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My 28 year old Friesian mare fell through a septic cover and was trapped in a heap for a maximum of 2 hours before we found her. After a lot of maneuvering, we were able to get her on her feet. She was VERY unstable and VERY reluctant to move. She had some cuts and scrapes, but remarkably everything looked superficial.
She was in no shape to get into a trailer. Rain was forecasted to begin shortly. I had nowhere safe to put her away from the other horses except for one corral which seemed like a million miles away given her state.
She is on a daily regimen of 57mg of Equioxx for years now, and had received her pill about 2-3 hours before this event. I recently had her scoped for ulcers and to confirm her suspected megaesophagus diagnosis. While she does have a mild case of megaesophagus, her digestive track looked good. No sign of ulcerations.
I wanted to eliminate some of the pain she was experiencing so that she would be more limber. I would have preferred Banamine, but I didn’t want to mix it with the Equioxx, so I gave her 2 more 57mg of Equioxx – which I knew was a risk, but rationalized that she is at the high-end of the weight range (1,250 lbs.), and that if I couldn’t get her more comfortable, the end was near. (She already struggles at times to get off the ground.)
My question is: in this emergency situation, what would have been the best alternative? 2) How long will this high dose stay in her system? When should I resume her daily regimen?
We blanketed her. We cold-hosed all of her wounds and muddy areas and waited for some time for her to regroup. We then started our trek to the one corral. She gained more confidence after a few steps, and we stumbled our way to the enclosure. Her appetite was intact, and she ate some senior feed.
Amazingly, she looked very good this morning. She is still very stiff and slightly stocked up in one hind-leg, but is moving around more competently and looking forward to breakfast. Her wounds look pretty good.
I had emotionally prepared myself for the worst, but so far, it looks like she may rally.
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Update, on Day 2 and 3 she started stocking up more. She had a grapefruit swelling on her knee. One stifle appears to be her biggest issue. It was very big and tight. No fever. All of the cuts and scrapes are resolving. The swelling appears to be related more to trauma than infection. I decided that my best maintenance option would be getting her moving a little bit to improve circulation. Once she got going, she did pretty good. Even trotted a little because she wanted to get back to the other horses.
Day 4 – Brighter. More mobile. Still stiff in the one stifle area. However, all of the swelling seems to be coming down. Grapefruit on the knee is gone.
Summary of the Equioxx dosage:
3x 57MG on Wednesday night.
57mg on Friday morning. (I did see a couple of sloppy manure mounds on Friday. Diarrhea is one of the signs of too much Equioxx.)
57mg Saturday noon. Several normal manure piles waiting for me Saturday AM.I welcome any suggestions for making her legs heal faster or more comfortable.
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Hello Laurie,
Sounds like your mare has been through the wringer. Many of your questions don’t have firm answers, particularly considering individual variation. However, as to whether to mix or just increase the dose of the Equioxx, more is known about using single NSAIDs as opposed to combining them. There is the issue that it takes longer for the Equioxx to get to a steady state but here I would err on the side of safety. The article discusses long-term studies of Equioxx and increased doses. It suggests you are unlikely to experience problems at the doses you are using. How long should you continue? You should reduce dosages as quickly as possible in response to improving pain and inflammation. I would suggest support bandaging for the continued swelling.
DrO
PS sorry for the delay we have been traveling out of internet range.
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