Gastric ulcers

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Elle1085

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Anyone have any experience of them? I had my boy blood tested yesterday cos he's not quite in his normal condition and they came back showing he had some kind of bacterial infection but cos he's had quite a few virus' and things over the years the vets suspect he might have gastric ulcers He's on antibiotics for 3 weeks then he's got to be scoped to see whats going on in there but just wondered what happens once treated etc. I'm really worried about him cos he's my baby and i lost another horse a couple years ago from a tumour in his intenstine so i'm praying its not the same thing
 
Don't panic, ulcers aren't the same as a tumour & they are treatable.

I think the preferred treatment is a course of GastroGuard, but it is expensive. Low grade ones may respond well to something like Equine America's U-Gard Plus. Don't worry, when you get the results your vet will advise on treatment.

Management of horses prone to ulcers is very important. They should have pretty much constant access to long fibre (eg hay), minimal cereals , ideally as much turnout as possible & avoid stress.

Please don't worry yourself about this. Have a hunt on the net, you'll find loads of information as ulcers are a common problem.
 
Thanks hopefully the antibiotics will sort him out cos i know the ulcer treatment is expensive if that's what he's got i'm just torn between wanting it to be ulcers so i know its not a tumour and wanting it to be something else
 
Ulcers can be treated with good management. Fibre only diet, no cereals. Dont exercise on a totally empty stomach. Feed little and often, no long periods without food.
 
For ulcers: Low sugar and starch diet. Either Allen & Page cereal intolerance feed or Saracen Re-leve were recommended to me; I went with Re-leve, which is excellent. Also feed as much alfalfa as you can afford - it's a natural buffer / anti-acid; but obviously must be without added molasses / sugar. Corn oil is supposed to really help too.
 
Gastric ulcers: I'd immediately start him on Coligone, either the sticky aniseed one or the same product but in minty powder form. Continue using it while you sort the diet out as above.
 
My mare had Ulcers , and as above , totally treatable and with the right care wont re occur . So yes , the best quality hay you can afford , Hi Fi type of feed and loads of turn out and no stress ( as that sets the stomach juices going and thats what starts the ulcers going ) . Things like , grumpy around food ( as it hurts to eat ) , doesnt like having tummy area touched , grumpy having girth fastened , X surcingles on rug done up... these can be signs of ulcers . But your horse will be fine ... you've done what alot of people dont ... you've called a vet and are getting it sorted . How many horses do we see that have ears back when being fed ( and mean it ! ) or try to bite when being girthed up ? Our horses can only tell us in their way ! Good Luck ... positive thinking ... you will be fine !
 
Winergy Equilbrium is a high quality low starch feed, the Low is suitable for laminitics it is so low in starch, no need to feed at full rate either, I don't. But I do add a small amount of a vit/min supplement to make up the shortfall. Mine doesn't have ulcers, but has a spooky nature, with the grumps, and she is way way better on this feed.

Short term the Coligone liquid would be my first choice, then follow on with powder daily. Again once settled I really don't think you'd need the full amount.
 
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