Banamine IM?

Wow, that poor animal. I couldn't imagine having that happen.....

I'm glad to have stumbled across this thread. I'll have to talk to my vet about keeping some of that paste on hand. If it works equally as well, then I would see no point in risking your horse's life using it IM. As someone who hadn't heard of this before, thank you all for shedding light on this.

If he doesn't have paste, you can put the liquid banamine into their food. I hide it in soaked beet pulp with a little grain mixed in and they slurp it right up.

That is the one and only time I've ever given it IM. I was out of the paste, as was my vet, and I've never been taught to give an IV shot.

Natisha, thanks for the info. I didn't realize you could just give the dose orally.
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Our vet warned us about this when we asked for banamine for our first aid kit many years ago.
(We trail ride and camp far from vets...) My husband was a Navy corpsman and he can do IV injections. So far we haven't needed it, but friends have and we've given an injection. I think if you're going to get meds from the vet, they need to make sure you know what you're doing. We never give banamine if a vet is coming, because we don't want to mask symptoms. But when you're in the middle of nowhere?... Yeah. It becomes invaluable IF you know what you're doing.

If you're not sure, stick with the paste/powder.

I have not read all of the responses, so forgive me if I am being redundant.

NEVER, NEVER, never give Banamine or Bute IM. Both can be caustic and can have reactions on top of that.

But, you can give either very easily and with NO problems by giving them orally. Just squirt the injectable Banamine or Bute into the corner of a horse's mouth. Give it just like a dewormer.


It is just as effective and at the same rate as when it is given IV. It takes a little longer to work on a severe colic, but not by much. If you do not like to or do not feel competent to give a shot IV, just squirt it in the horse's mouth and you are good -- and so is your horse. It beats waiting hours for a Vet. I would not use a Vet that did not let me keep some emergency prescription Meds at the ranch. I would also expect him/her to give me authorization and details on how to use them over the phone if I contacted them in an emergency. My Vets have done this many times. It has to be part of my Vet -- client relationship if they want my money and my business -- which amounts to several thousand dollars every year not to mention all of the referrals I give them.

Y'all are making me think God that nothing had happened when I was the one to give my horses Banamine IM.. Learned something new and I DEFINITELY won't be allowing any Banamine IM in the future unless it is absolutely positively needed, and only then by my vet.

AH, but did your husband's patients weigh 1200 lbs with an attitude to match, complete with head tossing? ;)

I'm sure he is competent but please make sure you have a vet show him on a horse, it can actually be quite different than in a human. The carotid runs close to the jugular if you go a little too low. Nothing wrong with doing IV injections yourself if you are comfortable with it, but do make sure you know where your landmarks are and check a couple times throughout the injection to make sure you're still in the vein!

Just wanted to add -arterial blood will be bright red on the drawback, while venous is dark red. Only inject if it is the darker & this is where experience let's you know what you are seeing.
I've been doing human IV's for a long time but I still won't do horses. I'm a chicken.

My mare had a mild case of sand colic about a year and a half ago. Until then, I had never given shots ( and she wasnt to thrilled with receiving them). My vet gave me some Banamine to keep her comfortable for a few days. She got the injection twice a day and I was told my the vet to give it IM. She never had any serious side effects until a few days after she was given the last shot. She developed a baseball sized pocket of infection around one of the injection sights. I asked around and was told that "it is possible with all injections". It took months for that knot to go down. I had asked fellow "horsie" friends about it, my vet, and my farrier. Everyone told me to just keep an eye on it. Eventually it did go down and since then I have had to give a few other injections to my horses consisting of different things. I have never had this problem again...

Anytime Banamine is prescribed now, I use oral

Last year in my area there were several cases of horses dying from infected injection sites from IM banamine shots. Our vet seemed to think that using expired banamine greatly increased the risk?