In disguise
Adding medication to hard feed is necessity when your horse is recovering, but what if he refuses to eat it? Vet Kieran O’brien MRCVS explains how to fool sensitive tastebuds
WHEN YOUR VET gives you medication to put in your horse’s feed, he or she makes several assumptions. First, that you will mix it thoroughly with a feed you know your horse likes; second, that you will ensure the horse eats all of each dose in one sitting with little or no waste; third, that you will continue to monitor how well the horse eats the feed each time; and, finally, that you will watch for any adverse effects, such as diarrhoea.
My experience as a practising vet tells me that in many cases these assumptions turn out to be invalid, principally because the drug has not been adequately disguised or the horse just does not like it. Care in selecting the right type and palatability of feed to use, and presenting it properly to the horse, can make a huge difference to how well the horse consumes it. Here we look at how best to ensure your horse gets the treatment it needs.
Choose the right food
It is important that the food containing the medication is both known to be accepted by the horse and very palatable. Experience suggests that molassed coarse mixes and molassed chaffs are the most palatable, plus they have the advantage of being sticky. Other palatable feeds include molassed sugar beet and some of the pre-soaked mashes. It may be necessary to obtain a bag of one of these quickly and especially for the course of treatment, so that it can be started straight away.
The feed should be fed in a reasonable
volume (at least half a bucket) both to provide a large surface area to absorb the drug and to dilute the taste. Obviously, therefore, cubes on their own are not an appropriate feed for medicating a horse.
It is essential, if the horse is not familiar
with the feed chosen, that a dampened quantity is first offered to the horse without any medication to see if he will like it and finish it. If this is not done, a simple dislike of the feed may be mistaken for a refusal of the medication.