Gastric ulcers- what were horse symptoms

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scribble

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For those who have had a positive scope for ulcers what were your horses symptoms. My mare currently won’t let you ride her, at sight of tack she puts ears flat back biting, kicking, even putting a turnout or stable rug on brings real anger. She been scanned for ovary issues inc tumours etc and nothing all normal. Hormones and bloods all normal. She will lunge. She angry to handle at times. Grooming is a no too and gets same ugly kicking biting response. She is 16.3 wbxtb 12 years old who is normally an angel. Regulate doesn’t seem to make much difference at all either. Food wise she on 24/7 turn out good grass And stud balancer cubes. At this rate I don’t know what to do with her and pts is an option.
 
Mine got lazy, not lazy but really reluctant. He started pulling himself up and if I pushed him on he’d kind of gasp rather than go forward. That was the first sign I think
 
You have just described my mare, who is a good doer and no problems eating and everyone said that no way did she have ulcers. WEll she did big time, so I would scope if I were you.
 
Mine got very ratty to tack up and change rugs. He didn’t shed his coat fully over back and quarters. He also had a haunted expression and was really, really anxious for food. My friend had ulcers herself and said that the only thing that stopped the pain was eating, and he was kind of desperate when waiting by the gate. Then he ate his food fast but without pleasure. All went back to normal once the underlying KS was treated.
 
scribble said:
For those who have had a positive scope for ulcers what were your horses symptoms. My mare currently won’t let you ride her, at sight of tack she puts ears flat back biting, kicking, even putting a turnout or stable rug on brings real anger. She been scanned for ovary issues inc tumours etc and nothing all normal. Hormones and bloods all normal. She will lunge. She angry to handle at times. Grooming is a no too and gets same ugly kicking biting response. She is 16.3 wbxtb 12 years old who is normally an angel. Regulate doesn’t seem to make much difference at all either. Food wise she on 24/7 turn out good grass And stud balancer cubes. At this rate I don’t know what to do with her and pts is an option.
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I’d get her scoped. With those symptoms I’d be surprised if she didn’t have ulcers.
 
Have you had her back checked? This could have described my 8yo. She has been off for a year recovering from foot pain and recently I suspected ulcers, as she had become so nowty to handle, groom and rug. I had a chiropractor vet to her two days ago, who found that she was stiff and sore from her poll to her tail after a suspected splat fall in the field. She was worst in her sternum area. She’s much more comfortable now, but she will get a follow up visit in 6 weeks to check that she has held the adjustments. If not, I’ll take her to my usual vets for further investigations, inc poss ulcer scoping, but it’s looking good so far. She wasn’t exactly lame, more stilted. The appointment took nearly an hour.

This mare is normally a sweetheart to handle, too.
 
Came at you with teeth and hooves when you went to girth her. Was fat so not an obvious ulcer case and YO thought I was mad....camera showed grade 2 and odd inflammation in her stomach.
 
Yes she has her back, saddle all done regularly. Good strong back. Just had teeth done at vets but this has made no difference. She has always been bit nighty to girth up but vet looked and said just bit mareish. Def not lame. In winter she out from 7am to 5pm then ridden then bed with half bale hay. Out 24/7 from March. Scoping is 6th June. So few weeks to wait. Trying to get on she rears, bites, kicks you can’t get on.
 
scribble said:
Yes she has her back, saddle all done regularly. Good strong back. Just had teeth done at vets but this has made no difference. She has always been bit nighty to girth up but vet looked and said just bit mareish. Def not lame. In winter she out from 7am to 5pm then ridden then bed with half bale hay. Out 24/7 from March. Scoping is 6th June. So few weeks to wait. Trying to get on she rears, bites, kicks you can’t get on.
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Have you considered using anything calming for her tummy in the meantime? There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that ulcers ‘could’ be treated by reducing stomach acid alone since the stomach lining is constantly regenerating. Conversely, there is a lot of thinking that ulcers are difficult to eradicate without medication once they’re established.

Personally, I’d be looking at products like protexin/ gastric comfort/ aloe Vera gel etc to try to make her more comfortable in the meantime, not suggesting it’ll cure any potential ulcers but might make her more pleasant and if it’s not ulcers, it won’t do any harm.
 
Repeated mild colic, lying down (a few times when ridden), bolted once when ridden too. Nothing major; it was the colic episodes that prompted the scoping and even The vet was surprised to find ulcers as horse was a tubby, generally laid-back native who lived out 24/7 with plenty of grass and hay and no cereal feed.

I agree that finding a supplement to try in the meantime might shed some light on the situation as you’ll be able to see if it makes any difference. I’ve tied just about every supplement out there and now use Science Supplements Gastrokind at a maintenance dose, which seems to work well for my horse.
 
Aloe Ride is v good. Mine used to get a gassy colic every 2 or 3 months, but he never had one on Aloe Ride. Every time I ran out, he had another gassy within 10 days to 2 weeks.
 
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