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  Discussion on Xylazine
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Member:
mitch316

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 - 11:22 pm:

Dr. O, I have a question that I should know the answer too, but have been out of practice for too long and am really too lazy to research it. The clinical leaflet says that Xylazine can be given intramuscular, but offers no instructions on how, what, where, etc. I am considering using it to debride a very nasty wound where a mare got her head stuck between two barn boards. When she panicked, she jerked her head back and peeled every bit of skin off of the bottom of her jaw, starting at the crease where the neck joint begins all the way to her chin. There was no deep wounds, but it happened three weeks ago, and the owner just contacted me today. It has obvious signs of infection, with puss dripping from two different areas. I gave her 30 cc's of agricillin, and am going to clean it tomorrow, as it is full of dirt, bits of sticks, and even feces.

However, as limited as I am in what I can legally do without a vet, I do not have the supplies to set up an iv yet. So my question is this: Can this be given intramuscular and what is the wait time for effectiveness and the withdrawal time? She is really too sick to put up much resistance, but I still want to be cautious. A vet who doesn't see large animals helps me get the supplies, and I have ordered the iv supplies, but think it needs to be clean right now. I did hose it off today and use a saline mixture to remove as much as I could, but want to do a betadine scrub first thing tomorrow.
I know you will say get a vet to look at it, but we do not have a equine vet close by, and one from Lexington charges $300 just to drive down, not including treatment. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will post before and after pictures tomorrow as well. Thanks in advance for your help.


PS- I know Ace would probably be a better choice, but Xylazine is the only thing I have on hand. I will have no Ace until Friday. Thanks again.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 - 8:11 am:

When xylazine is used IM I would expect slower onset of action, maybe up to 15 minutes before maximal effects, moderately less depth of sedation, and a bit longer duration, perhaps up to 45 minutes. But all this is very variable with a IM injection.
DrO
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