Gastric and hind gut ulcers experiences

E

est-1978

Active Member
Joined
29 March 2011
Messages
43
Visit site
Hi everyone

My 11 year old TB gelding started rearing and napping last year at shows after years of successfully jumping up to newcomers with last owner and winning locally with me throughout the autumn and winter. He got progressively worse and after inconclusive lameness work ups was scoped for ulcers and had what looked like old ones but we treated and he was reformed.

We were back to jumping etc and happy pony. Then he came out lame one day so the next few months were investigating this and it coincided with ulcer meds coming to an end. He had a few months off and when I started him back in Jan he didn't want to go forward and started napping again even at walk. This progressed to not being able to mount so vet back out and nerve blocks and bone scans later rescoped for ulcers again and he had one largish new one. Back on omeprazole and many expensive supplements and 4 weeks later although slightly better and will hack out and lunge he still kicks out at trot under saddle and refuses to go forward. He was improving but seems to have gone backwards in the last week. He is out overnight now and I'm wondering if spring grass has affected treatment or whether it could be hind gut issues as well? He is on equishure and naf gastrivet alongside the meds.

Anyone had hind gut alongside gastric ulcers and anyone had a horse improve and go backwards whilst on treatment?

It's been nearly a year of investigation and treatment and still have a horse that won't trot and is still very nippy and girthy :(

Essay, sorry!!
 
I have a horse that was diagnosed with both Gastric and Hind Gut ulcers. He was diagnosed at the end of February. First by the "Succeed" test and then later the gastric ones by Scoping him. He was started on "Peptizole" for the Gastric Ulcers and "Succeed" for the Hindgut Ulcers. A month later he had the "Succeed" test again and it came up negative for the gastric ones but still positive for the Hindgut. He continues on the "Succeed" and is now on "Ekygard" which helps the stomach.

Although my boy is clear of Gastric Ulcers he will every now and again be a bit nippy.

Once the Gastric Ulcers were treated my boy started to move so much better in front that he looked stiff behind. my vet came and said he was sore over his SI joint. Because I had only noticed this since the Gastric Ulcers had been clear we wrote to the insurance company where my vet suggested that this could be due to my boy moving differently. My vet advised that my boy have his SI joints injected and that this was followed up with some Acupuncture and Physiotherapy ,which should start next week.

The only thing I know is that Hindgut Ulcers take longer to be dealt with. because of the way my boy started to move he looked lame in his near (Left) hind.

There are FB pages "Ulcer Horses -Problems and Advice" and " Horses with Sacroiliac Problems" both are very helpful

While my boy is competing he will go on "Ulcergard" a couple of days before, while he is away and for a couple of days after. This helps protect the stomach.

Apart from maybe becoming a little stressed inside there was no other things that indicated that he would get Ulcers. Lives out 24/7, has a high forage diet and is a laid back chap.

Have you looked to see if he is uncomfortable in his SI joints and if maybe some Physio or Acupuncture would help.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the reply - I had him bone scanned which showed up some hots pots on SI and hocks but when we did nerve blocks to see if these were causing the behavioural issues they didn't seem to cause a reaction - he was still just as stuffy and cow kicked etc even when nerve blocked so we scoped and found the ulcer. he had the physio about 3 weeks ago who said he was quite sore all over, possibly from moving differently due to the ulcers. I am thinking about acupuncture as the vet is at a bit of a loss now, especially if gastric ulcers are clear next week on the scope. I haven't treated for hind gut though, only put him on equishure to see if that helped and I don't think it has really :(

paulineh said:
I have a horse that was diagnosed with both Gastric and Hind Gut ulcers. He was diagnosed at the end of February. First by the "Succeed" test and then later the gastric ones by Scoping him. He was started on "Peptizole" for the Gastric Ulcers and "Succeed" for the Hindgut Ulcers. A month later he had the "Succeed" test again and it came up negative for the gastric ones but still positive for the Hindgut. He continues on the "Succeed" and is now on "Ekygard" which helps the stomach.

Although my boy is clear of Gastric Ulcers he will every now and again be a bit nippy.

Once the Gastric Ulcers were treated my boy started to move so much better in front that he looked stiff behind. my vet came and said he was sore over his SI joint. Because I had only noticed this since the Gastric Ulcers had been clear we wrote to the insurance company where my vet suggested that this could be due to my boy moving differently. My vet advised that my boy have his SI joints injected and that this was followed up with some Acupuncture and Physiotherapy ,which should start next week.

The only thing I know is that Hindgut Ulcers take longer to be dealt with. because of the way my boy started to move he looked lame in his near (Left) hind.

There are FB pages "Ulcer Horses -Problems and Advice" and " Horses with Sacroiliac Problems" both are very helpful

While my boy is competing he will go on "Ulcergard" a couple of days before, while he is away and for a couple of days after. This helps protect the stomach.

Apart from maybe becoming a little stressed inside there was no other things that indicated that he would get Ulcers. Lives out 24/7, has a high forage diet and is a laid back chap.

Have you looked to see if he is uncomfortable in his SI joints and if maybe some Physio or Acupuncture would help.
Click to expand...
 
If your vet can do the "Succeed" test I would have it.

I would not have thought my boy had a problem with his SI joint it was only a vet at an event I was doing (My boy does Endurance) that noticed he was very slightly un-level.

Hindgut Ulcers are not easy to diagnose as the only way they can do it is via U/S but the "Succeed" test should show if there is any inflammation.
 
My mare was diagnosed with gastric ulcers in December. She was scoped and found to have various types. We treated her with a month of Gastrogard with a tube a day then back to 1/4 a day. Her behaviour improved but still wasn't quite right. She was still snappy about having her back end touched (mainly having a rug pulled down over her tail), she hated having her stifles touched and her tummy close to her back legs etc.

The equine podiatrist came and said she has very thin soles which can be a result of hind gut issues. She also said that her behaviour pointed very strongly to hind gut issues so put us on Thunderbrook's Gut Restore and Liquid Gold. Big improvement.

I am now of the opinion that if a horse shows any of that behaviour then the chances are they have a hind gut issue which needs addressing. Whether it be trying Equisure, Succeed, Thunderbrooks etc - its worth doing.
 
Randomly enough my horse appears to have new hind gut ulcers (only suspected).

Last year we treated her for gastric ulcers and all seemed to clear up- she even stabled over night in the winter really well.

She's been turned out 24/7 since March which you'd think was perfect and she is on a high fibre, starch/sugar free diet. Has access to a hay at all times, regardless of whether she's out or in. However the last several weeks she has been hell to ride- her hind quarters, particularly surrounding the sacorilliac have also been sore and she's having regular massage therapy to ease the tightness. At first I thought she was just having a really bad first season but since coming out of her season she is still the same.

Likes yours, she is napping and is also very touchy around the flanks on the off side. We are convinced she has developed hind gut ulcers so are treating with bicarb soda mixed with oil (to ensure it gets past the stomach and into the hind gut) and live yogurt. She's also due acupuncture to see if that will help along side her massage therapy.

Some sacorilliac soreness is now being associated with hind gut ulcers, here is a fantastic link to some really useful info http://www.drkerryridgway.com/articles/article-ulcers.php

Based on my horses management we can't see any obvious reasons as to why she has developed these. However, as our pasture is quite poor/well eaten over the winter there isn't much grass but the spring grass is really starting to sprout. There may not be masses of it but the shoots are potent and I am holding them responsible (at present) for kicking these god damn ulcers off! I'm now sectioning my paddock off so that I can get a decent growth at the back of my paddock and decrease the sugar potency.

Hope you get yours under control- will let you know how I get on or if we discover anything else worth mentioning!
 
Thanks for the reply. good luck with your horse! interesting that the spring grass may be the culprit....mine was definitely improving until he went out overnight and is now back to planting and cow kicking when I ride :( so frustrating isn't it! maybe we are looking at hind gut as well, although my vet a little dismissive of hind gut issues....

ThoroughbredStar said:
Randomly enough my horse appears to have new hind gut ulcers (only suspected).

Last year we treated her for gastric ulcers and all seemed to clear up- she even stabled over night in the winter really well.

She's been turned out 24/7 since March which you'd think was perfect and she is on a high fibre, starch/sugar free diet. Has access to a hay at all times, regardless of whether she's out or in. However the last several weeks she has been hell to ride- her hind quarters, particularly surrounding the sacorilliac have also been sore and she's having regular massage therapy to ease the tightness. At first I thought she was just having a really bad first season but since coming out of her season she is still the same.

Likes yours, she is napping and is also very touchy around the flanks on the off side. We are convinced she has developed hind gut ulcers so are treating with bicarb soda mixed with oil (to ensure it gets past the stomach and into the hind gut) and live yogurt. She's also due acupuncture to see if that will help along side her massage therapy.

Some sacorilliac soreness is now being associated with hind gut ulcers, here is a fantastic link to some really useful info http://www.drkerryridgway.com/articles/article-ulcers.php

Based on my horses management we can't see any obvious reasons as to why she has developed these. However, as our pasture is quite poor/well eaten over the winter there isn't much grass but the spring grass is really starting to sprout. There may not be masses of it but the shoots are potent and I am holding them responsible (at present) for kicking these god damn ulcers off! I'm now sectioning my paddock off so that I can get a decent growth at the back of my paddock and decrease the sugar potency.

Hope you get yours under control- will let you know how I get on or if we discover anything else worth mentioning!
Click to expand...
 
Mines on her 1/2 dose of ulcer gold for grade III. 2nd scope was clear after the initial full dose had symptoms for hind gut . I've taken all crap out of diet and now just has Agrobs chaff,micronised linseed ,Pro hoof and Yea saac. Decided to keep it simple and see so far so good she is a changed girl . Got to admit the biggest change happened last week following Bowen therapy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top