Sunday, September 28, 2014

Equine ulcers

I wanted to ask the blog world if anyone has had any experience with maintaining a horse with ulcers. This is a horse that has been treated with GastroGard in the past but appears to have flare-ups from time to time. The horse eats well, is in good weight, and looks healthy on the outside but shows other ulcer signs such as body soreness and spookiness.

If you maintain a horse with ulcers or know of one, do you see any soreness and spookiness? What parts of the body are sore, and are the spooks big and random? Does the horse paw or crib at all? Do you find that the flare-ups happen at specific times of year? Do you feed one of the many ulcer supplements available on the market, and do you find them effective? Do you think that hindgut ulcers are involved at all?

Thank you to anyone with ulcer information.

In other news, P and AP are doing well. They're enjoying the autumn weather and awaiting the end of bug season!

4 comments:

  1. i haven't personally experienced ulcers in horses, but have heard that adding aloe to their feed can help sooth some of the pain (and maybe prevent?). also - i've heard that horses with less turnout are more susceptible. but again - no personal experience. good luck!

    and re: the end of bug season, is it just me or do the flies seem like they are bound and determined to bite every last bit of horse flesh possible before the cold?? ugh..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I've also heard of feeding aloe - I would think it would be pretty soothing on ulcer sores. Yes - the bugs are still very determined around here!

      Delete
  2. I managed one with ulcers who was also a headshaker... double whammy. First, I'd say get them all the forage you can, 24/7. A slow-feed haynet is perfect for this. I'd even take them off grain if at all possible. Providing as much turnout as possible is also important. Adding alfalfa to the diet is good, as it contains lots of Calcium, which buffers the stomach. I'd also suggest adding a Magnesium supplement to the diet, like Quiessence. Mg also buffers the stomach (also, Ca and Mg are the two active ingredients in human Tums!). I didn't find that feeding aloe helped much, but every horse is different and it's not an expensive thing to try. I fed human-grade Ranitadine (bought in bulk at Costco) whenever we hauled anywhere, the day before and the day after. I also had the horse on "blue pop-rocks", which is the cheap form of Omeprazole from Abler. If I'd had the horse longer, I would have tried to wean him off the Omeprazole, but would still have used the Ranitadine when traveling.

    Best of luck - ulcers can be difficult to manage and they really change the horse's personality. I hope you are able to get them under control!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! There are definitely a lot of calcium and magnesium supplements out there, and I've heard some recommendations for ranitidine for maintenance. I agree, ulcers definitely change the horse's personality! It makes me sad that so many horses seem to have them!

      Delete