Horse going for a Ulcer scope Tuesday.. what should i expect?

E

EquestrianFairy

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 October 2006
Messages
6,502
Visit site
.. as in, say they scope and she has ulcers.. what happens then?

Its all new to me as ive never had a horse with possible ulcers before, slightly concerned about her having to be starved for a few hours before so shes staying at the vets overnight so she can be monitored properly.

Im a little :eek:
 
Last edited:
The starvation period was the worst part for my boy, je was bery food orientated and found that very stressful.

His first scope was not at all a problem, no dramas bit they did find ulcers. His second scope wasn't so easy and he ended up with a nosebleed. If your horse does have ulcers the vet will prescribe a daily dose of Gastrogard for a month (I hope you are insured, a course of GG is upwards of £900!)

They will also give you some advice on ,management and feeding going forwards, things like reducing stress, cutting out sugars and starches in the diet, feeding high fibre diet, making sure there is always fibre available, feed a small fibre feed, or hay, before a ride, avoiding irritants like bute etc.

After a month on GG they will want to rescope the horse to see if the ulcers are gone, if bot then you'll be given another month of GG, if they are they may reduce the dose over time to wean off it, or they might stop the GG and put onto a preventative like neigh lox or something.
 
The scope isn't as stressful as you might think and its actually quite interesting, although the starvation bit isn't great.
The trouble is that horses can scope clear (like mine) but still have colonic ulcers further along in the gut which can't be seen by the scope but still cause problems.

What symptoms does yours have thats made you suspect ulcers?
 
Got my mare scoped and the hardest part for me was the starvation period, as we had to starve her from 5pm onwards and she got to the vets at 8am to be scoped at 9am. She turned out not to have ulcers but they showed us the video of the scoping, and it was very interesting!
 
Thanks all, she's a cribber so I'm glad they are hving her there to starve her as she will eaten her stable at mine by that point!

Lots of little things that suggest ulcers, mainly the affect certain foods have on her cribbing, she's girthy and finds it hard to keep any condition on no matter what she is fed.

I won't be there for the actual scoping although I wish I could get the time off work as I would like to watch!
 
like others have said the starvation period is the worst for them but not as bad as you might think and if they do turn out to have ulcers is well worth it so you can then get them treated. The scope tends not to be too bad for the horse at all. Basically they will give her some sedation and make her dopey and then feed the tube with camera at end of it up her nostril and down her throat into her stomach. They will then be able to see if there are any ulcers present on the screen. If she does have ulcers they will prescribe gastroguard for at least a month. It blocks the production of stomach acid and gives ulcers a chance to heal. They will then re scope to see if they are gone. As has been said this will be combined with management changes if necessary eg feed hay not haylage, allow constant access to hay, cut out molasses, feed very low starch diet etc. Hope this helps.
 
Definitely agree. The starvation part is the worst. I'd also make sure you take a cooler rug with you as the sedation can cause them to sweat like mad when they come 'round and you don't want her catching a chill. My boy had sweat literally running off him two of the three times he's been scoped. Vet said it was totally normal and effect of the sedation wearing off.

The actual scope bit is OK. I'm a bit queasy with stuff like that usually but it was actually really interesting seeing what was going on in there.

If they find ulcers, they'll almost definitely send you home with a month's course of Gastroguard (and maybe another month at quarter dose) and ask to re-scope to see if they've gone. Be prepared- Gastroguard's REALLY expensive! (My horse is on his second course- the first re-scope halfway through the GG showed up clear but when they rescoped again 3 weeks after GG had finished, ulcers had returned).

Good luck! Hope it all goes well.
 
Usally once you've got the course of gastroguard out the way its down to management changes-

In my case:

24hr (all year round) turnout
His own shetland friend to live with
No cereals - as little starch in diet as possible
Added pre/pro biotic to diet - protexin biopremium
Low acidity diet - feed hay rather than haylage
Constant access to grass/hay
Small feed before and after riding
Maintenance dose of gastroguard day befor, day of and day after a competition or any kind of 'stressful' event

Mine has now been ulcer free for 3years (I have yearly scope!)

Good luck with yours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top