Re: bute usage

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> >Her questions, though, mainly concern bute.  Her horse is taking 1/2 gram a
> >day, and has been for several years.  She's weaned him down that far, but
> >can't seem to get him off of it all together, as the symptoms from the
> >"stroke" reoccur.  She's concerned about having him on this for so long and
> >doesn't want to cause any more problems with his health.
> >
> >Have any of you had experience with long term bute usage?  Or any
> >suggestions about things she could be doing to minimize any damage it may
> >cause?

I'm not a vet, but I do remember one horse at our barn a long time ago
that had bad navicular whose owner wouldn't have him nerved and so gave
him bute daily for literally years on end---he got three grams a day,
PLUS an additional two grams on the days he was ridden.  Yeow.  But the
horse never had problems with it and eventually died of other totally
unrelated causes.

On the other hand, I know of another horse that was put onto just two
grams of bute a day for five days after showing mild signs of
laminitis.  He'd never had bute before, started having gastric bleeding
problems almost immediately and died due to massive internal bleeding
caused by the bute. 

I don't mean to sound alarmist, this is just an illustration that bute
can affect different horses differently.  Maybe these two horses were
both incredibly abnormal, I don't know.  At our house we just went
through a bout of giving bute to one of our horses following surgery and
our vet had us also giving him over-the-counter Zantac from WalMart two
hours before Puzzle got his bute to help avoid gastric ulcers.  However,
it also took 32 tablets a dose which even on sale was about seven bucks
twice a day, so not really an option for long term use (at least not at
MY house).  We were also giving him another drug called Carafate that
did the same thing, but it too was very expensive.  Dr. Kemper also had
us giving Puzzle a small amount of Mylanta along with the bute (which IS
cheap), so maybe your friend could check with her vet to see if that's
an option, or even remotely recommended.  My understanding is that the
primary problem with bute is potential gastric ulcers and bleeding, but
half a gram isn't much bute, even on a long term basis.  You might also
tell your friend to keep an eye on the horse's poop for abnormally dark
fecal balls that would indicate blood in the feces.

Good luck,

Susan Garlinghouse