Gastric Ulcers...

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YummyHorses

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My horse had a very long session of Gastroguard last year (funded by me as sodding insurance company would not pay) and has been on Ulcerguard ever since. I am a little worried however that its not doing its job anymore.

So have two questions:

1. Can a horse become used to a supplement like Ulcerguard, to the point that it doesn't have any benefit? Almost become immune to it.
2. Can anyone recommend another product?

He is a show jumper, often in the lorry, at away shows so has a degree of stress. He is on a professional yard so very well managed with plenty of time in the field, hacking, regular feeding, his own time. Seems happy enough but just noticed a degree of irritation when I pulled the girth today and has become a little sluggish.

Thanks chaps.
 
Gastro Guard is the only proven 'supplement' that actually heals and prevents ulcers. It does so by reducing the amount of acid that is produced in the stomach. No other supplement in the UK does this and as I understand it the patent that is on GG is to do with the coating on the Omeprazole which means it takes longer for the body to absorb the Omeprazole hence it getting all the way down into the stomach, otherwise it wouldn't be effective.

GG can be given at a low dose as maintenance. Ulcers can and do re-appear within 24 hours of GG being stopped.

The suggested hard feed diet is one of fibre, maize and oil. A diet with barley and oats in encourages bacterial flora in the colon to produce lactic acid which is believed to cause hindgut ulceration.
A good pro and prebiotic, vitamin E and linseed oil are all worth feeding.

Succeed is also targeted to help with the problem of colonic ulcers.

I have just spun off what I have learnt in the course of my own horse suffering with ulcers. He is being maintained as above (also with turnout, adlib hay, fibre feed and Equitop Pronutrin before being ridden etc etc) and yesterday he scoped clear (he was a grade 3 before treatment). He did however have tiny tiny pin prick ulcers in one area which my vet said was a result of having to starve him for 10 hrs prior to the scope being done. Just shows how quickly they can re-occur.

Oh and also do not feed electrolytes, apparently they take an age to break down. My horse has access to one of those Himalayan rock salts all the time and so takes what he needs.

If you are seeing early signs then it may well be worth getting your horse scoped again. My horse didn't show bad symptoms but as I mentioned he was a grade 3.

Good luck it's such a fine line to balance.
 
Gastro Plus is amazing!

My boy has been on it for two weeks and I cannot recommend it enough. He has gone from a grumpy monster to an absolutely darling in such a short space of time.

Please do look in to it.

I thought that the first month was pricey but it is worth every single penny. Just to see my boy happy again. The ongoing treatment is not too bad.

good luck!
 
Just started the treatment of Gastro Plus with my boy who is very sorry for himself at the moment ... we are only on day 2 , but he is already starting to perk up ... will keep posted on progress
 
I recently suspected my mare of having ulcers (basically displaying all the symptoms), shes bred 2 foals and has now come back into work (rising 19). Shes not insured (I put aside money each month instead in case of any vets bills) so after speaking to my vet we decided against scoping her (around £250ish) and to treat straight away. I had found a company in America that sell Omeprazole for horses (I actually use the human version as also suffer from ulcers and new it had worked wonders for me) After consulting with my vet again he agreed that the treatment from America would be worth trying. I ordered 100 sachets (which works out at about a 35 day course for £120) and after about 3 days she was like a transformed horse, eating all her feed, putting on weight, better condition, not so tucked up, no cribbing and much easier to ride - more supple and forwards.

We are now 2 weeks in and I had a lesson with my trainer last night (horse is working at medium level) and she said it was the best she has ever seen her go. Ive been training with said person for over 10 years now (obviously had a gap when horse was having foals) - she feels amazing and looks fantastic.

Having spoken to vet again today to relay the results he is thrilled and has said once ive finished the 35 day course to put her onto Feedmarks Ulcercalm for 4 months, then back onto a months supply of the Omeprazole - so basically she will go on a course of it every 4 months as maintenance. It might seem expensive at £120 for a months supply but it is loads cheaper than GastroGuard and definitely works.

http://equine.omeprazoledirect.com/
 
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I actually checked with 2 different veterinary practices before i used it (the yard vet and the vet that i use) and both said that it was fine to use (legit and safe). I dont know why its POM here and not in the States to be honest, but as both vets said it was fine then I wasnt too bothered! I paid the $30 for quick posting (which amounts to about £16 so not that much really) and it arrived 2 days after ordering.

It really has worked wonders for Bloss, she was dragging her hind legs aswell when ridden and this has totally stopped since shes been on it. Shes so much happier and I know its that as nothing else at all has changed (routeen and feed both the same).
 
What did you use, the granules or tablets? Also did you buy the one combined with probiotic?

From the web calculator if a horse did have ulcers then after initial treatment a standard horse would only need 1 sachet a day maintenance. The combined probiotic looks good and if you buy the granule sachets at 200 a time it's going to cost in the region of £1 a day which really isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things.

Is there a reason why your vets said alternate with the feedmark stuff rather than dropping down to 1 sachet a day?
 
Bloss is on the granules, she has 3 sachets a day (2 in the morning and 1 at night). Ive got the pro-biotic one but only because the other one is out of stock at the moment (although they did email me to tell me it was back in stock).

To be totally honest I said to my vet that was what I would do and he agreed that that was fine.

Think I will work out the cost and if its cheaper to keep her on the 1 sachet a day of the Omeprazole then I will do that instead of the Ulcercalm. The thing is aswell I am a little worried about taking her totally off it as I know its working for her so perhaps will be best if I do do the maintenance with them.

ETA - She also gets linseed in her feed which is meant to help sooth the stomach.

Have just done a quick calculation, the pro-biotic at the maintenance level will last for 200 days, so 6 1/2 months (ish) which will be around £30 a month.

Feedmarks Ulcercalm states that 8kg tub is approx 125 day supply so around 4 months. Which would make it cost around £25 a month. So it works out slightly cheaper, however I think having worked all that out for the sake of £5 a month i'm going to stick with the Ab-Plus (the pro-biotic one) as I know thats whats working for her at the moment. At least if I think shes having a flare up then I can just increase it for a few days.
 
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It is illegal to import drugs that need a prescription into the UK, you dont need a prescription to buy Omeprazole (you can buy human Omeprazole online with no prescription in the UK).
 
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would be very interested in this product if anyone can give a def answer ref the legality of importing it................surely by buying the EQUINE product, you are buying something in the US that cannot be bought in the UK over the counter, thus illegal? If you were buying the HUMAN product, it would be ok?????
 
I phoned the company in America this afternoon to clarify the law re importing it to the UK. They said they have been selling to the UK for years and it is perfectly legal to import it as long as it is not re-sold over here. They also said they have never had any problems with customs or items being returned to them. It clearly stated on the box I received mine in what it contained in very large letters across it, which I am sure would have been picked up on by customs if there was a problem.

I also phoned my vet (again) and he said it was perfectly legal as long as it wasn't for re-sale.
 
I suspected my ex-racehorse of having ulcers when she came out of training & used to supplement her with gastro guard i think it was made by nutri-science. I thought this made a difference.

Our vet was up one day & i was explaining to him about her and he suggested corn oil. Evidently its one of the only ways proven to help protect against ulcers. My mare, now eventing gets a dolop of it alongside spillers conditioning fibre & she's never looked or felt better. Much cheaper than expensive supplements!
 
I thought my mare had ulcers had the vet out and he said she looked too good to have ulcers?! Was he right or do they not nessercarily have to be poor condition lost weight. At the point of gettin vet she had gone off her feed. Still currently cribs and wind sucks in stable, at one point during riding she would flip every time I got on her, now with a lot of work she behaves a lot better but can still have to odd tantrum. Sorry to hi jack thread but a lot of good advice on here so far!
 
For anyone asking about feeding the granules, my horse (who is fussy with supplements) ate them absolutly fine-just add straight to the feed. They don't smell of anything at all and are just little blue grains so the feed has blue dots in it!!

Nuttychestnuthorse - My mare looked pretty good too, but I know her well enough to know that she wasn't quite right. If your horse is insured I would advise scoping, I don't see how your vet can diagnose just by looking at your horse!!
 
I might add that if you do suspect your horse of having ulcers you also need to look at how its managed - ie as much turnout as possible, ad lib hay and a fibre/oil based feed.

As an example my mare goes out from 8am til 4pm and has as much hay as she can eat at night. For feed has Pure Feeds Condition, Simple Systems Purabeet, SS Red Bag Grass Nuts, Linseed, Rosehips and Omeprazole.
 
I have changed vets since for other reasons aswel as that 10minute consultation costing me over 100quid!!! Yes she is insured so think I will think about gettin her done with my new vet. She went from jumping 1.10 to not goin near a pole on the ground without turning herself inside out, and her behaviour slowly got worse that was a year ago now and she can stil have those days but is a lot better, she is out from 6am til 3-4pm most days weather permitting, but is happy in her stable in bad weather. Her cribbing has got worse in the field lately, I did change her feed to a simple chaf with limestone and in winter she has speedibeet. My confidence has been knocked so much because I can never tell how she is going to react to everyday things, thank you for your advice tempi x
 
just as an update for anyone interested ... am on day 8 now on the gastro plus and there is an huge difference in his energy levels.
I tried the US Omeprazole on mine 2 years ago .. his eating improved dramtically.. however one significant thing I have noticed this week since he is on the gastro plus is he has suddenly stopped dunking his hay before eating it .. he has always done this without fail whenever he has hay .. after the 2nd or 3rd day on this new medication he has suddenly stopped doing it ... which is making me think it is working better than the Omeprazole
 
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