Since I am currently using nearly all of the equine nursing tricks I've developed over the years, I wanted to share a few products I've adapted from the human world. In many cases, this is much cheaper than buying "horse" labeled products, as we all know that's an automatic 300% markup.
Horses & humans may both be mammals, but are NOT interchangeable, so product transference should always be done with caution. I check with my vet before I try anything new. And Dr. Bob himself has suggested several of them!
In my wound care kit right now:
Finally, the big fat syringe is just a dosing syringe with the tip cut off, making it easier to give dissolved stuff like SMZs without losing 1/3 of your dose stuck in the plastic tip.
What about you? Do you have favorite products you've adapted to equine use?
Horses & humans may both be mammals, but are NOT interchangeable, so product transference should always be done with caution. I check with my vet before I try anything new. And Dr. Bob himself has suggested several of them!
In my wound care kit right now:
- Generic wound wash from CVS -- a mix of antiseptic & lidocaine, this stuff has become the first thing I grab for cuts & scrapes. Dr. Bob first mentioned something like this when Solo got staples in his head last year, as the lidocaine reduces itching so they don't rub on everything. I squirt on a clean cloth to apply & a bottle lasts me a long time (uh, usually).
- Non-stick wound pads (biggest size available) -- fabulous for things on legs that get wrapped. In the last post, you can see one sticking out of the wrap around Solo's cannon scrape. I've found that if you leave a little sticking out above the vetwrap, it helps prevent the pad from sliding out the bottom. They absorb without peeling off healing tissue when you change bandages.
- Nitrile gloves (altho medium is of course too small for my giant man-hands) -- not sterile, but cleaner than my fingers & saves me from having to wipe 5 different kinds of goop off my hands. I also like that the blue is easier for me to see when I drop it or it blows out of a trash bucket.
- Polysporin -- a long time ago, a dr. told me that 10% of people develop allergic responses to Neosporin, so polysporin was a safer choice. I don't know if this is applicable to horses or not, but I've used the poly ever since on full-thickness cuts & it works well.
- Colored duct tape -- I always tape wraps/standing bandages that are worn unattended. I try to get tape that is a different color than my standing wraps so I can easily see from a distance if it's still there, but I had blue left over from something else, so oops.
- Gorilla tape -- I usually only use this for hoof wrapping, for which it is a godsend, but I was about to run out of duct tape, so have also used it on standings. It has not left a residue or caused any damage to my standing wraps.
Finally, the big fat syringe is just a dosing syringe with the tip cut off, making it easier to give dissolved stuff like SMZs without losing 1/3 of your dose stuck in the plastic tip.
What about you? Do you have favorite products you've adapted to equine use?