Some horses require sedating for clipping, dental treatment or shoeing, but calling a veterinarian each time is rather costly. Now a new drug, Dormosedan Gel is making sedation of horses safer and easier.
Oral tranquilizers such as Sedalin and Relaquine, which have acepromazine as the active agent, are a much cheaper option but can lack efficacy.
Dormosedan injection (containing detomidine) has been used for more than 20 years worldwide, now a new formulation gel is available.
Dormosedan Gel contains the same drug – detomidine – that is commonly given by intravenous injection for sedation of even the most factious animals.
Dormosedan Gel containing 7.6 mg/ml (40mcg/kg) detomidine, induces sedation and analgesia with the efficacy and recovery comparable to the proven and trusted sedative, Dormosedan injection. Dormosedan Gel is administered under the horses tongue, so it is rapidly absorbed.
This product comes in a wormer-like syringe that is placed beneath the tongue. The drug is absorbed through the mucous membrane lining the mouth and takes effect within 30 minutes.
It can replace physical restraint and improve safety during treatments, diagnostics and transport and the gel is ideal for horses that are nervous or needle-shy and when owners need more control during clipping, shoeing, dental treatments and boxing.
Dormosedan Gel is proven to be both effective and easy-to-administer with 98% of horses accepting the gel and owners finding it easy and convenient to use, comments Nicki Glen, marketing manager at Janssen Animal Health. The gel starts to be absorbed immediately and demonstrates a reliable sedatory effect and high safety margin, making it an ideal solution for sedation and restraint when performing non invasive procedures on horses.
Clients have found Dormosedan Gel to be more effective than acepromazine-containing tranquilizers and to give a degree of restraint that could only previously be achieved by using the services of a veterinarian. Horses appear less ‘wobbly’ than with other oral sedatives and, while they might not appear as sleepy, are less likely to react while being clipped or shod.
Manufactured by Orion Pharma in Turku, Finland, Dormosedan Gel is distributed by Pfizer Animal Health and is available by veterinarian prescription.