Currently, the Illinois Racing Board’s rules for blood gas testing allow maximum plasma tCO2 of 37 mmol/L in horses not receiving pre-race furosemide and 39 mmol/L in horses receiving up to 500 mg prerace furosemide.
The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of 250- and 500-mg doses of
furosemide on plasma tCO2 in Standardbred racehorses at rest.We hypothesized that plasma tCO2 would increase in resting horses receiving furosemide, but that there would be no difference between 250-mg and 500-mg doses of furosemide.