Severe reaction to sedation.

thebundychick · Severe reaction to sedation.

My friends horse died today.

We are all totally & utterly gutted.

It has been such a horrible shock.

Yesterday she pulled her two colts out, for what was supposed to be a routine gelding process.

The first colt "Fortune", was gelded pretty well without any hickups.

The second cold "Scamp" Gypsy x cob, had an immediate & severe reaction to the sedation. He basically went crazy. Lost control of his body, collapsed & started thrashing.

He thrashed his head & body around so much that we think he gave himself bleeding on the brain, resulting in a swollen left eye and a nose bleed.

Last night, things were looking up, he was standing up, and striking out at the gate (usual for scamp), and my friend was confident they were throug the worst of it. His breathing had improved from a weird raspy heaving like breath, to a relatively normal breath.

He took a turn for the worst at 2am this morning, and they had the vet out again. Up until this point, no painkillers / anti inflammatories had been administered.

His nose had long since stopped bleeding, but he was shivering, and his breathing was starting to struggle again.

The vet had never seen anything like it, she actually rang two other vets, and this morning even rang a specialist.

Scamp went down just after 5am this morning, sweating profusely. My friend took the rug off him, and stayed with him, but he wasn't able to get up. He could sit up, but couldn't get to his feet, I could hear him breathing over the phone, and he was clearly in distress. Each braeth was a "heave" . The vet came out just before 9, and the plan was to give him an anti inflammatory, which would hopefully reduce the swelling in his brain, and he could sleep off his concussion..

They administered the drug, and 10 minutes later, when the vet went to get fluids for him, scamp had a small seizure, and passed away.

I just can't beleive it.

Has anyone else had any experience with sedation in horses & allergic reactions?

What was supposed to be a routine gelding, has become a total tragedy.

We are all just so devestated right now

Rest in peace scampy xx

ElaineW

I am so so so sorry to hear that..
My heart goes out to you all.
What a beautiful colt..

I have never heard of a reaction like that to sedation myself..
hugs to you all.. i know how losing a partner hurts..

Chablis

I'm so sorry, Bundy.

HopeMissouri

I am so sorry ... and really concerned since we will soon be scheduling the vet to geld our grandsons' 20 month old pony. What a horrible tragedy.

misstux

I am so very sorry. I have heard of bad reactions with horses with PSSM. Also a friend's horse went into anaphylactic shock with her vaccinations one year; that was the last time she was vaccinated.

sebocat

My vet was telling me horror stories of similar incidents with penicillin, but the worst we've seen with sedation was a horse that didn't snap out of it for a very, very long time. (over a day)

Very, very sorry about Scamp.

Copious_Amour

Scamp was so absolutely beautiful. I am so sorry to all of you. What a horrible loss :'(

thebundychick

it just honestly wasn't expected

We've heard all the horror stories about penecillin, I was warned about Penecillin the first time I ever had to give my horse some. But sedation? I mean, honestly? Its like a one in a million bloody chance.

And for the horse to give himself a brain injury!!

Its just rotten.

I've been so good today, held myself together, and i get home, and see a photo of him, and thats it, I'm a mess.

It just doesn't make sense. He was such a beautiful, wonderful, curious, friendly, willing, perfect horse.

Gah. Its just not fair.

thelmanelle

Yes, I know it can happen and I am sorry for your friend's loss. Even, people can have reactions to medications. We never know who will develop a latex allergy or go into hyperthermic reactions in the O.R.

I have to have Belgian Belle operated on soon. It scares me , but it has to be done because she has a bad tooth that has to be removed. But, a draft horse is more sensitive to anesthesia than the normal size horse. So the tooth removal is the easy part. The anesthesia is the serious part.

But, the alternative is an infection in her sinus that will not go away because she has a hole in her tooth packing food into her sinus cavity. It rots and she has infection and foul drainage.

Sedation is always different for each horse. So of my guys require more and than others are very light weights.

Again, I am so sorry for what y'all have gone through.

PasoBaby_CarolU

What a sad story. I also have heard of this happening with sedatives and with penicillin.

The truth is that you, your pets, your horses, anyone really, can have a bad reaction to any injection at any time, even one they've had safely many times in the past. This is the main reason I have my vet administer shots - unless it is long term antibiotics for an infection or an emergency shot of Banamine.

Ruby (my dog) had a bad reaction to one of her vaccinations this year. We gave her a shot of epinephrine and another shot of steroid anti-inflammatory (I don't remember if it was prednisone or cortisone). They stopped the bad reaction.

I was an EMT/Medic in my early Army Career. I saw more then one case of anaphylaxis. It IS scary. I can't imagine watching a horse go through it. I am so sorry. He looked like such a sweet horse.

becdubie

Goodness....what a scary and tragic thing to happen. So sorry for your friends loss.

It's good that we share these stories with one another the more we know the better we can be prepared....or at least know these things happen.

Clarissa

That’s tragic Bundy what a disaster. But I can’t help wondering why the vet didn’t have any reversal drug with him.

Reversal drugs are routinely used these days by animal capture people/vets the world over & can restore a wild or zoo animal to full consciousness if there is a reaction before things get out of hand. Also as you would know by watching TV they are used once the animal is rehoused etc.

To me it sounds like the drug found it’s way through the wall of the juggler vein into the trachea or esophagus where it paralyzed the airways first then caused a series of strokes to the brain. An autopsy may have shed light regarding the actual location & administration of the drug.

thebundychick

From what I understand Clarissa, the allergic reaction was instant. He was thrashing so violently, noone could do anything but watch..

Its while he was thrashing that he hit his head and gave himself the bleed on the brain - and that pretty well sealed his fate

Clarissa

What an horrendous thing to experience for the lady who owned him. It's one thing when your horse doesn't recover from risky surgery if you know it might turn out bad. But when you don't expect this sort of thing it must be so much worse. Shock as well as the sadness of loosing a friend.

thebundychick

Yeah, it was really dreadful

The people who own him are the same people who own Squishy - the hafflinger I've written about.

The other colt (now gelded) done at the same time, was the horse that we all helped deliver, on my birthday - December 2010.

We are close friends, and their horses are their children.

cory

Look up the reaction to sedation when the vet negligently injects into artery instead of vein - and you will find exactly what you have described.

The reaction is immediate and violent when sedation enters the artery. The two cases I personally know of were exactly as you described - one horse survived and one didn't. In both cases the vets tried to pass it off as a reaction to sedation. Well, yes, it was a reaction to sedation --- but only because the vets were negligent and trying to cover their a$$.

cory

Intracarotid Arterial Injection Should Be Avoided. As With Many Compounds, Including Tranquilizers, Immediate Violent Seizures Followed By Collapse May Result From Inadvertent Administration Into The Carotid Artery. Although The Reaction With Xyla-ject (xylazine) Is Usually Transient And Recovery May Be Rapid And Complete, Special Care Should Be Taken To Assure That The Needle Is In The Jugular Vein Rather Than The Carotid Artery.

cory

Here ya go:

http://vdi.sagepub.com/content/21/1/149.full

Makes me angry when vets try to cover up their mistakes.

thebundychick

Wow

Its exactly what she described. His legs just kinda gave out from under him, and he went down, and was all scared about the fact that his legs weren't working, and then just thrashed and thrashed and thrashed.

:*(

I've sent all the information to my friend. Thanks so much

CoolsLadyInRed

Vets and doctors alike cover their arses. Most won't admit to making mistakes. The reaction sounds like when humans are injected accidentally with a lidocaine mix intra arterially. they go unconscious and have seizures. I have seen it. It is a different medication but the same reaction.

cory

Bundy - I'm very sorry for your friend's loss of her horse. I hope your friend makes the vet accountable. Arterial blood and venous blood are distinctly different colors. The jugular vein is very prominent and any halfway decent vet should never miss the jugular in this type of injection, plus by drawing back on the syringe they can see the color of the blood before injecting. The artery sits deeper in the muscle. The vein is so easy to palpate and see (except sometimes in donkeys) that it is pure negligence if the vet plunged deeply into the muscle and injected into the artery.

Unfortunately, a vet's insurance will only pay for the value of the animal, i.e. purchase price, proven breeder, proven successful show horse, perhaps professional training fees. They will not pay for an owner's personal training nor the cost of feeding, etc. They will not pay for the owner's emotional grief nor the animal's suffering.

Your friend can file a complaint with the vet board - they will likely give the vet a slap on the wrist warning. Many vets will cover for other vets. However, it's important to make the complaint so that if numerous complaints are filed against a vet, he/she might eventually lose their license to practice.

It's too bad that most vets won't be humble enough to own up to a big mistake and personally do whatever it takes to apologize and try to help the owner acquire another horse. This usually doesn't happen - been there, done that.

thelmanelle

That is scary. I read it and one thing it said at the last paragraph was the cerebral injury is on the same side as the sight the injection was given. If the nerves cross in the spinal column at a lower level, as in humans, the opposing side would show damage in those that survive for a few days...just thinking.

Yes, Beth,

things get covered up and over looked. If you say anything, your job is gone whistle blower.

Bundy, again i am so sorry for your friends' loss.