Page 26 - The Game March 2006

26 The Game, March 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Special Advertorial Feature
Health & Nutrition 2006
HANDLE WITH CARE
Equine Health
Use caution when working with these common equine medications.
In the course of managing their horses' health, most trainers and owners become intimately acquainted with a broad range of medications. They're usually prescribed by veterinarians, but the day-to-day dispensing often falls to us. With many of these drugs being in common use and fairly mild in action, it's easy to get casual about handling them ... but several of the familiar medications on your shelves can have adverse effects on humans. Here's a run-down of some common drugs, what kind of risks are involved with exposure, and how you can handle them safely.
• Altrenogest, trade name Regumate, is a synthetic prostaglandin used to control heat cycles in mares, allowing them to concentrate on their racing careers. It's
administered orally in liquid form. But the drug,
which can be absorbed through the skin and can
even penetrate latex gloves, can be dangerous for
people with coronary conditions or throm- bophlebitis (inflammation of the veins due to
blood clots), pregnant women, and women with known or suspected breast cancer, or undiagnosed bleeding. If your skin comes in contact with Regumate, the manufacturer recommends you wash immediately and thoroughly with soap and water, and consult your doctor.
• The injectable tranquilizer xylazine (trade name Rompun) is commonly used to calm horses during medical or dental procedures, shoeing, or transport. But humans are extremely sensitive to xylazine -- a single
injected drop may result in respiratory arrest. Use extreme caution when handling this drug, and be especially careful not to get it on any area where there's broken skin.
• Injectable antibiotics, such as penicillin, have a wide margin of safety for most people (and horses), but penicillin allergies are common and can be life-threaten- ing. If you don't know whether or not you are allergic, take precautions to avoid exposing yourself to these
products.
• Phenylbutazone -- old reliable 'bute' to
most of us -- is probably the most casually dispensed medication in the barn. As a mild painkiller and anti-inflammatory it has myriad uses, but it's not as harmless as it appears. In fact, bute used to be approved for human use, and was prescribed for arthritis, but its tendency to irritate the stomach lining and cause ulcers (like its chemical 'cousin', aspirin), combined with its potential in a small percent of the human population, to induce aplastic anemia, resulted in its being taken off the market. According to some sources, deleterious effects can result from just breathing in small amounts of bute powder -- so use caution when dispensing the powdered form of this medication or when crushing up pills. You may want to wear a mask and gloves.
• DMSO, or dimethyl sulfoxide, is a useful medication in any racing barn; it both helps reduce swelling from inflammation, and helps carry other drugs throughout the horse's system. But DMSO's ability to sweep through the body in seconds can be a hazard, too. Most horsepeople are familiar with the lingering, garlicky/oyster taste you notice in your mouth within a few seconds of getting DMSO on your skin. The drug can be inadvertently mixed with other products you'd rather not be metabolizing internally -- and it can also cause headaches, nausea, and local skin reactions in humans. Use DMSO only in well-ventilated areas (it can penetrate the lungs, too), wear latex or rubber gloves, and avoid contact with your eyes.
• Even common dewormers, such as ivermectin (Eqvalan) or moxidectin (Quest) can irritate the skin and eyes -- and they also have an adverse impact on fish and wildlife. Avoid getting these surprisingly powerful drugs on your skin, and dispose of unused portions of paste dewormers and their containers well away from water sources.
To protect yourself from accidental exposure to veterinary medications, always:
• read and follow the label warnings and precautions to the letter • avoid skin contact • wash your hands after handling anymedication •don'teatorsmokewhen handling medications • lock medications safely away when not in use • restrain your horses when you treat them to reduce the risk of medications being knocked over or sprayed around.
by Karen Briggs
Dave Landry Photo