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Some positive drug tests and health problems for racehorses and sports horses can be attributed to incorrect or excessive use of conventional drugs and supplements.

Dr. Alison Moore, Chief Veterinarian of the Animal Health and Welfare Department of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guelph, Ontario, pointed out the problems surrounding commonly used drugs, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), tranquilizers, and the dangers of combination drugs .

Therapies used to relieve pain, allow or promote healing, and control or cure the disease process may be effective when used correctly, but are very dangerous if abused. Phenylbutazone or "bute" is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) family. If used properly, NSAIDs can relieve pain and help reduce inflammation and fever. Found in the medicine cabinets of many horse owners, bute can be used to treat a variety of diseases, including foot bruises, hoof abscesses, tendon strains, ligament sprains, and arthritic joints.

Moore said that NSAID is very valuable as a drug. "If used properly, they are very safe; however, some horse owners tend to give too many good things."

Bute is often economical and convenient. There are injection and oral dosage forms to choose from; but if the administration time is too long or the dosage is incorrect, it is most likely to cause problems, especially when the horse is more sensitive to NSAID toxicity.

Moore said: "If you look at the long-term use of Bitcoin, there will definitely be known consequences." "There are health-derived problems, including stomach and colon ulcers, and kidney damage. Renal damage is in the elderly with kidney function problems. It is more common in horses or horse athletes who perform strenuous exercise and divert blood flow from the kidneys. Chronic or repeated dehydration is also a risk factor for kidney damage. Long-term exposure to butyrate is more likely to cause gastrointestinal symptoms."

Clinical symptoms of toxicity include diarrhea, colic, gastrointestinal ulcers (low protein and/or anemia on blood tests, or ulcers on endoscopy), poor hair, and weight loss. If such symptoms occur, the medication should be stopped and the veterinarian should be diagnosed and treated.

A different type of drug flunixin meglumine (brand name Banamine) was discovered in the same NSAID family. "It is usually not as long-term use as bute because it is more expensive and mainly used for gastrointestinal, muscle or eye pain, but if abused, especially for dehydrated horses, the kidney and digestive tract toxicity may be similar to bute," Moore said.

Since chronic NSAIDs may have harmful effects on your horse, it is more important not to "stack" NSAIDs. This is the process of administering two NSAIDS at the same time, usually bout and flunixin, or bout and ferocoxib. Not only does dual administration cause the gastrointestinal and kidney problems listed above, but the combined administration of methyl ethyl ketone and flunixin can cause severe hypoproteinemia, which may affect the interaction with other drugs.

The list of tranquilizers, tranquilizers, and supplements designed to calm horses can be extensive, including some products that can be purchased online or in tack stores. For example, acepromazine called "Ace" is commonly used as a tranquilizer to keep horses calm and relaxed by suppressing the central nervous system. It can be used in the form of injections or granules without a prescription. If given by mistake, it may put the horse at risk of injury or illness.

Moore said that it may be difficult to control the dose when administered orally. "The difficulty with long-term administration is that you don’t know how much you injected the horse or how the horse metabolizes it. Because it is highly bound to protein in the blood, horses with low protein content may have side effects more quickly or be affected by lower doses. Respond. Side effects include penile prolapse, which is a bigger problem for stallions, and low hematocrit, a measure of the percentage of red blood cells in the blood. At very high doses, horses will experience co-existence. Disorders (unsteady gait) and sweating profusely."

Since every horse is different, the correct dosage needs to be calculated based on the horse's weight and other effects. Moore emphasized the importance of having the veterinarian supervise the use of any tranquilizers. It is also important to inform the veterinarian of any acepromazine used for your horse, as it can affect the outcome of veterinary procedures, such as dentistry that requires sedation.

In equine medicine, compounding is the manipulation of a drug beyond its original approved form in order to provide different doses to a specific patient, whether it is mixing two drugs together or adding flavoring to a commercially available drug. However, mathematical errors may occur. In July last year, the Canadian Equestrian Association issued a notice requiring its members to use compound drugs with caution, on the grounds that these drugs are not licensed products and their concentrations may be different compared to licensed products. There are a few cases where the drug contains too little active ingredient to make it ineffective, or too much may lead to death.

A few years ago, following the high-profile deaths of 21 horse ponies at the 2009 US Open Polo Championships in Wellington, Florida, compound drugs and their associated risks were exposed. After injecting the wrongly mixed multivitamin supplement, all 21 ponies fell to the ground and died.

"The biggest problem with compound drugs is that many horse owners usually don't know what it means," Moore said. "They think it's a generic form of medicine, but it's not the case. It's mixing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (no matter where it comes from in the world) with any flavored powder or product mixed in a pharmacy or veterinarian. When taken from a jar In the next tank, the concentration may be different. It may be twice the strength, which is harmful, or half the strength, which has almost no effect."

Since this process is not regulated in terms of quality, safety, and effectiveness, there may be risks associated with compound drugs. "Technically, if there are already commercially available products, such as butyl benzene [bute], veterinarians should not dispense compound drugs," Moore said.

"If your veterinarian thinks that the combination of butyl ester and vitamin E is therapeutic, then this is a reasonable reason to mix them. But many people want to use combination drugs because they are cheaper. But cheaper does not necessarily mean more good."

Dr. Moore explained that if you do not pay careful attention to the proper dosage and method of administration, such as properly shaking the bottle so that there is no residue at the bottom (or the last few doses will be very concentrated), health problems may occur. Compound medicines provide many benefits to horse health by providing products or product forms that are otherwise difficult to obtain. However, due to concerns about quality control, horse owners should fully understand the potential risks of using compound products and discuss these issues with their veterinarian. .

In the past, traditional deworming programs did not treat each horse as an individual, because the usual practice was to deworm the entire stable on a fixed and regular schedule. However, in the past 10 years, research has shown that people are increasingly concerned about the resistance of parasites to insect repellents. Veterinarians now recommend that horses be screened for parasites through fecal egg testing, rather than deworming with products that may be ineffective against the burden of parasites. Stool inspection is much safer than taking deworming drugs that they don’t need. If used properly, insect repellents are safe, including first testing and using weight belts to get an accurate dosage. Dr. Moore recommends contacting your veterinarian to develop a deworming plan suitable for your horse and your specific area.

»All you need to know about parasites in horses-23 part series

Dr. Moore said horse owners should understand their horses’ more frequent responses to drug use and consider short-term and long-term effects before use. The welfare of the horse must not only consider the present, but also its future.

It is important to use the lowest possible dose to achieve the desired effect, calculate the correct dose based on your horse's weight, and monitor your horse closely throughout the treatment.

"It understands the usage of our commonly used daily drugs very well. No matter how good a drug is, once it is abused, it will have a negative impact," Moore said.

“It’s more important to understand the overall health of horses. It’s best to have a good basis first, because the kidney and liver are the two main organs that process drugs, so it’s important to know whether these organs are working properly. That’s why those years The reason why veterinary health checks are so important."

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