# Previcox Overdose?



## Starcailer (Aug 22, 2014)

So, this past Wednesday the vet was out and had prescribed me Previcox for my horse. Prior to that, my horse had been on an Adequan compound injection (off label brand that is a fraction of the price - and yes I know the risks but it worked fine for my horse and my wallet so...) but I had heard fantastic reviews about using Previcox for horses, from my trainer and some friends; so I decided to switch to that over the injection.

The vet brought me 20 of the 227mg tablets and instructed that I give my horse 1/4 of the tablet each day. He should only be getting about 57mg a day. Great, no problem, I break up the tablets and put them into his pre-made grain bags and then put the meds in my tack trunk. After which, I went to work and did not return Wednesday night. (Horse gets fed grain in the pm)

Barn owner calls me at work yesterday (thursday) and says my horse isnt eating, hasnt been since breakfast. She tossed him his dinner hay and he isnt eating that. He is pooping, peeing, drinking normally though. She called at 3:30 and I usually leave work by 4:15, so I was out at the barn with in an hour of this call. My horse seems a little lethargic, almost depressed, but has pooped, it was normal poop and would take cookies from me like normal.

Well I went into the grain room and saw that my meds, which I had put in my tack trunk, were with his grain, and there were 2 full tablets missing! I went to ask the BO if she happened to give my horse a tablet and she said she did! She said "she didnt know what the vet said, so she just got it out of my tack trunk and gave him one." So he got 4x the recommended doseage! I informed her I already had dosed his bags and that she didnt need to touch anything. 

I did lightly work him, noticed he drank, pooped, would hand graze and attacked his grain like norm. when I was there, but still wont touch his hay. One of the OD symptoms of the drug is loss of appetite... I made sure to take the tablet out of the grain she made yesterday. 

Is there anything else I should be doing? This morning we hit the 36 hour mark of him getting that dosage, and I assume he ate since I did not get a call from the BO. 

Sorry this is so long, and more like a rant. Im really miffed that she would administer drugs to my horse all willy nilly, this is right after she demanded a fecal sample and took one (that I have to pay for) behind my back, even though my horse is on a worming program...


----------



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Have you called your vet yet? That would be my first step.

You can actually buy the 57 mg tabs. (From your vet of course.) I find that much better than breaking up the 225 tabs because you never can get them to break perfectly even anyway.

Off topic --> Did you give him 3/4 of a tablet the very first day? You need to do that to get the drug to a maintenance level. And then you do the 57 mg each day after that. 

If you miss one single day, the drug loses effect. You'd have to give the triple dose again, and then go back to giving it once a day. That's how Previcox works. It needs to maintain a certain level in the body for it to be effective. 



Starcailer said:


> So, this past Wednesday the vet was out and had prescribed me Previcox for my horse. Prior to that, my horse had been on an Adequan compound injection (off label brand that is a fraction of the price - and yes I know the risks but it worked fine for my horse and my wallet so...) but I had heard fantastic reviews about using Previcox for horses, from my trainer and some friends; *so I decided to switch to that over the injection.*



I am really confused by this. Pentosan (assuming that's what you were using) is not the same thing as Previcox, or vice versa. They do not do the same thing nor treat the same thing. 

Pentosan is to help prevent cartilage damage in the joints. As an injectable, it's a much better "absorbed" than a feed-through oral supplement. 

Previcox is an anti-inflammatory medication to help manage pain caused by inflammation. 

I don't understand why you'd drop the Pentosan for the Previcox. If you need the Previcox to manage pain, you should absolutely keep using the Pentosan.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I'm also confused as to why you've changed to a medication that acts in a very different way to the one you were using
If the horse needs pain medication (because its showing signs of being in pain)then the Previcox is one of the safest for long term use but the Pentosan does a different thing and you should probably still use it - unless it wasn't beneficial
I don't think that one tablet should cause any long term damage, we started a horse on a higher dose with no harm. These drugs can cause stomach irritation so maybe a course of ulcer treatment would be a good idea
Talk to your vet if the horse doesn't improve quickly


----------



## txshorserider (Jan 17, 2013)

Monitor stools. Let vet know!


----------



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

How's the horse doing?


----------



## Starcailer (Aug 22, 2014)

He was fine the next day, he was just colic-y for that one day and then fine. Vet told me 1/4 tablet to start, no loading dose. If I wanted to I could do 1/2 a tablet every other day, or so the vet told me.

Pentosan is not what he was on before. This injection (whatever is was) came with him when I got him, but Im not really sure what it is, I took him off it and used an oral joint supplement instead (which he had never been on), which kept him sound. He remains on oral joint supplements with no problem.


----------

