Administering Medications

Author’s Note: The purpose of this article is to act as a reference to aid the veterinarian in educating clients in the techniques of medication administration. This article is not intended to act as an encouragement to owner-prescribed

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Author’s Note: The purpose of this article is to act as a reference to aid the veterinarian in educating clients in the techniques of medication administration. This article is not intended to act as an encouragement to owner-prescribed medication administration. In fact, I must state that I am personally against an owner making the decision to administer any medications without the advice and direction of a licensed veterinarian. There are many situations where the indiscriminate use of a medication can be harmful, if not deadly. I have seen a number of animals which have been unintentionally harmed by an owner through medication. Also a word of warning to those with human medical training, the action and toxicity of many human drugs can be quite different in horses and other animals, so don’t let your training give you a false sense of security when medicating your animals.







MICHAEL A. BALL, DVM


Correct way to administer oral medications. Note the position of the dose syringe in the corner of the horse’s mouth and over the horse’s tongue.


With that said, know that if you can take on the responsibility of proficiently medicating your horses when prescribed by your veterinarian, you often can use a more appropriate therapy and potentially simplify their overall care. But, bear in mind that the responsibility of medication administration should be taken very seriously. With many drugs, the difference between a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose can be relatively narrow–pay attention to numbers, decimal points, and all other details

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Written by:

Michael A. Ball, DVM, completed an internship in medicine and surgery and an internship in anesthesia at the University of Georgia in 1994, a residency in internal medicine, and graduate work in pharmacology at Cornell University in 1997, and was on staff at Cornell before starting Early Winter Equine Medicine & Surgery located in Ithaca, New York. He was an FEI veterinarian and worked internationally with the United States Equestrian Team. He died in 2014.

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