Won't Eat Bute!!!!

[domane]

Grrrr! Blurry animal doesn't know what's good for her!!! :mad:

She won't touch her feed - Happy Hoof, apple cider vinegar and sliced apples and BUTE!!!!! I confiscated her haynet so she just ate her straw bed!!! :eek: In the end, I added some more happy hoof and diluted it further and HELD THE BUCKET :o so the darling deigned to nibble it half-heartedly. But I have to feed more in the morning and would like to get back for work before lunchtime!!!!

Someone has suggested strawberry jam sandwiches.... which I am willing to try.. I'm sure they will be readily scoffed... but just in case... what other "surefire" cover-ups can you recommend???

Thanks :)

[CurlyWurlyRach]

treacle?

[Stella2]

You could ask your vet for Danilon. Its a modern replacement for bute and its tasteless :) Its more expensive, but still a very cheep drug.

[galadriel]

You can syringe it in if all else fails. Get a large syringe and use it just as you would a paste dewormer; put the bute in water, shake it up, pour it down.

You can use something to make the bute stick and cover the flavor, like applesauce, in the syringe. I usually use Gatorade powder.

[domane]

You could ask your vet for Danilon. Its a modern replacement for bute and its tasteless :) Its more expensive, but still a very cheep drug.
Pardon my ignorance but this stuff IS Danilon... yellow granules???

Tasteless? How does she KNOW then??? :confused:

[nutkin]

treacle is basically mollasses and works wonders for horses that hate having bute or wormers added to their feeds.Some horses will eat it though if you put sugarbeet in with their feed as it does hide the taste a bit.

[HairyCob]

TLC supplement, £10.50 for 5litres, tastes divine (and Dolly thinks so too!) AND it's good for them in other ways:D

[Stella2]

Pardon my ignorance but this stuff IS Danilon... yellow granules???

Tasteless? How does she KNOW then??? :confused:
What can I say? You have a weirdly wise horse there :confused:

[domane]

TLC supplement, £10.50 for 5litres, tastes divine (and Dolly thinks so too!) AND it's good for them in other ways:D
I can't find it locally!!! I've only seen it in Robinsons and by the time THEY deliver her bute will be over...

[NoviceNic]

What about giving it to her in her favourite drink?? Captain has a can of Guiness on Xmas morning. You could try and mix it with a drink. What about putting it inot a mince pie or strawberry sundae?? Sorry not being much help am I. :rolleyes:

[miggy]

Apple juice to moisten feed works quite well

[domane]

What about giving it to her in her favourite drink?? Captain has a can of Guiness on Xmas morning. You could try and mix it with a drink. What about putting it inot a mince pie or strawberry sundae?? Sorry not being much help am I. :rolleyes:
No but it made me SMILE :) and they have been in short supply today.

Thanks hun

[coss]

ok haven't read whole thread but the way i have got bute into a horse before is to cut an apple into quarters and take "plugs" of apple out, fill whole with but and put plug back in. only works if you give "clean" bits of apple too though.
Another method i have heard but not tried is to mix the bute with water to make a paste (i would prob use apple juice or sim) and get a syringe and act like your worming the horse. this may or may not work and may make worming harder so would like to hear how you get on if you were to try it.

[HairyCob]

Don't buy TLC from Robinsons! It will have such a short date on it, it'll be gone off before you use it! I'll decant some of Dolly's and send it up to you xx

[NoviceNic]

No but it made me SMILE :) and they have been in short supply today.

Thanks hun

Then my work here today is done. :D

[Guest]

Apple Cidar Vinegar.

Bry wouldn't eat her Calmag untill I put this in her feed, she LOVES it and licks her bucket clean every day now.

Cheap and cheerful

[colettybetty]

Mine will eat anything if I add it to spillers Hi fibre cubes, add water and soak it up into a paste.

[Pink's lady]

She won't eat the danilon? Odd horse. Many horses dislike bute cos it taste really bitter but danilon is sweetened.

I'd buy a tin of black treacle (i.e mollassas) from the shop and mix it in. Tis the runny version on horse licks and what TLC is made with.

Do make sure she likes it first - some horses don't like treacle.

[LindaAd]

I've done the jam sandwich thing - it's magic. Two thick slices of bread, a layer of jam, sprinkle the bute on the jam .. Both my boys thought it was a huge treat. I've tried the apple plug thing too, that works, but the sandwich was better. I'm sure honey would work too.

[newnovice]

I've been giving my horse bute for a month now for laminitis.

If you have the paste: put the lead chain across her nose and before you give it, put it up under her top lip across her top gum. She won't be able to move or throw her head. Put the syringe way into the back of her throat and push in the bute. I hold my hand under my mare's chin until she swallows it.

The powder I mix with maple syrup and pull it into a syringe and use the above technique. It helps that I'm a nurse and have access to syringes with large opening tips.

[domane]

Thanks for all you suggestions... as I happened to have bread AND strawberry jam in the house (I know how to live, me!!! :p ) I thought I would start with Plan A... and...... drum roll please......

It worked a treat! In fact, she was still snuffling my hands for more when I took her headcollar off at the field - I had to shoo her away :D

Mum 1
Cherry 0 ;)

[Tizer]

Good, I am glad that worked for you. :)

[iccle_me]

we used to use natural yogart when i worked at the treking center the older horses used to love it

[cloang]

Peppermint oil worked for us, especially if your horse loves polos:D

[eventerbabe]

Bonnie became an expert at sussing out bute and pills :rolleyes: we tried the strawberry jam sandwiches which worked only for so long, then we moved onto nutella sandwiches (she'd a sweet tooth!!), we tried making it with speedi-beet, which also worked but not for long. But the most sure fire way to make sure she got it all was to mix it up with water (or apple juice) and actually syringe it into her mouth.

[chickflick1066]

What an entertaining mare :D

[Mimi + Me]

Well done Domane, that's one less thing you've got to worry about now :)

[martini55]

When my mare wouldnt eat bute I hid it in jam sandwiches but she soon sussed it out. After that I got some treacle, took a dollop of it and added boiling water to melt it down, mixed the bute into that and then mix that into the feed. If all else fails mix the bute with some water and put it into a syringe- not appreciated by the horse though! :p

[domane]

She is on double-dose for the first two days (last double-lot tonight) so I am hoping that when she is only on the one sachet that I can disguise it better. BUT, thanks to you lot I have a variety of different options. Off at lunchtime to buy some tins of baby food apple puree and more apple juice and some more jam.

They just don't know what's good for them, do they????

[teabiscuit]

i love the guiness suggestion NN :D :D
how is the Cherry girl today Domane, is the leg improving?

[domane]

i love the guiness suggestion NN :D :D
how is the Cherry girl today Domane, is the leg improving?
Thanks for asking TB... to be honest it only shows in trot and I just nipped down to force (:p ) feed her the aforementioned jam sandwiches and then turn her out. Will do the 20min ride later and let you know....

[drookitsheep]

I've used the treacle sandwich trick too, but apparently bute has less of a taste if you put the sachets in the fridge for a few hours prior to using?

No idea how anyone would know this, but I'm sure it was something I was told by a vet once.

[jenren!!]

I could do with some ideas actually. Aramis is starting to suspect the bute in her feed and i dont want her to stop eating it. I think the apple cider vinegar is a good idea, as obviously the apple gives a nice flavour yet the cider vinegar is good for horses with arthritis anyway. I might buy some today and try it :).

[rowdent]

What good ideas... Files away for future reference..;)

I would have suggested the Mollasses too.. but then I had a mollasses addict LOL.. One year he got dehydrated as he wouldn't drink.. so I put mollasses in his water bucket.. and hey presto.. no more dehydrated horse..:D It looked rather funny tho..LOL like horsey pepsi :D

[jenren!!]

I would stay away from molaases if im honest, it contains alot of sugar and feeding that on a daily basis can fatten any horse up and desperate for more. I save it for an occasional treat.

[capalldubh]

Now I know Shannon is a greedy madam. She ate double doses of bute sprinked on moistened mollichop :eek:

I like the natural yog suggestion, might try to remember that for future horses that are not greedy piglets.

Hope Cherry is feeling better :)

[teabiscuit]

I would stay away from molaases if im honest, it contains alot of sugar and feeding that on a daily basis can fatten any horse up and desperate for more. I save it for an occasional treat.
i would agree normally jen, but these are desperate times :D

[Darcys-girl]

Try putting it in the freezer ment to take the taste away or at least reduce it!

[CurlyWurlyRach]

Try putting it in the freezer ment to take the taste away or at least reduce it!

That explains ALOT about my YOs freezer ;)

[gale]

We find that if we mix bute or whatever else we have to give with some plain live yoghurt insert into a large syringe and squirt into mouth.Most of them have soon reached the stage that when they see the syringe their mouths are already opened.

[sidesaddlelady1]

Grrrr! Blurry animal doesn't know what's good for her!!! :mad:

She won't touch her feed - Happy Hoof, apple cider vinegar and sliced apples and BUTE!!!!! I confiscated her haynet so she just ate her straw bed!!! :eek: In the end, I added some more happy hoof and diluted it further and HELD THE BUCKET :o so the darling deigned to nibble it half-heartedly. But I have to feed more in the morning and would like to get back for work before lunchtime!!!!

Someone has suggested strawberry jam sandwiches.... which I am willing to try.. I'm sure they will be readily scoffed... but just in case... what other "surefire" cover-ups can you recommend???

Thanks :)
Black treacle sandwiches. The treacle is strongly flavoured and very sweet which will hide the smell and taste of the bute. This may seem a bit obvious but she'll be more inclined to eat bute sandwiches if you give them to her BEFORE her breakfast (as she'll be hungry) but don't let her see her breakfast until after she's taken the bute butty for obvious reasons.

[EmmaRotherham]

a couple I've come across that were fussy with bute took it fone once mixed in with a feed of speedibeet..

[colettybetty]

Marmite sandwiches - mine would follow me all day in the hopes of getting one !

[cazrider]

Sennie wouldn't eat Bute in feed either UNTIL I mixed some apple juice in with it. The whole lot disappeared and he licked out the bowl. Maybe one to try if Cherry gets fed up with jam sandwiches.:D

[Lgd]

Phenylbutazone (real Bute!) freezes nicely and it gets eaten no bother by the most finicky eaters. Easy for us as we have a freezer at the yard, otherwise you need to invest in a cool box. Would have to check to see if Danilon freezes OK - will try and find out for you.

[SupaTania]

putting some in sweetfeed works wonders..

is your bute a powder or a tablet?

[artemis]

I havent read all posts, so sorry if I repeat.
It is possible to buy bute in paste form in a syringe. It is expensive though.

[HairyCob]

Glad to hear you've sussed getting it into her Jane... I won't be sending you TLC to try as I've discovered that it DOESN'T cover the taste of bute- well it doesn't for Dolly anyway. Hers got syringed in today:rolleyes: