equine stomach ulcers

[NellyJob]

does anyone in 'the tackroom' have any experience or advice?

[Treblesallround]

No experience, but apparently they'e far from unusual I think Global Herbs do a good supplement (not sure what it's called). Sorry, not very helpful, is everything ok?

[NellyJob]

yes the pony is OK but she is a cribber, well years ago we were taught that this was just a nasty vice, isolate from other horses and put on cribbing collar to stop them doing it. Latest info is though is that it could be a reaction to having a bellyache caused by stomach ulcers, altough a bit chicken/egg.
heaps of stuff about it on the web but kind of too much info.....
any personal experience would be good to hear about.
sometimes the pony is moody and bity other times not, and there are certain spots on her body where she is supersensitive.

[Treblesallround]

Might the sometimes symptoms be when she's in season? Is she supersensitive round the back end and near teats? One of ours is like this if in season, and especially if it's hot and flies are around, she just gets grumpy for a day or two. It may be unrelated to the cribbing.

[NellyJob]

yes! dd is keeping a diary to try to establish a pattern...

[Mirage]

Someone on the Horse and hound forum was asking the same question recently and they were told to try an over the counter indigestion remedy,called Ranatidene [or something similar].If you do a search on H&H it will no doubt come up.

Otherwise,she could be in season,dpony can get sensitive and a bit bitey around her flanks when she is in season.

[NellyJob]

thanks mirage I will look it up now

[dappleton]

hi, just treating one of my horses now. He's loosing muscle, his coat looks dull... increases in hay and de-worming haven't made any difference. Spoke to Vet and we are now treating for stomach ulcers to see if it helps. Using an omeprazole based drug for now. I have read an article online to say cabbage, certain herbs/seeds can help and probiotics - can't get hold of probiotics where i am but may try adding cabbage to food and see what happens! Seems to be treatment then management. The drug Mirage mentioned is also good, thinks it's basically 'tums' but this is short acting from what I understand, so can be used to see if certain behaviours are connected to the ulcer but won't be able to help the ulcer heal.

[Butkin]

Ranitidine is a comparitively cheap way of treating ulcers (like Zantac in humans) but it isn't licensed for racehorses over here (it is popular in States and Australia) and has caused some horses to be disqualified.

Racing trainers therefore use Gastrogard which is licensed. This costs about 150 quid for a course of 7 syringes.

[dappleton]

thanks for that Butkin, must admit that the omeprazole bit is the only bit I actually discussed with the vet, think the rest of my rambling was from a H&H thread!
OP sorry, think i'm starting to hijack this a bit!

[NellyJob]

no no, it's all interesting stuff dappleton - I take it you can't just get a load of human dose zantac and crush them up and add them to the feed? or am I being silly?

[Butkin]

Nelly if you want to use Ranitidine then you'd probably need to import some syringes from outside of UK - probably Australia. Not sure if you'd be breaking the law or not as probably not licensed here.

You could try human versions from a chemist but not sure of dose.

You're probably better off with Ulcer Gard or Gastro Gard syringes.

[Booboostoo]

Has your horse been scoped for ulcers? It's easy to do, relatively cheap and will give you a definite answer.

If she has ulcers Gastro Guard plus a change in feeding regime (more fibre, fibre as close to 24/7 and a small feed 1/2 hour before riding) are the best options. You will have to start with full dose Gastro Guard but may be able to reduce it to smaller amounts, although during stressful times you may need to give more again.

[NellyJob]

no booboostoo she hasn't, she is just a grass and hay fed pony....so we are going tor the 24/7 trickle feed...
I have not heard of this scoping, when you say relatively cheap, how much do you mean, more or less?

[Booboostoo]

Scoping is how ulcers are diagnosed. Basically the horse is starved for 24 hours to have a clear stomach, the vet sedates and passes a camera down to have a look. They can find active ulcers or scaring from previously active ulcers.

If all that is clear but there is still a worry about ulcers, the vet can do a faeces test for rear gut ulcers that cannot be seen with the scoping.

The scoping should be about 250 pounds. Not sure about the faeces test, but it can't be a lot at all. It's all a lot cheaper than Gastro Guard though which you don't want to be spending money on if you don't need!

If it's not ulcers the next probable thing in a mare is problems with her ovaries, so it might be worth getting those scanned.

[NellyJob]

thanks booboostoo good information, although to be honest that's kind of out of budget and more than the pony cost!!

[Booboostoo]

Fair enough.

I take it you don't have vet's fees insurance? If you haven't had the vet involved yet you could take out insurance, wait a few months and then try to get a diagnosis (not the most ethical route, I agree, but you will need to get the pony treated somehow if she has ulcers and the treatment is seriously more expensive than the cost of scoping).

[Booboostoo]

Just came across this website with a lot of useful information on ulcers including how to do DIY exam for them

www.depaoloequineconcepts.com/library/ulcer_treatment_protocol.aspx

[NellyJob]

thanks booboo, that is useful.
we have done the DIY exam thing before, it is quite a definite response with her.
always good to get some more information.

[dappleton]

that's a great video Booboo!

[Booboostoo]

I can't take credit for finding it! Someone mentioned it on HHO and I thought of the OP! But it does look very helpful.