Syringe HATRED!!!!!

[GGStables]

Fellow COTHers, please, please pleeeeease tell me there is an alternative to syringe plungers, which get stuck while you’re trying to attend a 17hh horse who doesn’t think he needs/wants meds.

Tonight I had to medicate my big gelding and by the time it was done, I’d lost my niceness altogether. Why do those darn plungers get stuck??? And why do you discover this at number 99 - the very “do-or-die” moment when your horse’s head is near the roof and your arm is stretched to the max. By the time it was all done, I’d cried, swore, broken a glass accidentally, back & forth’ed between the barn and house 3 times, and most probably made a monster for meds out of my gentle gelding. Poor thing. Swine plunger.

Tell me please, there is a plunger/syringe contraption out there that does NOT do this.

My horse is too picky to feed granulated meds unnoticed.

[alterblue]

I find that if you dip the rubber end of the plunger in corn oil (or any oil) before dosing this helps to keep it from getting stuck.

Hope that helps :)

[GGStables]

Alas, tried that. The syringe was almost slippery from it.:mad:

[BuddyRoo]

Are we reusing the same syringe many times?

Can you describe what you're doing?

[AppJumpr08]

Is the stuff you're trying to dose your gelding with plugging the syringe? Is it cold out so the tip is freezing between the house and barn? Is the syringe tip being plugged by his tongue or some other mouthpart?
How big is the tip on the syringe?

[Foxtrot's]

I have, in the past, cut off the tip of th syringe and made the hole much larger by scraping around it with a sharp knife then if there are any lumps left in the pill solution, it can keep going through. That is after I have wiped the plunger with oil. I do think the plungers have a time limit on them when they wont slide much.
Also, my hands are not very strong and the large syringes are a bit too big for them. Hubby's hands are stronger.

I also soak the pills the night before the morning dose, and after breakfast for the evening dose, in warm water in an egg cup, and add molasses. Not sure if it helps. Medicine is medicine and they know. Hide it before administering.


Try a few doses of apple sauce before the next round of meds.

[StellaTMK]

I do the oil thing, but also buy the syringes that have the ring on teh plunger. I also have a 17h gelding that wont move his feet but try the giraffe impersonation when meds are coming. Poor guy, it didn't help that last year he spent 7 weeeks of 3x's per day meds. The ring really helps. I buy it from my local pharmacy for about $1.25 each.

[deltawave]

If you're giving shots and having this problem, try going with a larger syringe--using one that's all the way full puts you at a real mechanical disadvantage and makes it much easier for the plunger to stick or even pop out.

For oral meds, you can't beat a drenching syringe. They sell them in cattle supply catalogs. Big, metal, long nozzle, industrial-strength plunger with finger loops. Love mine for recalcitrant beasties that don't know what's good for them. :) There are also nifty plastic ones for sheep and goats.

[092556]

Could not live without my drenching syringe.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/livestock/livestock-health/livestock-veterinary-supplies/veterinary-syringes/drench-syringe-30-cc-nylon-dose-2280012

[msj]

If you have serious problems with this horse for any kind of oral dosing, wormer, medication, etc. try dosing your horse with applesauce daily until he realizes that GOOD STUFF comes out of the syringe. I had a QH that was just too dam* smart for his own good and an old codger taught me the applesauce trick. After about a week of applesauce he was not only excellent for it but was biting the syringe and not leaving go! :D

Course then I also had another QH that I did that for almost a month......:(

Now, after you have given the BAD stuff, please do make sure you give him another couple of days of applesauce. :) :)

[cottagefarm]

I feel your pain GGstables

I have tried mineral/corn oil thing on the rubber ring but it's still hit and miss and not fun when trying to dose a foal which is what I'm doing right now. Ended up with most of it (meds) on me as when I put it in her mouth it would stick and when I tried it in the open it would work:eek:

Liked the other suggestions of the dosage syringes for cattel/sheep. I'll defintely look into them.
The only other thing I've found that works is dissolving with hot water and adding Pancake syrup/apple sauce and adding to food.



Fellow COTHers, please, please pleeeeease tell me there is an alternative to syringe plungers, which get stuck while you’re trying to attend a 17hh horse who doesn’t think he needs/wants meds.



Tell me please, there is a plunger/syringe contraption out there that does NOT do this.

My horse is too picky to feed granulated meds unnoticed.

[GGStables]

Thanks everyone

Yep, I am re-using the syringes, but after a soaking in warm water and lubricating with oil & doing...well, dry runs in the kitchen sink! I haven't a clue why it gets stuck when it shouldn't, but I'm done fighting this.

My gelding was such a good boy but even his niceness evaporated soon enough. I hadn't thought about giving him plain apple sauce for a few days after - will absolutely do that!

I am going to buy me a ringed plunger thingy, and hunt for a drencher syringe. And, I'm going to cut back the nozzle on the current one for good measure, lest I'm unable to locate the others, and I'm maybe even going to get the granules and slop it up in some bran mash and syrup. :)

Thanks guys!

[CarribeanLiving]

I to have had great success with Applesauce!. With my gelding it has become a game. He knows that sometimes it may not be applesauce and he actively tries to decipher what Im giving him. I dip the tip in Applesauce to trick the Olfactory senses.

[Heart's Journey]

Buy tons of new syringes from KV Vet or Valley Vet so you can keep changing. My horse was very sick over the summer and was getting meds 3 x a day and multiple meds so we were going through syringes like crazy.

To keep our sanity, I bought 20 and found each one was good for about 3-4 days, and then it was time for a new one.

It's also important to wash it out each time and let it dry - separately

[JB]

IME getting "stuck" is a problem with getting crooked in the finger/thumb alignment when you're pushing. So, that's a possibility.

[pj]

I save our wormer syringes and use those to dose melted pills and stuff.
Also add the pancake syrup but :lol: they still hate it.

[bvsporthorses]

I used to always use the applesauce trick as well but have found an even better one I thought I would share :)

My horses REALLY like mints so... I take a few tbsp of coolwhip and thaw at room temp, add a drop of peppermint extract and your meds, then syringe in! It is the best texture to get it all in and keep it all in, much more similar to a wormer paste texture. After having a few doses of this "treat" my horses are actually looking for the candy filled syringe :lol: I have also found that this mixture slides out of the syringe really easily and havent had problems with getting the plungers stuck partway through like I used to.

[smay]

I agree that using the plastic syringes with rubber plungers more than a couple times causes their lubrication to degrade and they will suddenly become stuck fast, and when you force it, the meds fly EVERYWHERE, including in your eye! You just have to have a bag full of them to use a new one frequently. I've got one on daily Bute and I mix with applesauce and go. The pony actually opens his mouth for his applesauce chaser every day. I buy a bag full of the 30ml syringes from Tractor Supply and they're cheap. In a pinch, you can smear some of your chapstick around the rubber plunger, and re-lubricate it a bit for quick use! The cattle drencher does sound like a winner, too if you have a constant use for syringing meds.

[li'l bit]

I used to always use the applesauce trick as well but have found an even better one I thought I would share :)

My horses REALLY like mints so... I take a few tbsp of coolwhip and thaw at room temp, add a drop of peppermint extract and your meds, then syringe in! It is the best texture to get it all in and keep it all in, much more similar to a wormer paste texture. After having a few doses of this "treat" my horses are actually looking for the candy filled syringe :lol: I have also found that this mixture slides out of the syringe really easily and havent had problems with getting the plungers stuck partway through like I used to.

Thanks for sharing. Definitely an idea to keep in mind for next time I need to dose.:)

[MunchkinsMom]

Try Crisco shortening instead of oil. Let messy, and lasts longer. That is what I do after the plunger rubber tip starts to lose it's "smoothness". I just rub on some Crisco, and it works fine.

[goeslikestink]

Fellow COTHers, please, please pleeeeease tell me there is an alternative to syringe plungers, which get stuck while you’re trying to attend a 17hh horse who doesn’t think he needs/wants meds.

Tonight I had to medicate my big gelding and by the time it was done, I’d lost my niceness altogether. Why do those darn plungers get stuck??? And why do you discover this at number 99 - the very “do-or-die” moment when your horse’s head is near the roof and your arm is stretched to the max. By the time it was all done, I’d cried, swore, broken a glass accidentally, back & forth’ed between the barn and house 3 times, and most probably made a monster for meds out of my gentle gelding. Poor thing. Swine plunger.

Tell me please, there is a plunger/syringe contraption out there that does NOT do this.

My horse is too picky to feed granulated meds unnoticed.

do the granules then put them in jam sandwich can do wormers like that to or core out the centre of an apple so it has a lid fill and then give it to him
honey or treacle also works treacle is better as its trong smelling and sweet so can add granules on it via a sandwich

[msj]

Some really great ideas here between the peppermint oil and Crisco and even corn oil. I'll add them to my applesauce repertoire. :) :)

[Trevelyan96]

I have one who absolutely will not let you near his mouth with a syringe, so when he needs meds, he gets a slurpy mixture of about 3 cups water with the dissolved meds, a few squirts of molasses, and a package of instant apple cider added to his grain. If he needs meds between feediings, he just gets the liquid mix in his feed bucket with a handful of pellets and he slurps it right up.

[Claddagh]

Other than buying a whole bunch of syringes so that you always have a new one when needed, I have found that I can keep one going a little longer if I wash it out right away after dosing, let it dry and then spray the rubber end with Pam cooking spray just before I use it again. I've had good luck keeping one going for quite a while that way. But when it really starts to stick, I just toss it and get out a new one! There is nothing worse than having it stick while in the mouth, especially of a less than perfect patient :lol:.

[philosoraptor]

Could not live without my drenching syringe.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/livestock/livestock-health/livestock-veterinary-supplies/veterinary-syringes/drench-syringe-30-cc-nylon-dose-2280012

thanks for the tip! I didn't know TSC had that.

[Sugarbrook]

I have some, at times, that get oral meds at least two times a day. I find that often the ponies tongue gets in the way and I need to position the syringe differently. But I sure do know the "OH NO< ITS NOT MOVING" thing with the meds. Happens to all of us. New syringes always help, along with the other suggestions of corn oil. OH, and how about mixing the meds with the corn oil. That way they slip into the mouth quite well. LOL, but I have ponies, not a 17 hand monster!!

[Claddagh]

OH, and how about mixing the meds with the corn oil. That way they slip into the mouth quite well.

THAT is a brilliant suggestion! Don't know why I never thought of that :o but it makes perfect sense! Thanks - that is now going to become "standard operating proceedure" around here! :D