A few Questions about Gastric Ulcers

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hotdog

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Some one mentioned to me that my horse is showing possible signs of gastric ulcers today.

So I've contacted the vet today and will try and get him scoped next week to know for definite.

Trouble is he's 24 and therefore I don't think the insurance will cover this and potential treatments if there are ulcers there so will have to pay for it out of my own pocket - ouch!!!

So I would like to know what "management" changes I would need to make to help him "if he does have ulcers"

He currently is out during the day from around 7am to 3pm in a large field on his own with other horses next door. He's fed on baileys no4 about 2kg per feed twice a day - one at 3pm and one at 7pm ish - he doesn't eat in mornings as he wants to be out in field. There is also a bit of beetpulp with pink powder and flexijoint supplement and buteless as well.

He's 17.2 and 24 years old and I think he's quite a stressy horse, and likes to know what is going on.

I could probably add loads more but I would like to know whether there is anything I should change or consider to manage him differently if he does have ulcers.

feel free to pm me if easier - thanks
 
Many horses develop gastric ulcers because of non horse-friendly management. This then means that the horse feels constantly stressed and the unrelenting stress can lead to gastric ulcers. Things that can cause stress include too little fibre in the diet, little turnout, no company, inappropriate work/work levels - all the usual culprits. The easy solution for stress induced ulcers is to remove the stress and, to help the horse heal faster, products like Coligone are brilliant.

However, it sounds as though your lucky ned gets high quality care anyway. What makes you think he has developed gatsric ulcers? At his age, it might NOT be simple management that has caused his problems. He might have other digestive tract problems that are causing him pain. Or he might indeed have an ulcer but it might be caused through eg disease. Is he a grey? Of course, the signs that alert owners to possible gastric ulcers would be the same (or very similar) signs that the horse is in pain somewhere else. I'd wait for the vet's diagnosis but if you want to help your horse in the meantime, a low dose of Coligone is the horse equivalent of Gaviscon so would offer some relief to any gastric pain he may have.

I do hope he's ok - do let us know how he does x
 
I've had it in the back of my mind for a while wondering whether he had ulcers. he was on low dose of bute for a year which I took him off last september and put him on buteless which seems to work.

He paws at his bed during the night, doesn't always finish his hard feed in one go, doesn't actually eat that much hayledge, if you put more in then he drags into bed (kind of like he wants to eat it but is fustrated that he can't) he quite often spends time standing in he feild with out eating, he's has to bite something when I do the girth up - even if I do it extremely loosely and I think this has got slightly worse recently.

I been doing some research on internet and have seen coligone - but what is the difference between this and pink powder?

I'm also wondering whether I'm feeding the right foods - he's just on baileys no 4 with no chaf or anything like alfa. He has put on a lot of condition over the winter months and looks extremely well for this time of year. I have given him a couple of bags of equijewel as well to help him through winter.
 
I think you need to consider a hindgut issue here, rather than gastric. Long term NSAIDs (bute) will increase the chance of your horse developing colitis, which is inflamation in the lining of the hindgut. This would also tie in with girthyness, a horses stomach is much higher up, almost between the shoulder blades, however the right dorsal colon lies right on the area where you are girthing up. bear in mind also than the vast majority of treatments for gastric issues are useless in the hindgut. Furthermore, a lot of elderly horses develop hindgut issues. PM me if you like.
 
We've only had him 6 months, but have halved his dose, and he's fine. If we stop feeding it, his symptoms come back within 48 hrs.
His last 2 homes fed little forage and lots of concentrates, so we suspect he's had these for yrs (possibly 8-9yrs)
He's now on ablib hage, and small amounts of a slow release energy endurance mix (I think baileys no 6).

We dont expect to have to feed the suppliment for the rest of his life, as his diet and stress are now under control, but obviously ulsers take time to heal.

If your paying it yourself, rather than insurance you could always try a tub, or of something simmilar, and see if it makes a difference.

As ulsers arnt a older horse problem, I would have thought its claimable, at least for the first 12 months, then they'll exclude it on the policy.
Why dont you call your insurance people, but dont give your name (as they will make notes on your file about your questions, and may refuse payout later. I've known this to happen regarding lameness investigation, the owner had some basic tests done and paid then tried to claim for further scans etc, when the lameness continued and as they had a lameness query on the file they wouldnt payout )
 
I'm going to double check with insurance first thing on Monday. But I think I'm currently in the mind that I would like him scoped so I know for sure rather than giving him some supplement and then never really knowing.

I'm not sure sometimes its hard to know what to do - hence my questions on here! to get plenty of views!!
 
A totally cereal free diet is best if ulcers are confirmed- so no more baileys no4. Ad lib forage and hard feed should be fibre based. Alfalfa can help.
 
hi my horse displays all the same symptoms as yours does with the hard feed and haylage and saddling issues.he is only 8 we are currently doing various tests on him but he has been found to have colitis and inflammation of his hind gut.he is on a high fibre diet top spec top chop and fibre beet and blue chip with some brewers yeast. he is now on hay as he was getting frequent spasmodic colic every time the haylage changed batch. we are too suspecting ulcers if things dont improve soon.my horse is a little cold backed when you first saddle him and very short and choppy behind for the first 20 mins of riding and wondered if your horse was like this? i too am considering coligone for him especially the paste for when he shows first signs of colic which i hope is never(we can but hope!)xxx
 
he does take a while to warm up and get going when riding - but I've put this down to being old and stiff and hadn't thought any more about it
 
Can you tell me what the usual symptoms are?
A friends 4 yr old has just been diagnosed with gastric ulcers after investigation for spasmodic colic, however he is in very good condition isn't very stressy.

Now I am wondering if my 5 yr old could have them, he is out for around 5 hours a day at the mo has plenty of hay and is fed alfa a oil & calm & condition. However he objects to the saddle which does fit, by picking up back leg and grinding teeth but is fine once it is on. He also grinds his teeth if you squeeze with your legs.
He is also a poor doer.
All that said he has a good appetite always eating and luckily hasn't had colic.

What do you think?

Also can good management and coligone or u guard cure ulcers or do you need a course of gastroguard from the vet?

Would giving coligone or u guard hurt if the horse doesn't have ulcers?
 
yeah finn is the same no back probs but you have to be really gentle when saddling him and u basically cant use your leg for first 10 mins otherwise he kind of jumps forward and scuttles along!and doesnt use his back end very well until he warms up.
coen not sure coligone is a cure think its more of a preventative once they have gone but my mind is boggled at the moment.also it depends where the ulcers are with regards to treatment,we think finns maybe in his hind gut as this is where his problems are arising from at the mo so from what i have read the treatments such as gastroguard wouldnt be very effective. management is a huge factor as ceral based feeds are a strict no no and stress is a factor.my horse is an irish cob and very laid back but he hates tractors so has been moved to somewhere quieter.i found this link last night which proved interesting reading http://www.lunatunesfreestyles.com/horse_ulcers.htm
i dont think it would hurt to keep them on coligone or u guard if not got ulcers.xxx
 
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