gastric ulcers?

[blood_magik]

The vet seemed to think Jerry might have gastric ulcers as he's very unhappy being touched around his tummy.

Can ulcers be detected in blood samples? I thought they could only be confirmed by scoping.
I forgot to ask before she left

 

[SpottedCat]

Not accurately, no. You need them to scope the horse - requires 12 hours of starvation then standing sedation, endoscope up the nose and down into the stomach. Costs in the region of £150 - £200 depending on whether you go to them or they come to you. Make sure the horse has decent insurance - the treatment is like liquid gold it is so £££!!

 

[blood_magik]

Thanks.
At the end of the day, if he needs Gastroguard, he'll get it - the money isn't an issue.
We have a duty of care to him now he's getting older and he's not really cost us anything vet-wise since we've had him.

I'm hoping the vet will phone me back today with his results so I can discuss things with my dad before he flies home tomorrow.

 

[blood_magik]

Hmm.. just googled gastrogard and wow

 

[SpottedCat]

Indeed.

FWIW I went over my 5K insurance limit treating my horse....

 

[blood_magik]

good to know

 

[Joeyjojo]

I'd been wondering if my mare had ulcers for a while as she was very sensitive around her belly. After lots of research, I put her on Aloe Vera juice a week and a half ago and she is much improved.

Based on that I had her scoped and they only found one tiny ulcer (realistically the vet said it probably wasnt causing any issues, but I have definitely noticed her being better since the Aloe Vera). Am now trialling her off the Aloe Vera to see if it did actually make a difference!

You could try it though, I just got it from holland and barrats, for a litre fed at 125ml per day to see if it's a good idea to scope.