A very big hello from a newbie……………………..and some and advice needed on Gastric ulcers

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fraggle-rock

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Well I thought it was about time that introduced myself on here really as have lurked on here for a while.

I have a 16.3 KWPN gelding who I event at BE 100 level currently and I would love to move up to Novice at some point (was supposed to be this season but for one reason and another hasn’t happened) so a big Hi to everyone on here!

My main reason for writing today though is that I would really love some advice and to hear peoples experience with horses with grade 4/5 Gastric Ulcers in the pyloric region on the stomach, or from anyone who has been through something similar. I know that this isn’t really CR but I know there are some very knowledgeable people in here so thought I would give it a try.

I shall give a brief history:

I have owned my horse since he was 5 (he is now 12) he has always been quite a stressey horse and has always been described as quirky and a little bit grumpy. In May he started to lose weight to begin with i just thought he was in more work and just burning more calories so I started upping his feed moved him to better grazing made sure he had ab lib haylage.

This went on until July he wasn’t horrendously underweight but he really couldn’t do with losing anymore at this point (weighed 564kg) as he’s a big horse.

So I got him blood tested which came back clear so after re worming again and still no weight gain so four weeks later he was sent to be scoped which showed grade 4/5 Ulcers in the pyloric region of the stomach with a lot of scaring (so they have been there a very long time) and some ulceration of the non-glandular portion of the stomach.

He has been prescribed Gastrogard, Antepsin and Antibiotics, and had a diet change he was on clam and condition, Alfa A, Soya Oil and equi jewl. He’s now on Alfa A, Speedy beet, 500mls Oil (not that he will eat it!) and Equillbra.

The vet said that the area where his ulcers are at their worst is very hard to treat and are not as common due to that area of the stomach having its own protection against the acid; he also said that they don’t really know why they are caused here.

Has anyone had any experience with these? Did your horse’s personality change? What were your horse’s symptoms before diagnosis? How did you manage them after? Have they come back? Do you know use any other supplements to help reduce the risk of reoccurrence? What’s the best feed for weight gain on an ulcer prone horse?

I am now wondering of he’s actually had these most of his life and have always been in pain but has just learnt to deal with them (which really upsets me), as he has not changed his personality at all recently he can be a grumpy sod in the stable but I have always just thought that was him! Maybe it’s not……………….. I suppose only time will tell.

I would be so grateful to hear other people stories, and have some advice.

Thanks (sorry for the essay)
 
my boy had ulcers recently including a bleeding one in the pyloric area. he too had indications of having had them long term (15 year old tb owned since he came out of training as s 5 year old) he eastenders quite "girthy " and started being very spooky nappy etc when diagnosed. had exactly same treatment as yours. after a month absolutely no sign of ulcers at all! now he's back to thwarting sweet calm compliant horse i had before. he's now turned out as much as possible and given only minimal hard feed. mainly alfa a with a handful of high fibre nuts so that he has something to chew his gastro calm with. so far so good.
 
excuse odd random words my phone threw into above!
i was worriedy boy would lack energy etc but he's a picture of health. you may find that once ulcers are gone the weight comes back without too much trouble. good luck
 
mine hasnt been scoped but is a textbook case for ulcers, might not be of any use but a few things that have improved my horse along the way -

protexin probiotic, this is genius powder, keep on it for 1-3 months then come off until girthiness/crabby/loose poo/weight loss/dull coat come back then repeat (reason is if you leave them on it they dont produce what they need to naturally and then rely on it)

When mine is particularly crabby I feed his chaff in his manger (get quite alot overnight, at least one big round scoop) and his nuts in a trickle feed ball.

Licks - I use horselyx 5kg in a hanging bucket, theory being that in the early hours of the morning when he had nothing to eat he can lick this to settle his stomach. I noticed a big difference at first, now not so much as I expect he doesnt get to the stage where he is so crabby.

Make sure he has some forage in his stomach before work. (unless obv it is very hard work)

:)
 
Thanks everyone for the messages, it good to hear what other people have experienced.

Hes been such a star about all the syringing of drugs hes getting 5 a day at the moment as I cant get him to eat the antibiotics in his feed, and he seems calmer and happier already i haven’t had a chance to ride him since last week due to another problem but am very excited to get back on and see if there is any improvement.

As for hay he is pretty good at not suffing his hay there is always a little bit left in the morning but i shall try putting hay nets around his stable for him to keep him a little bit more occuiped. I am trying to reduce the amount of sugar he gets to see if this helps.

I shall look into the protexin probiotic as well as the ulcer calm (there is so many on the market it hard to tell what’s best!)

Hes got to be on the drugs for 6 weeks as the ulcers are so sever and is to be re-scoped at 5.5 weeks to see where we need to go from there regarding treatment. so I have my fingers firmly crossed that they will have healed by them.

Thanks again x
 
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