Previcox Dosage & Questions

[mmeqcenter]

@suecwing49@yahoo.com

My mare has been on Previcox for several years now with good results. However, for the past month she has developed a new lameness, lays down a lot, and has trouble walking after standing up.
my question is, can I give her Bute alternately with the previcox for a few days to see of she is helped? She is limping most of the time.

I have always been taught no, for these reasons:

"Phenylbutazone (bute), flunixin meglumine (banamine) and firocoxib (previcox/equiox) are all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Firocoxib has been shown to have reduced toxic effects on the gastrointestinal tract and kidney relative to its older counterparts, however, by combining ANY two NSAIDs you are increasing the risk of related toxicity.

In the past week, two horse owners told me that they were giving their horses Bute and Previcox at the same time, without veterinary instruction. They had no idea that they were doing harm, as they did not realize that these drugs have the same mechanism of action, and real potential for toxicity when administered in combination."

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[neversaynever]

My vet said not to give them both bute and previcox at the same time. However, previcox can be given with pentosan. My horse was on previcox but the addition of pentosan seems to have really helped.

[JB]

@suecwing49@yahoo.com

My mare has been on Previcox for several years now with good results. However, for the past month she has developed a new lameness, lays down a lot, and has trouble walking after standing up.
my question is, can I give her Bute alternately with the previcox for a few days to see of she is helped? She is limping most of the time.

You need to call your vet to discuss what’s going on with your mare. There are reasons to not combine the 2, as noted above, and there are reasons to not use bute, or firocoxib, or discontinue their use, and for that, you need your vet. Any new lameness needs to be seen by your vet. Laying down a lot may or may not be related to that. Trouble walking is concerning. I hope you will give him/her a call to discuss this.

[beowulf]

FYI for those feeding Previcox:

Cheaper solution (and easier) than Fig Newtons is to buy your local supermarket’s mint gum drops. Cut them in half, and poke the pill inside the halved gumdrop. Place on palm of your hand and feed. Super easy, and has thwarted my fairly medicine-clever gelding. The gumdrops are sticky, so the pill stays “stuck” inside of them as you feed it to the horse.

For the poster that bumped this zombie thread up, get a vet. A horse that is lying down a lot and is lame is in need of veterinarian attention.

[beau159]

Both of the lameness vets I use (one is regionally known) recommend to do a loading dose (three 57 mg tablets) on the first day, and then one 57 mg tablet every day thereafter. This is important to maintain the level of medication in the horse’s system. It is also best if you can give it about the same time every day, for the same reason.

Previcox doesn’t really function like bute. You don’t get an instant effect like you do with bute. And you NEVER want to combine previcox with any other pain medication such as bute or banamine unless you have direct approval from your vet (such as banamine for a colic emergency).

With my horse, I usually notice it “kicking in” after he has been on it about a week. With that in mind, I personally would not agree with a 2 weeks on - 2 weeks off dosage of Previcox because you’d be quitting about the time you start getting good results, and then starting over again.

Side note: My horse now gets Equioxx since it is available, and with a rebate available from my vet, it is the same price as Previcox. I choose to feed the 57 mg tablets because I could never get the 227’s to split into EQUAL pieces, and it’s just way easier.

I just drop a pill into a very small amount of sweet feed and he gobbles it right up. Doesn’t even know it’s there!