Has anyone ever had their horse scoped before for ulcers?

charlie76

charlie76

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Can you give me any info as to how much it costs and whats involved? My mare is being scoped on Thursday at 10.30 am and I have been told that I'm not allowed to give her any hay, feed or water from 6 o clock weds night- poor thing!Has anyone else had to do this?
 
From what I've heard (no actual experience of this) that sounds right.

Do you actually need to have her scoped? I know some vets will give a course of ulcer treatment & if it works take that as "proof" that ulcers are the problem, thereby avoiding what can be a stressful experience for the horse.
 
Be wary about claiming for ulcers - it can lead to the exclussion of all sorts of other things, including problems with colic etc.

Scoping shouldn't cost too much, and at this stage I would consider it a routine exam for something suspected.
 
Hmmmmmmmmmm, wouldn't claim but shes already cost over £1000 in vets bills in the past 4 weeks plus the cost of teh scope so will have too.
 
My horse has recently been scoped twice for ulcers, once for diagnosis after colic hospitalised him and then three weeks later after ulcer treatment to make sure they had cleared up. The feeding advice is correct - they are scoped under sedation if that puts your mind at rest. It can be very hard to diagnose what is causing colic symptoms in a non-straightforward case so scoping can be necessary, plus ulcers are very painful for a horse and the treatment paste is very, very expensive (more so than the scoping!) If you are worried about the cost I can look back at my vet bill and see how much the scoping was. Ulcers are a strange one when it comes to colic, the colic can can cause the ulcers or vice versa and it can be difficult to know which came first! As for insurance, sadly this uncertainty will cause an insurance company to exclude and let's face it when a horse gets ulcers an insurance co is going to exclude everything colic related. Can't wait for next year's insurance bill and policy!!
 
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Hmmmmmmmmmm, wouldn't claim but shes already cost over £1000 in vets bills in the past 4 weeks plus the cost of teh scope so will have too.

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Ahh different story then
frown.gif
 
Como- thats great info, thankyou. I can claim up to £5k- then fingers crossed she never needs a colic op!
 
Thought I'd better add that my final vet bill was £3k - ouch! Sadly I had to claim or sell a kidney!
 
Really is not a big deal - if you have a muzzle, muzzle her from 6 o'clock it will be better. Just if she eats anything, you see a stomach full of food and not what you want to.
 
No problem, I think I have the itemised vet bill if you'd like more info on costs so you can be prepared. I was very anxious that the final bill would be above my claim level (£3.5k I think). My final bill was for 2 home visits from vet, a week in Bell Equine hospital with treatment for colic/ulcers, ulcer paste for two weeks and then a return visit to hospital for another scoping. Goodness only knows how large the bill for colic surgey is - please post anyone that knows...
 
Just re-read your first post, I don't remember not giving him water? The food advice is definately correct. Double check the water restriction, long time to go without any...
 
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