Does anyone know if it is safe or not to sedate a horse with a low grade heart murmer? My horse is getting his teeth done tomorrow. He is extremely parrot mouthed and requires a lot of tuneup work, so usually we sedate him to take the edge off. We just recently diagnosed the heart murmer last fall, so I'm guessing we've been doing it all along with no problems. I just want to be safe if anyone has some input.
It should be fine. How old is the horse? most horses grow out of the murmur.
What the vet will do(if it's a concern), is give a small test dose of the sedative, give it a couple minutes and once it is ruled out it's fine continue on with the rest of the injection and go ahead with the procedure.
No vet will automatically go ahead and assume it's ok. They will do an assessment before hand, it's the only to know. Also depending on the age of your horse, he/she may not have the murmur any longer anyways.
He's 7. We think he's had it since birth since apparently it's very common with racehorses, but I'm just trying to overthink a little to be safe. He's a very healthy horse otherwise.
Just make sure you remind the vet (sometimes in a noisy barn it is hard to hear and she could miss it when she gives him the pre-med exam). She can choose a sedative that has lower risks. There are risks with any medication and proceedure and his are higher due to the murmur, but I wouldn't be too concerned if proper precautions are taken.
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