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Discussion on Accidental oral bute overdose
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 - 8:12 pm:
Dr.O.
Now, I've gone and done it. My colt got gelded yesterday( sutured) and the vet put him on SMZ tabs( 10 twice a day) and oral bute 2 gms once a day.
I fed him dinner with his SMZ tabs mixed in and then went back an hour later to make him move a little and give him his bute.
I do not know what possessed me but for some reason I treated the Bute tube like a wormer and dialed the two grams up from the bottom, instead of dialing it all the way to the top ( as if I were treating for weight per dose. I realized my mistake when I kept pushing the plunger and it did not stop. He wound up with 6 grams as far as I can tell.
Is there an antidote for too much bute. He weighs about 1000 lbs, he was fed about an hour before I did this and he had hay right after.
I am really concerned because I read the article on bute toxicity and he is getting the SMZ tabs as well.
Anything I can do or do I take a wait and see what happens attitude.
Rachelle
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 - 8:43 pm:
Yikes Rachelle, my vet was telling me last month he had a lady do the same thing. I WISH I had paid more attention... but I THINK he said he had to go out and oil him right away and he was fine
Can you call your vet?
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 - 9:11 pm:
Hope all turns out well Rachelle!
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 - 10:06 pm:
Well, I just went back to check him and he is doing his normal heaDrOlls. It looks like he ate all his hay so I gave him some more. He does not act like he's colicking and he is moving around well( I would be too if I had 6 gms of bute in me).
Diane, I am not quite sure what oiling him would do, other than getting the bute through his system quicker. I could see it if he was colicking, but he appears fine.
At least I didn't give him the whole tube, that would have been really stupid of me. I guess we all have what I call senior moments.
I see what he looks like in the morning, hopefully he'll be fine.
My next problem is what do I do about his bute dose tomorrow, maybe I'll just see how the swelling is and base it on that. He wasn't too bad today and his attitude was already 80% better. I was actually able to get near enough to him to scratch his back without him trying to jump me or bite me. He actually listened to me at liberty and jogged on the trot for about 10 minutes without trying to run me over. I will make my final judgement about his attitude after the meds/soreness wear off and he's been more than one day gelded.
Thanks ladies
Rachelle
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 - 10:23 pm:
Hope it turns out ok Rachelle. I don't think toxicity shows up immediately if it is going to happen.
I THINK oiling helps to keep it from absorbing into the blood system, but I'm not sure.
This is actually something I should be aware of, as any of us should. I was giving Sam bute paste too, and did wonder what would happen if the ring slipped and he got an overdose, so will be curious what Dr.O. says the vet does to treat something like this, or if we can do anything other than try to pull it back out of their mouths
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 7:12 am:
Hope the colt is OK this morning Rachelle. Diane, you're right, we should probably all know what to do in just this situation...I can see it happening to anyone. Just one moment of inattention and oops! I'll be interested in what DrO has to say about this.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 7:14 am:
Oh Rachelle, I hope he's o.k.! I've never used the tube for Bute, always grind up tabs and that slows me down & makes me think. Harder to overdose on tabs for sure.
When my daughter was younger, we were both knocked on our butts with colds and horrible coughs. I'd showed her which Tupperware measuring spoon to use for dosage, (Always loose those darn little plastic cups that come on bottles of meds!) and after opening the Dylsem is it? The cough suppressant, I turned away to do something else.
She took Tablespoons instead of Teaspoons! I don't remember how many, but I panicked and had my finger down her throat and made her try to throw up. Talk about a dramatic experience! And a lesson no matter how lousy one feels, or how rushed, or tired, DOUBLE CHECK when it comes to drugs!
I called 911, and they told me to call poison control center. They said it was nothing to worry about, she just might be a little bit sleepier!
I remember reading one time that dexa whatever cough suppressant was used as a horse tranq, so that really freaked me out!
Point of my trip down memory lane: MOST drugs IMO, have dosage rates set high enough to be of help, yet low enough that if you do make a mistake, you haven't made a fatal mistake.
I hope DrO tells you good news and the toxicity is from long term high dose use, not a one time incident.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 7:42 am:
Hello trotter,
Chances are good that a one time dose of 6 grams bute in a otherwise healthy horse will not have any clinical effects. There would not be any antidotes but treatment with activated charcoal when it first happened would likely reduce the horse's exposure. After 12 hours I think it would be too late as the bute will be absorbed by the body.
Mineral oil may help slow down absorption but there is no work to know for sure. Concerning today's medication I think if it were me I would be skipping any further bute for a few days. Of course you should check with your veterinarian as to what he recommends.
DrO
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Member:
stek
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 10:41 am:
Hope he is OK today Rachelle! I hate those senior moments...
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 11:01 am:
What a frightening experience, Rachelle.
It seems to me that I read somewhere that if horses are eating a lot of hay, this can slow down the process of the Bute breaking down rapidly in the system.
I hope that your colt is still doing well.
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 6:10 pm:
Everyone,
Colt showed no after affects of his accidental overdose. I did not give him any bute today. He was exercising himself when I got there to feed him tonight.
Where the incision is has no swelling, only his sheath is a little swollen. He is moving well, not sore at all and I think he's moving enough to keep the swelling down to a minimum.
Vicki, he was and is eating a lot of hay, so that may have helped.
I may tow him tomorrow a few miles to see if I can't get the rest of the swelling down in his sheath and if it does come down. No more bute. I am not a big medicine giver and if I had done the open incision on him I probably wouldn't have gone the antibiotic route either.
Unfortunately, the vet I was going to use had to go in for surgery and I saw the other vet in the convenience store a week ago and set up the appointment with him. He gave me a cash price $300 to suture him, so I felt ok with that. Since I had such good luck with the suturing before, I thought it would be ok.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
Rachelle
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 8:01 pm:
Great news, Rachelle.
Very happy to hear this.
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Member:
lilo
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 8:05 pm:
Good news, Rachelle, that the colt seems OK! Lilo
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010 - 8:31 pm:
Good news! I was waiting to hear what Dr.O had to say. Your mistake would be easy to make, especially when you are tired or doctoring other horses with different meds, etc.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 - 11:23 am:
Glad no trouble came of it.
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