Doing my own shots?

Question

ok so, my low key vet is getting bigger and bigger, meaning her prices are now soaring. i know people would just say look for another vet, but i've had too many nut-cased vets come out. not only that, but they are starting to cost a fortune for farm call and shots, etc. so i was wondering if anyone has had any experience in doing their own shots? (except botulism) I know it is alot cheaper, because a friend of mine does it. she's going to teach me on her 5 horses. the cost to keep my two horses is getting higher.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Well, we give our horses all of their shots.  It is easy to do and you can save the cost of a farm call, and our vet even charges you $10/ if you haul to his hospital for each injection he gives!

We saved lots of money, its quick and easy and if you have two people one to hold the lead rope and the one for the shots, it goes lots faster.  

Thats great that your friend will show you how to do it, it will help you feel more relaxed and see how its done first hand.  Maybe you two should do a trade, you help her with hers, and she helps you with yours!

It also saves the vet a trip out with the price of fuel, and leaves his time opened up a bit more for a call that is really needed.

MOST preventative medicine like vaccines are easy to learn how to do yourself and they also save you money.

EDIT.....  

All of the vaccines you will give are given into the muscle not the vein.  So its much easier!  Since you are giving it into the large muscle on the neck or rump.

EDIT EDIT.....

To galloppal, we are talking about giving shots to our horses NOT our kids!  And our horses have HUGE muscles compared to giving a shot to a little kid!  AND our vet sells them right to you to do it your self!  CANNOT be that bad if he encourages it!  I am not recommending they do colic surgery themselves just give a shot!  ITS not a BIG deal.

EDIT EDIT EDIT....

IT is NOT illegal.  West Nile, 4 or 5 Way, etc...  THE vets here sell them to you to do yourself.  They must think it is ridiculous to drive out to the remote ranches, to give a shot...  BUT< we live in COWBOY country and these are real working ranches and real live cowboys!

Answer 2

My husband vaccinates our horses.  He learned from a friend who managed a large horse operation and had some kind of equine degree.  Shots aren't hard to administer and you can order them on-line and have them shipped directly to you.    Since the vaccines have to be refrigerated, I always have them sent to my workplace where I can refrigerate them until I can take them home.

There are 2 types of shots: intramuscular and intravenous.  One goes in the muscle and one goes into the vein.  One important thing to remember is this, if the substance you are injecting is white in color DO NOT INJECT IT INTO THE VEIN....it will kill your horse.  This is from my vet who lives just down the road and is awesome!  We still vaccinate our horses ourselves, though.

Doing shots yourself will save you a ton of money!  The more you can do on your own, the better.  We even keep a bottle of penicillin for bad colds and such.

Congrats on taking on the responsibility yourself!

Answer 3

This is all well and good,,, until the first time you get a batch of vaccines that have not been "shipped" properly. I don't mean to be a wet blanket either,,, but, I learned the hard way.

I used to vaccinate myself too until 10 years ago when my dog almost died from a disease I had "vaccinated" him against. The vet said that you can't count on the vaccines sold to the public because  they are not always handled and stored properly, or monitored enough. 7 Heart wrenching days of sobbing and $800.00 later, I learned my lesson,, to leave that stuff up to the professionals.

Maybe all of you who have been doing it successfullly for umteen years have just been lucky. I hope your luck continues.

My horses and dogs are worth the best care I can give them and that includes professional vaccines. I can always cut out frivolous things for myself to afford care for my horses and dogs. They come first.

Answer 4

We do all of our own shots where I live, in central DE, including botulism and rabies. Check with your vet or public health department to find out what's required for horses in your area before you start, because the requirements can vary widely from state to state and region to region. You can order the vaccines, and the supplies for giving the shots, from any of companies that sell animal products, and from most of the major tack and equipment companies. We get our vaccines from Valley Vet or from Jeffer's Vet supply, but you can also get them from places like Dover Saddlery, Stateline Tack, etc. I would order the vaccines online and have them shipped to you- most companies will pack them in dry ice so they stay cold and fresh. You can also order needles and syringes from these same companies- in fact, if you order vaccines from them, they will ask you if you need supplies.

There are a couple of other things you need to know before you give your horses shots. First, when you order the vaccines, make sure that you ALSO ORDER a bottle of epinephrine solution, and that you either read the label on it, or get instruction as to how and when to use it. This is extemely important, in case one of your horses should have an allergic reaction to the vaccines and go into shock. Prompt injection of epi can save the life of animal who is in this condition, and NO ONE should EVER ATTEMPT to give a horse ANY KIND of shot without knowing how to use this drug ( actually, it's not a drug, it's a hormone) and how to recognize the symptoms of an allergic response. The usual dose for epi is 1 cc per thousand pounds of body weight- meaning that a little goes a long way.

The second thing you need to know before you give your horses shots is whether or not you are legally allowed to give certain vaccines. In some states, such as Georgia, for example, the only person who can give a horse a rabies shot is a licensed vet- that's the state law there. Lay people are allowed to give every other kind of shot- but rabies is off limits in that state. This is why you need to check with your state's health department, and your vet prior to proceeding, and find out what you are and are not allowed to do.

As far as actually giving the shots themselves, there are 6 injection sites on every horse's body that you can use for this. They are on either side of the neck, the pectoral muscles of the chest, and on the buttock, below the point of the hip, but above the hock, on each hind leg. Try to schedule the shots so that you are NOT giving everything all at one time- it's a good idea to stagger the shots over a period of a couple of weeks, if you can. This helps prevent soreness and other shot reactions, and it helps keep the horse's immune system from being overwhelmed by too many vaccines at once. I would also put a limit on the number of shots you give on any given day- this is why it's a good idea to use vaccines which are combined together, such as the 3 way encephalitis and tetanus shot I gave my mare earlier this spring, for example. What I did with her was to give the 3 way enceph and tetanus, and West Nile Virus one week, and the rabies and botulism shots the following week. This worked very well- she was never sore, nor was she off her feed, or anything of that sort. She had previously been given a flu/rhino shot by the vet who came to pull blood for the Coggins test ( I am hoping to show her in dressage shows this summer) so I didn't have to worry about that.  Your horses may benefit by your following a similar program- and as long as you don't travel or take them anywhere during the week between shots, they should be fine.

Good luck to you, and I hope this helps you out.

Answer 5

I've been giving my own shots for 15 years this means west nile , 5 way , tetnus , and antibiotic or pain rleieving shot  even the rabies shots. (I get the rabies vac from my vet and he lets me admin it) It has saved me virtually 200 or more in the spring and another 200 in the fall.  The ONLY thing I can't do for myelf is pull the blood for a coggins test which i do know how to do BUT legally a vet has to do it soooo thats the only thing I have Doc do. It's not hard to do just make sure to read the directions thoroughly and have someone help you until you get the hang of it.

solstice if it is supposedly illegal to give your own shots PLEASE tell me why in the h**l I am able to LEGALLY sell them at the tack store i manage? Why can you buy them from valley vet supply?  the only shot that is actually by law required to be given by a vet is the rabies shot. And even then that mainly applies to dogs b/c of how they tarck it with the id numbers and tags. If you are in tight with your vet and let them know when you give the sots to update their records then it's no biggy. My vet notates on my acct and profile each time I pick up a shot form him to give so that their records stay updated.  Yeah something such as an abcess can occour but if you know how to admister it properly then youre not going to s***w up.  DO you even know how to give a shot of anything??? i suggest before you start spewing BS about laws you read up on them first

As an edit i called it bs b/c thats what it is. You do not have to have a prescription to buy a 4way , west nile or 6 way..... they are not prescribed drugs they are OPTIONAL vaccines you can choose or not choose to give a horse. Seems to me you don't know as much as you think you do. Otherwise you would know there is nothing in them that is prescribed. It it was a prescription then I wouldn't be able to stock them in my store b/c i order them not a vet..... and I didn't cuss I said h**l.. I'll say it again h**l h**l h**l!!! Oh my oh my I'm a horrible person for saying h**l! Perhaps b/c of that someone will tell me to go to h**l then i can say wait wait saying h**l is cussing thats bad bad bad... oh h**l look at that i said h**l...... Here is one h**l OF A RED  DOT TO YOU

and as yet another edit as foar as me stocking them, they are shipped via overnight , mail in a big styrafoam cooler packed with ice packs that are frozen, then placed inside yet another styrafoam cooler with ice packs (once again frozen)  packed aroudn the smaller cooloer insiode the big one. They are then stored in a refrigerator that is actually a little below the reccomended tempature. We handle out vaccines 100% properly

Answer 6

I'm an RN and I don't necessarily agree with some of the comments made here.  Giving shots without a background in pharmacology much less anatomy and physiology can lead people to taking it too lightly.  If just learning the method of injection were enough, then we'd see people with 5 minutes of training injecting our children's vaccines. One of you keeps penicillin on hand to treat bad colds...of course colds are viral and antibiotics treat bacterial infections. I knew one woman who rinsed the needle she was using to inject her horses with antibiotics in the water she was soaking an infected hoof in., then gave the shots with it. Her theory was that the antibiotic would kill the bacteria that was in the water, so it was okay....DUH? That said, I also have my horses evaluated twice a year when my vet comes to do the vaccines.  There are decisions to be made and considerations to be taken into account when vaccinating animals.  I think when one person owns whole herds of animals, the do it yourself approach is justified, but I don't think this is the place to save money when you only own a couple of horses.  I will give an injection to my horses under certain circumstances, but my vet does the vaccines and that has nothing to do with whether I know how to give a shot...it has to do with my own opinions regarding routine medical management of my horses.  Certainly many horses are doing okay either way, and in these times of hardship the benefits may outweigh the risks.

An uneducated lay person should not be administering IV (intravenous) shots under any circumstance.  We pay farriers to shoe our horses because they know what they are doing...why not save money by doing it yourself after watching the farrier do it once? You don't know what you don't know. If you do decide to give your own shots, then you should at least read up on each vaccine so you know what you are injecting, and know the symptoms if problems develop. And please use sterile needles.

EDIT: JJH...whatever you say.

Answer 7

Doing own shot for horses and cattle is a very good idea; much cheaper! It is not hard, don't worry!

Answer 8

i am a rancher and i have been giving shots to my own horse forever,same with my father and my grandfather and is part of learning animal husbandry which if you own livestock you should learn about animal husbandry anyway.i always keep pen-g,needles and syringes as well as sutures of all types and a horse emergency kit as well as a equine triage kit.back when i was young and something happened on the ranch to the livestock we were the ones who had to handle it because a vet was too far out in an emergency.the only thing i was told was not to do was to treat someones Else's livestock and asking for payment,that is a big no no but treating your own livestock is part of owning livestock.

Answer 9

I dont have livestock but i have a pup and I give her all of her shots except her rabies and that is only bc they dont let me.  I dont like it bc i dont like hurting her  :  (  But I know i would do it easier than a vet.  and she doesnt mind

Answer 10

I do my own shots, its not difficult...Let your friend do one and show you and you can do the others.

Answer 11

I advise against it, because of liability costs. Too many things can go wrong - you can prick the wrong place, hurt the animal too much by pricking nerves, etc. I don't know if you have insurance on your horses (I do), but if something goes wrong, then insurance goes away. :(  I'm not trying to be mean, but just explain what could happen on the other side of the spectrum.

Edit: I apologize - I didn't make myself clear. It is illegal for me because I'm a farrier and I can't give shots to horses - my own or anyone else's without insurance and liability costs. I know it is illegal for where I live - but you can buy them for the sake of buying them for a vet. You have to have a vet's prescription in order to buy them just like you have to have a vet's prescription to buy bute. As I stated - I'm not trying to mean or rain down on anyone's party. I'm speaking from what I know. I don't know where anyone else lives so I can't read up on their laws.

Edit2: I agree, you have to know how to rightfully administer a drug before you give it to something. And yes, I do know how to give shots. I went to farrier school and a vet came out and taught all of us. I've given shots to my horses before I knew that I wasn't allowed to. How many people out there have had professional training and schooling to give shots? They go through how many years of school, so they can do this professionally. By giving your shots, you up the risk of harming your horse, as well as taking away a vet's income. And I suggest that you reconsider your tone. I haven't insulted or assumed anything with you - yet you cuss and call my two cents on the matter BS. Just because I differ than you, doesn't mean my side of the information is worth squat.

Answer 12

giving your own shots would alot easir and save you alot of $$

its easy too

Answer 13

maybe maybe not, go to a professional for the safest way

Answer 14

Definitely.  Giving your own shots is a no-brainer.  Save your $$$ for when you REALLY need the vet.