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| Author |
Message |
    
Melissa Webster (Mwebster)
| | Posted on Thursday, Jun 28, 2001 - 10:09 pm: |   |
Dear DrO,
Does Doxycycline often cause colic in horses? This refers back to my post under Body Conditioning: 20 yr old gelding with arthritis. My second vet says Doxy doesn't cause colic, but the horse has never colicked before (at least, not in the 12 years he's been at the same barn), and was off his feed the morning after the first dose (prior pm), and colicking the afternoon after the second dose (same am). First vet says colic from tetracyclines is a common problem. What do you think?
Thanks, Melissa |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2001 - 8:32 am: | |
I would say any antibiotic administered orally has the potential to cause colic and/or diarrhea by upsetting the normal bacterial flora.
Doxycycline is not extensively studied in the horse but in May EVJ published the results of a study dosing 8 horses and colic was not mentioned as a serious side effect and a recommended dose developed. Currently it is not believed to be safe to administer IV. I have placed the summary of this paper in the article in the medications: antibiotic: tetracycline article.
DrO |
Melissa Webster (Mwebster)
| | Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2001 - 9:24 am: | |
DrO,
Thanks so much for your reply, and for the May article. Two followup questions:
1) Per the article, 100mg/kg 2x/day translates to 56 100mg pills 2x/day for my 1250+ lb horse (he actually measures 1450 lb on a weight tape but has a very deep chest). Is my math right? I believe the dose last time we tried this was 25 pills 2x/day.
2) He tolerates SMZ/TMP, which he's had twice in his life -- January and April of this year. It was only the Doxy that caused a problem -- in April, before that second course of SMZ/TMP. Would the 50-pill dose actually increase the chance of colic this time around over that 25-pill dose? Would it make sense to start with the lower dose, see how he tolerates it, then increase it? Is there anything I can do to help avoid the irritation it seems to cause (last time, I ground up the pills and syringed them in applesauce, administered an hour after his grain)? He won't eat food "tainted" with strange powders (wouldn't eat grain that had Uniprim in it either). Last time, after the colic, he ate a little of another horse's manure, so I'm sure he was trying to restore the flora. I've had him on ABC Plus for about 10 days, so he has probiotics in his system this time around.
Thanks again for all your wonderful help!
Melissa |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2001 - 2:24 pm: | |
Whoa Melisa the reference to Doxycycline reads 10 mg/kg twice daily but the rest of your math works out. Your horse should receive around 5600 mg which is 56 pills.
If the Doxy is the problem the higher the dose the more likely you are to have a reaction.
DrO |
Melissa Webster (Mwebster)
| | Posted on Wednesday, Aug 1, 2001 - 11:04 pm: | |
Hi DrO,
Just a note to say we've restarted my horse on Doxy, and no problems so far (it's been 2 weeks). My vet is more comfortable with a somewhat lower dose than the study found to be optimal, but we're giving him about 6g/kg bwt 2x/day which is higher than Cornell's recommendation (something closer to 5g/kg bwt). I'm crediting the ABC+ which I started him on 3 weeks before the antibiotics, and which I give with all three of his daily meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Though he showed some big changes in his manure the first week or so, his manure has now returned to 'normal' despite continuing 2x/day treatment.
Also giving him bute for the arthritis 2x/day and MSM, and we shortened his toes on the last shoeing. He's going much better for now, and is at least ridable on trails the past week.
Melissa |
