A Rather Unorthodox Way (It Works Though!) to Administer SMZs

[MintHillFarm]

My horse is very difficult (to say the least) to give SMZ to. I have to say that it is part my fault in finding the right substance to mix with it...I have tried apple juice, apple sauce, mollasses, corn syrup, pudding and others that I can't even remember.

Up till a few days ago my best shot was warm water and a dose syringe. But I now have found the best way for us, he is thrilled and needless to say I am too! He has always loved bread, so what I tried not even thinking it would work was to make up some 1/2 sandwiches with the SMZs crushed and spread onto the slices of bread. I mix a small amount of warm water and spread on wheat, white and multi-grain. To administer his dose, which is 20 tabs (he is very large), it takes 4 slices, 2x daily...He gobbles the bread right up and there is no mess, no spitting out the medication and I have one happy horse. It takes no time to feed him this amount and I am assured that he is actually getting all of it! If you horse likes bread, this is well worth trying...:)

[Bluey]

Hmm, our horses just eat it top dressed on their grain, any grain, even senior pellets and they lick the buckets clean.:yes:

Good that you found a way for your horse to get his medicine.:)

[AKB]

Our picky eater won't touch his grain if SMZs have come near the grain. He does love bread, so I will try that next time. Did you put jelly on the bread or some other sticky substance to make the SMZs stay in the bread?

[LLDM]

Just be careful not to overdo it. Too much concentrated starch can aggravate founder/laminitis and other related diseases.

Once, a very long time ago I caught a neighbor boy feeding my shetland pony day old bread. (His dad drove a Wonder Bread truck). I was wondering why my old pony's founder was acting up so bad. Stopped the bread and the founder came back under control. But he was a very sore pony for a while.

I have no idea how much is too much. But please be careful. :)

SCFarm

[suze]

Hmm, our horses just eat it top dressed on their grain, any grain, even senior pellets and they lick the buckets clean.

Ours too, except the pony, who eats them right out of your hand. They're tasteless - at least ours are. I tasted 'em right after we found out the pony will just scarf them down like a treat.

[MintHillFarm]

Our picky eater won't touch his grain if SMZs have come near the grain. He does love bread, so I will try that next time. Did you put jelly on the bread or some other sticky substance to make the SMZs stay in the bread?


I grind the pills into powder and add a small amount of warm water to disolve.
I add in 2 lumps of sugar grinding that as well, and mix into the SMZ powder. Then I spread carefully onto the bread, using 4 slices for 20 tabs, fold over and feed by hand.

My horse Fred, will not go near his feed tub if I put any ground pills onto his feed. I can't disguise it, he is wise to me! I wish I could just feed it as a treat like some of you mentioned!

Thank you LLDM, I appreciate your note too....

[Soldier06]

The ONLY successful way I have found to administer meds to the chestnut horse is as follows:

Melt whatever drug in a little water in one of those little gladware containers
Add a flavor (w/the Doxy I'm using Kool Aid but normally just apple juice for SMZ's, Robax, or Metroprednizole (sp))
Wet the grain with the mixture

The dosing syringe is such a struggle, I end up wearing it and he gets none. If I just throw them in his food he goes on a hunger strike the second he bites into one. The melt and mix seems to work the best, so that's what I'm sticking with. :lol: I tried rolling some Doxy up in a fruit roll up, and tried shoving them in a Peep, but it was very unsuccessful and sticky. :rolleyes:

[Penthilisea]

SMZ's stuffed into donuts or donut holes work well for my treat ho's. Actually in peep sammich's too... (two peeps smushed together with meds in between)

[BestHorses]

I never had to grind SMZs. I just cover them with a little water in a tupperware container and let it sit for a minute. They dissolve on their own and then I add a little molasses to make a paste to put on feed. I found that if I added the molasses to the pills before the water they wouldn't dissolve...

[LittleblackMorgan]

hmm...my horse was on SMZ's (20 per day) for weeks...I smooshed em, and mixed molasses in his feed, and that did it

[MunchkinsMom]

Two of my horses will eat anything if I crush up soft red and white peppermint candies, add the crushed up medicine, add hot water and pour it on the feed. Horse number three does not like peppermints, so I use raspberry jello mix, water, meds, and syringe it in.

[cloudyandcallie]

I let them dissolve in water with either a little peppermint or coca cola and down they go.

MY tb mare wouldn't take bute in anything, but she would take her SMZs and any other meds in her grain, after dissolving in water and mixing in.

My wb will take anything in coke or beer.

I wouldn't feed bread to a horse unless it was multigrain whole wheat and if that was the only way to get meds into a horse. Dissolved in water and added to grain, or in apple sauce or in carrot juice, etc. is usually the way to get drugs into horses.

[MintHillFarm]

Fred won't eat his grain if it is moist. I am not wild about wet pelletized grain anyway, which is what Equine Senior is...
I tried the mollasses over the crushed pills but he said NO to that too...

Donut holes and Peeps sound like they would work as well, I may try them sometime...

I use primarily the 12-Grain bread or whole wheat...