Any stomach conditions other than ulcers?

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Jo1980

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Has anyone any experiences of stomach problems/conditions other than gastric ulcers?

My mare has all the typical signs of ulcers but was scoped last week and was given the all clear.

I'm at a loss!!!
 
Girthiness with saddle and roller (she is having her saddle checked and reflocked etc every 6 weeks at the moment as she is only 4 and recently started 'proper' work so is changing shape a lot)

Sensitive to be brushed around her stomach, fine everywhere else

Pawing the ground whilst eating hay

Has colicy type symptoms after anything other than her very simple diet (wormers, sedalin etc.)

Does this sound like irritable bowl? What would be the likely treatment for this KirstyKate?
 
Hi I'd recommend looking at some of the responses to my post 'Regular Colic' as couple of weeks back. Some of the answers were helpful.

Like you, I originally suspected my mare (young too) of having ulcers but none showed up with a scoping. I have a Homeopathic vet looking at her now working through some solutions but the Coligone seems to be working too.
 
She has:

ad lib hay (good quality)
hi-fi lite (3/4 scope twice a day)
magnesium oxide
brewers yeast
yea saac
linseed (for weight gain/maintanence)

I don't know whether to take her off it all and see what happens.

She has always been a bit stressy (although better now than this time last year) but I sometimes wonder if the supplements are doing more harm than good.

What does your boy have? What has the vet said to you?
 
A gastro scope can only detect gastric ulcers but can't see colonic ulcers which according to research are far more common than gastric ulcers. Speak to the vet about trying the treatment which is antepsin (sucralfate) 30mls 3 times per day and cimitedine 15x400mg tablets twice per day (gastrogard isn't the best thing for colonic ulcers).
This combination of drugs is massively cheaper than GG, 14 days of this treatment is about £150 and you should see a difference within a couple of days.

Girthiness is considered a symptom of colonic ulcers rather than gastric and the stress is probably a symptom of the ulcers, my TB is now the coolest dude in town since being treated. More info here..
http://www.succeed-equine.com/succe...lcer-free-pt-3-colonic-ulcers-in-the-hindgut/

and check out Dr Kerry Ridgeways research too.
 
No, the vets didn't take bloods.

I'm struggling to get them to take me seriously to be honest, they're not hearing what I'm saying... that there is something physically wrong.

She's quite stressy and spooky etc. which they just put down to bad behaviour and her being a mare. I sent her away for 8 weeks for training. She went to someone who would be a lot 'harder' on her than i would be and she's no better really. I think whatever is physically wrong with her is causing her to be reactive etc.

We scoped for gastric ulcers (and scanned her ovaries) and then thought it may be back related so she had xrays. She has three spinal processes that are fairly close together so she had them medicated.

Still not really any better and continuing to paw the ground whilst eating hay, colicky symptons with anything new in her diet, loose droppings, sensitive stomach to brush, girthiness.

I now just feel like a neurotic mother! The vets have pretty much said to stop bothering them and send her to the blus cross!!

There obviously are other things that could be amiss (IBS, worm damage, colonic ulcers etc.).

Does anyone else have to push their vets to investigate problems? I just believe that horses have a reason for doing the things they do.

Who are the holistic vets that you have tried?
 
I'm lucky in that my vet is very good and will listen to my opinion on my horses, my TB has been scoped twice for ulcers and was clear both times but the symptoms were still there because my vets is prepared to listen she was happy to try him on the treatment.
The difference in him is unbelievable, he has always been difficult to work with moments of brilliance now he's just all brilliant!
If the vets are unhelpful I'd be seeking a 2nd opinion!
 
Jo1980
My anglo arab had the symptoms of ulcers, she was very fretful & lost a lot of weight, my vet thought it was ulcers but when he did an ultra sound scan of her intestines she had an inflamed small intestine. It turned out to be an infestation of panacur 5 day guard, resistant red worms.
He blood tested her & her inflamatory marker score was 133.7 (I think it should have been about 20)
He gave her antibiotics & an equest wormer, she's now fine & her infamatory marker score is back to normal.
It might worth worming her.
I'm lucky that my vet listened to me & took my concerns seriously, I'm sorry that yours isn't doing his job properly.
She's put on over 30 kilos since treatment, she's still a bit lean but she is so much better
Good luck with her
 
Jo1980 I posted on your other thread.

My native mare has just been diagnosed with mild stomach ulcers but the vet thinks they were caused by an inflamed bowel. Her symptoms were colicking regularly, girthy and finally stopped eating. She is on the Antepsin and Cimitedine treatment as described by Maggiesmum. We are a week into treatment and her appetite is picking up. I was advised by the vet NOT to worm her for at least three weeks incase it inflamed the bowel more. She is now 3 weeks overdue for worming but had an encysted red worm treatment last time, and Rossdales did a worm count which was clear and i had done one a fortnight prior to that, so no adult worm burden, just the possibility of tapeworm.
 
You should not have to push your vet at all get a second opinion!

mine has sim symtoms and more she was scoped last year and had ulcers was treated and they went via scope and this year symtoms have returned worse so we put her back on GG but dont seem to be responding to treatment so is being scoped tommorrow and if no ulcers then investigating I.R and IBS with bloods glucose intake and biopsy!

her symtoms are lose of weight being the main one
very stressy used to be chilled
at the beg not wanting to work for me now cant even get anything (if i tryed)
not wanting to eat much at all
just genrally not herself
last time had colic but not this time.
 
MaggiesMum - You are quite right about the ELIZA test, although i have heard of cases of false negatives (I'm an SQP), but as i did Pramox in November (on her arrival)it is unlikely my mare has a huge tapeworm burden as i saw some segments so i know the Pramox did work. I may have a go a the test in May which will fit in with the 6 month lifecycle.

Twinkle - I'm sorry your mare's symptoms have returned. Does anyone know if there is a cause behind inflamed intestines / IBS in horses? I did worry it was caused by haylage, but my mare was fed haylage and coarse mix with her previous owner and I just changed her ration to chaff and lo-cal balancer.
 
twinkle - Please do read Dr Kerry Ridgeways research on ulcers, the statistics show that most horses that have gastric ulcers also have colonic ulcers (which a scope can't see) and they don't respond as well to GG so a different treatment regime is needed. We're using a combination of Cimetidine and antepsin (sucralfate) This could be why the symptoms have returned and why the GG isn't having any effect.

My TB was scoped clear for gastric ulcers 3 years ago and again this year but as the symptoms were there we treated for colonic ulcers - I cannot even begin to explain how much he's changed, he's a totally different horse and it would appear he's been suffering for a long time.

I have IBS and its just a term used for when no-one really knows what's causing the problem, very little is known about it and everyone has their own individual triggers. I keep hearing of horses diagnosed with IBS and I just wonder if they're actually suffering from colonic ulcers. :-/
 
thanks maggies mum where will i find that do i just google it?

she was scoped today and had a small ulcer and then another small one but bleeding in the bottom part of her tummy she also had a biopsy taken and results will be back in a few day. the vet didnt spill me with crap and basically told me they dont really no what causes the ibs in horses they think its diet related, he has mentioned in the past about the colonic ulcers so he put me on succeed but cant say ive noticed any diffrence to be honest she has got worse (not due to that but she hasnt got better since)

thanks
 
Please see my post Recurring Colic - Hormone Problem

Is she coming into season? Sounds like my mare's symptoms who has had what we thought was recurring colic for years turned out to be pain associated with her reproduction system. Just a thought.....
 
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