Aloe Vera juice / gel for ulcers?

[Fruitcake]

My horse has a history of ulcers. (Numerous courses of Gastroguard, various supplements, always lived out on high fibre diet with me- vet concluded it's genetic factor rather than management issue).

Anyway, he's on a supplement from vet at the moment which I'm going to continue with. I'm just interested in opinions about Aloe Vera as I'd considered it at various points over the last few years but never tried it. A friend at work happened to comment the other day that it was the only thing that helped her with her acid reflux and I got thinking again that, if it helped her, perhaps it might be worth giving a try with horse.

Where do people buy it for a horse? (Friend gets hers from Holland and Barrett but imagine you'd need a big bottle for a horse!)

How much do you give?
Can you just mix it in feed or does it need to be syringed?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I give it to my mare and it makes a huge difference to her. She doesn't have a diagnosis of ulcers but I decided that the signs and symptoms were consistent with her probably having ulcers and followed a tip on here. Early on I found that if we run out and missed a dose, her symptoms returned within 36 hrs. Recently I tried cutting the dose down by 1/3 and her symptoms, especially the grumpiness, returned, within a few days. Needless to say, I increased the dose again and she is now back to normal.

I get AV juice from Holland & Barrett and give her 3 capfuls, she weighs somewhere between 700and 800 kg.and is 16hh. H&B often have offers on, which reduces the price considerably.

 

[Fruitcake]

Thanks. Do you just put it into feed then?

Had a look at Holland and Barrett website. There seem to be a lot of variations! Which one would you recommend?!

 

[catembi]

Have a look at AloeRide - mine's on the yearly subscription.

Ever since I've had him (5 years) he's had a gassy colic episode every few months...off food, lying down & groaning, sitting up, lying back down... They pass with walking & then he'll be fine again as if nothing's happened. He has also had spectacularly volcanic gut noises that you can hear from several stables away & was also NOT windy. I.e. noticeably NEVER passed wind. Anyway, he was on the AloeRide for a year, his gut noises normalised after about 10 days, he started being normal-horse windy & he didn't have any of his episodes for the whole year. Subscription ran out, I was faffing about getting around to organising another one, & when he'd been off it about 3 weeks, he had another one of his gassy colics - towards the top end of his usual scale. His guts had also started being extra noisy again. Got some AloeRide organised...10 days later it was all back to normal & 2-3 months on (touch wood) he hasn't had a colic episode.

I think my vets (Fellowes Farm) did some proper research on aloe & ulcers. It has worked for mine a million times better than GG, etc, which did f-all.

T x

 

[soulfull]

My ex racer had a small appetite as some ulcer symptoms so I gave her 200ml AV from Holland and Barratt along with a large spoonful of bicarbonate of soda twice a day. Within days her appetite had doubled and she wasn't so mouthy

 

[Fruitcake]

Have a look at AloeRide - mine's on the yearly subscription.

T x

Thanks. After much Googling, I'm now very confused! It looks like Aloeride might actually be the cheapest! I've found a couple of other products but they don't look like they're as 'pure'.

I'm just slightly concerned about the powder thing. Also, it says somewhere they can be kept in the freezer. Do they have to be kept frozen?!

Thanks. I'm so confused!

 

[[100323]]

I have used the brand Barrier from either local feed merchant or online. About £6.40 a bottle. It has helped a friends pony.

 

[YorksG]

A friend of mine has ulcerative collitis and is using aloe vera juice, alongside her prescription meds, and has benefited hugely. She only began using it after we pointed out how good it was for our horses digestion We feed one which appears to be ulcer prone and three others as a preventative measure.