On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Anneliese Virro<avirro@...> wrote:
>
>
> I think that horses bodies likewise have areas that are more or less
> sensitive and it is wise to choose the less sensitive areas for
> injections.
>

I have a mare that always gets a swelling/rxn to her injections. Not
an abscess as it comes on in 6-12 hours and lasts for 2-3 days. I
give her some bute and cold compresses and clears up without needing
drained. Before I started to give the bute before the injections and
started with the cold compresses right away it would swell almost to
softball/grapefruit size. I read that injections in the pecs were the
ones that would drain the easiest and would cause the least amount of
discomfort to the horse and interfere least with their eating,
walking, etc. I have the vet give the 4 way in one pec and the rabies
in the other pec. Some brands seem to cause less reaction than
others. But the horses always are fine with their moving around, eat
and drink without any problems. This year's spring shots had all of
them with some reaction at the injection site, but the mare's was less
than usual. I wonder if the pecs are just more susceptible to
swelling. As the swelling went down on the 2nd or 3rd day they boys
had some extra skin, almost between their front legs, where the
swelling went down and the skin hadn't gone back. In a few more days
no sign of any problems. The vet doesn't mind giving them there and
uses the 'stick the needle in then attach the syringe' method. I
(actually Michael) gives them the west nile virus shot 3 wks before
the spring shot and does it in the neck without any swelling at all.


--
Anna
Southern Ohio