Very, very scary!! Bad drug reaction.

[BlazingColours]

So in all my years of horse ownership and years of breeding I have never had a horse have a bad reaction to Penicillin. Well until last night. I have heard about this happening but never experienced it. I have given numerous penicillin injections (500+) and never more than a small bump on a few injection sites.

It is one of the scariest things I have come across with horses. I gave the injection to a mare (who last had a penicillin injection in the morning) and in a matter of 5 second she was like a fish out of water. Looked like she was having a seizure or maybe a heart attack. It was awful. After the initial 10 seconds of scrambling to stand, hitting all walls, she was on the ground. Trying to get up and could not so really panicking, I could see it (fear) in her eyes. Once she was down I went in the stall and tried to calm her down because at that point I had no clue what was happening. I just wanted to try and relax her, if I could. After about 1.5 min on the ground she relaxed a little for about 20 seconds and then was scrambling to get up again. It was just awful to watch and not be able to help. I had to be very careful to not get in her way (she could get up and fall towards me or on me) and try to calm her down at the same time. About another minute and she was on her feet trembling and sweating. Still not sure about where her legs were and if she could stand. So again I was very alert to get out of the way should she go down again. Another 30 seconds she was a bit better and then the vet showed up. He gave her some good meds to make her feel a bit better. Gave me a different antibiotic to give her for now and told me to not give her Penicillin for awhile. I am thinking, yeah like I ever want to give Penicillin again.

My sister was here and called the vet the second the mare was panicking. Odd things is, he was just around the corner and at my place in maybe 6 min. After checking her over and giving her some steroids and an anti-inflammatory he was on his way. He must have saw a bit of stress in me as I was walking back to the barn and gave me a honk. I walked back over to the truck and he handed me two Smirnoff Ice, one for me and one for my sister. I have a drink maybe 3 times a year, well this was one of them. I love me vet!

The mare is good now besides some hair missing in places from falling down and trying to get up. This is the same mare who lost her foal this past winter due to pneumonia. She is still far from back to herself after the pneumonia. My poor mare, Golden Belle.

Anyone else ever have a horse have a reaction like this to Penicillin? Did you ever give the horse Penicillin again? Did it ever have a second reaction?

[madelyn]

Well I know penicillin given in large qty (like 10 cc's) if you accidentally hit blood (large vein) will stop the heart. I have known someone in the past who used 20cc's in the vein to euthanize a horse (after a good tranq, because it causes seizures first), for a friend of theirs who could just not afford the $150 for a vet to euthanize their horse. So she might have had a heart attack? I know, also, we are always Very Careful with IV antibiotics - they must be given Really Slowly. Could you have hit blood?

[BlazingColours]

Yeah I guess anything is possible. There was no blood at the injection site and I do draw back first and there was nothing so I should not have hit blood. Mare stands like a rock for injections so she did not fuss or move until after. Vet checked injection site and all looked fine. I hope to never go through something like that *EVER* again!

And it was 20cc IM in the neck. I do right side at night and left side in the morning. Same protocol every time I give it, though amount varies depending on size of horse.

[springboro]

BC... I did the very same thing years ago with one of my mom's horses. He dropped like a sack of concrete and twitched. I yelled at my mom to let go of the lead rope, and he staggered up and ran, blind, for a mile through everything. Wooden fence, bam....

I called my vet and she thought that perhaps some of the penicillin had gotten into the blood stream and made it to the brain. One of the active ingredients is Procaine and that apparently made the reaction occur?

So, I ended up with a valuable lesson about shot giving (although I DID pull back and make sure I wasn't in a vein when I put the needle in) and hanging on to the lead rope even though the animal was temporarily down.

I know I was very lucky and I'm much less interested in giving shots these days!

Hope all is well with your horse!

[Lisann]

About 15 years ago, the woman whose farm I was boarding at gave a penicillan shot to a yearling Arab filly she owned. It was not the first shot she'd given the filly. I was led the filly back to her stall. She went down just as we got into the stall. She started having seizures and she died.

It was very sad. We don't think the woman hit a vein - she was experienced at giving injections and did pull back before injecting.

[JimP]

Hi Guys,

I have never had a reaction when giving Penicillin but I only give 10cc at one site. If I have to give 20 cc I put 10 in one place and 10 in another as per my vets instructions. I also keep a bottle of Epinephrine in the fridge with a syringe right beside it.
I feel for you because those thoughts cross my mind every time I give a shot. The shots I really hate are when you short cycle a mare. I try not to ever have to do them.
I bet that was a very scary experience and I would probably needed an IV of Seagrams instead of just one bottle!!

[dray33]

Wow, that's scary. I am constantly amazed at all the stuff you "do it yourself-ers" have to go through. It seems like you have to know so much, it's almost like you need to be a vet, business person, caretaker, nurse, friend and taskmaster all at the same time. Kudos to you all.

Hope everyone is okay.

[winds]

When I worked at Centenial Farm we had a 2 yr old filly do the same thing. Only our vet told us, he was there and had given her the shot, that she was allergic to pennicillin and to never give her any or a derivative. We had a special halter plate made that said she was allergic to pennicillin because she was going to be going to the track in the coming months.

We saw the look in her eye but I had already turned her loose, all we could do was get out of the stall. It is one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Once she was quieter we had one of the excercise riders go in, grab her and gave her a shot to counter act the pennicillin.

winds

[Strategic Maneuver]

Had the same thing happen to me about six mos ago. It was an old pensioned mare and I was able to get dex and banamine into her asap and she pulled through. Doc said never to give her Pen again and now the thought of giving a pen injection at all gives me an anxiety attack. To this day, my poor old mare still looks at me like "are you going to try and kill me again?"

[Rez]

I had this really nice 2 yr old running Appy ( tan with a white blanket and four white socks and lightning fast ). He was training really good when he came down with the snots. We turned gave him a shot of pennicillin and turned him out in a large pen. We got around the corner of the barn when we heard a loud bang against the side of the barn. We ran back and the colt was dead. Must of been a allergic reaction.

[Tucumcari]

I knew this was a pen thread from the topic. After having a mild reaction in a colt, I will never use it again if I can help it. The colt's reaction was very mild.. hives in seconds head pressing and miserable. He will never have it again. The thing with a mild reaction is that if it's ignored the next reaction more often than not results in death.
I'm scared of using the stuff. And I would drink after that as well!

[BlazingColours]

Wow; thanks for all the stories... Hearing them all make me really appreciate the fact the my mare is alive. And I am amazed that with the 500+ times I have given Pen. I have never had this happen before now.

I know I will always give it in a stall and if I can use something else, *I WILL*.

I am soo sorry to those of you who have lost horses from this. Very tragic as you were only trying to help.

I wonder if giving 10cc at one site and 10cc at another would lessen the chance of a reaction or increase it as you are doing it twice. Say you do not have a reaction to the first but do to the second by nicking a blood vessel. Does 1cc cause a reaction or does the whole 20 make the reaction? Will have to ask my vet that one.

Thanks again guys. And hugs to those of you who lost horses from this.

[Tucumcari]

Vets will give it in increments in different locations and ALWAYS draw back before pushing!

[ageecee]

Gelded a horse and gave him some penicilin and he dropped dead on the wheel.

[reenci]

Gelded a horse and gave him some penicilin and he dropped dead on the wheel.

god....lost his jewels and his life......good grief