E12) is incredibly effective.
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My horse will NOT allow anything except a bit in his mouth --try to put a syringe in there and he will become violent (otherwise, totally quiet horse). But he’s a molasses junkie. I keep molasses in the barn in a squeeze bottle (it is so sticky otherwise) and when he needs something by mouth, I put it on his feed, cover whatever with molasses, stir and let him have it --he loves it --he even eats wormer like that --eeewwwww.
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First try: Mix with Tripe Crown Senior
Second try: Mix with applesauce & grain
Third try: Mix with molasses & grain
If that doesn’t work, throw a massive temper tantrum.
If he’s going to need bute long term, she should talk to her vet about Equioxx (aka Previcox). It’s made for long term use and is one little pill that is much more palatable.
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Thank you COTHers! You come through again!
One more suggestion from the past, a tried and true Racetrack trick I learned eons ago.
Take a piece of old water hose, cut enough to create a loop in between you and the horse. Crush up the Bute to powder, dump the powder to the bottom. Stick hose in horse’s mouth, preferably towards the back! Put the other piece in your mouth and blow…
This worked with the worst of the worst, when all other conventional methods failed.
The “fancy” people used clear tubing. :yes:
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Wouldn’t that put the horse, (and possibly the human) at risk of inhaling/aspirating the bute powder?
What happens if the horse bites down on the tube as the person blows?
It should be said that the reason bute is no longer legally prescribed to people is that chronic exposure to phenylbutazone AKA ‘bute’ can cause aplastic anaemia and suppression of white blood cell production in humans. These side effects were particularly noticeable in the factories producing it when workers breathed in bute dust.
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Yes, this, blowing it through a tube cannot be a good way to administer, for horse or human
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Most compounding pharmacies make Bute powder in apple and peppermint flavors. For long term use, I would recommend Equioxx pills. One tiny pill in a apple slice works wonders.
Like I said, this was a last resort method, used a long time ago, when a horse had to get what was needed.
Using common sense, with little powder blown at a time, will coat the horse’s mouth.
Last resort ladies, last resort.
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I’ve also found that the orange-flavored bute seems to be palatable.
When I first got her, my Tb was very suspicious of any new thing put in her grain or given by hand. It took a while to get her to eat even baby carrots. I made the mistake of trying to “hide” bute in an apple, once…she wouldn’t touch apples for a year afterwards.
So if I had any meds to give her it was not easy. SMZs, bute…all had to be syringed in. I used apple juice to dilute the meds in a big syringe, and with good aim it all went it. Most of the time.
Fast forward a few years and she will eat bute mixed in with her TC Senior. So much easier!!!
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a little bit of soaked beet pulp and no questions asked!
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