Sedating horses for routine procedures is sometimes necessary. While these drugs are typically administered through intravenous or intra-muscular injection, a new oral gel containing detomidine can be absorbed through the mucous membrane; the ease of administration has made the drug popular among horse owners and caretakers.
The gel is applied under the tongue and absorbed; gel that is swallowed is less effective as it may be broken down during digestion and metabolized before it can induce sedation. Drs. Reza Seddighi, Heather Knych, Sherry Cox, Xiaocun Sun, Kaitlin Moorhead, Thomas Doherty evaluated using the gel intravaginally to determined if it was useful as a sedative when delivered in this manner.
Six adult mares were used in the study. Each mare was studied twice, a week apart. On each occasion, the mare received detomidine intravenously or by applying the gel intravaginally. The team monitored the effects of the drug, including heart rate, ataxia, distance of muzzle to the floor and degree of sedation.
The team determined that the sedation lasted longer and was deeper when the detomidine was given intravaginally; they consider this a viable delivery method in mares. Additional research needs to be done to determine if a mare's heat cycle would affect absorption of the drug.
Read the full study here.
Read more at Equine Science Update.
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