Horses with gastric 'issues' - supplements you can syringe?

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Scarlett

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I know this isn't strictly CR but as there are a lot of people in here with horses who have gastric/ulcer issues I thought it was worth an ask!

We recently took arrival of a new ex-racer to reschool. He's a dude and looking like a keeper :) but a fussy eater. He arrived 2 weeks ago and we were already warned that he wouldn't eat chaff, and we soon found out that he won't eat anything that is wet so no beet etc. He loves his haylage though and has been eating us out of house and home in haynets. His weight etc are good so plan to just keep feeding him hay, hay and more hay.

However I'm conscious that he seems to have a 'sore' belly. He is sensitive to it being brushed or girthed and he is very, very mouthy. I'm not going to rush into having him scoped etc as it may well be the change of lifestyle/feed - both our other TB's get powdered Brewers Yeast in their feeds which works a treat and ideally this is the way we'll go with him if we can get him to eat it - but I'd like to get something into him just to try and help him out. I've seen a Protexin paste in a syringe but I'm interested to know if anyone has tried it or can suggest anything else that comes in a pre-prepared syringe or liquid that could be syringed?

He'll now eat Readigrass quite happily, and dry grass nuts but neither are much use when trying to feed a powdered supplement!

Thanks! :)
 
The protexin syringe is good, and you can get Coligone in a syringe (but unless the design has changed you can't then get the syringe in a small bottle of it so you have to tip it in to get more in the string which is a complete PITA).

Protexin supplement is pellets however, not powder, looks like pony nuts, so for ease and sanity's sake I'd try that first - everything I've fed it to loves it! In the USA Succeed is also pellets, if it is here too then that could be worth a try?
 
BTW, protexin do two pelleted supplements, one aimed at owners, one at vets. Neither are prescription only, and they are totally identical - so buy whichever is cheapest.
 
Thank you SC - I was hoping you would reply!

I wasn't aware that Protexin was a pellet, he'll probably eat that as he'll happily munch pelleted rice bran/linseed as we found out last night!

Brilliant..! :)
 
The guys at Protexin are super-helpful and will send you out a sample too. It's dead easy to feed - I used it for ages as my chap became v fussy for a while after the ulcer treatment. Now he's fine I use Ulcer Calm by feedmark which seems to be about the best thing on the market that doesn't cost an absolute fortune when fed twice a day. The only one that's been clinically trialled is whatever they now call neighlox - but the ingredients in Ulcercalm are pretty much identical.

Protexin is great if you need to mix the feeds in advance as all the powders need to be added just before feeding as otherwise they don't work as well because they react with the liquid you use to dampen the feed.
 
Scarlett said:
Thanks, I shall investigate that too :)

Can I ask how your trial is going?
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So far so good I think, he's been on it almost a month and is looking very well although I'm not sure it has helped his cribbing (the reason behind the trial). He is continuing to put on weight (but was before) and he seems happy in himself and possibly a little more settled in his character - ex racer that can have stressy moments!
I got a 3 month trial (FOC) throgh my vet, he hated being syringed with the paste so I ended up mixing it in a tiny bit speedibeet. He loves eating it and it does smell nice to me, I feed him that then immediately feed him his normal feed. I know you can get granules as a follow on for it too. The instructions say it usually takes 2 months to notice a difference so I'm trying to be patient!
 
That's interesting. Leflynn as I knew a lot of horses fed it in the states - over there it is a pellet. In fact most people seemed to use SmartPak so all supplements were pelleted. I love the idea of SmartPak but hate the packaging and don't think it'd take off in this country, but I totally see why all the barns over there love it (most places are what we'd call full/part livery).
 
I am going to look like a nutter now as I just posted this on someone esles thread in error.. oops !

But you should try Coligone. Its amazing and you can either buy it in syringes or in a bottle that you self-syringe. It tastes of aniseed and is "mucousy" so slips down a treat. I havent yet met a horse that doesnt like the taste and I even use it to hide bute from my Secret agent hyper-suspicious old timer !

Its brilliant stuff and waaaay cheaper than the Ulcer treatments from your vet.

Add to that that the business owner is such an absolute sweetheart....

http://www.hbradshaws.co.uk/
 
Thanks! I've only ever heard good things about Coligone so it's definately an option.

Do you know if this is suitable to be fed as a short term thing? Ideally I'd like to just give him something to help him settle then see how he is on a fibre diet like the others before deciding if we need to investigate further. I'm hoping it's just the feed/lifestyle change....
 
SpottedCat said:
Now he's fine I use Ulcer Calm by feedmark which seems to be about the best thing on the market that doesn't cost an absolute fortune when fed twice a day. The only one that's been clinically trialled is whatever they now call neighlox - but the ingredients in Ulcercalm are pretty much identical.
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Just to add that ulcer calm makes up into a really good syringeable paste with a small amount of water( I use an old worming syringe). In fact I use it as as "base" if I want to syringe anything else into my picky (ex-)ulcer horse.
 
Scarlett said:
Thanks! I've only ever heard good things about Coligone so it's definately an option.

Do you know if this is suitable to be fed as a short term thing? Ideally I'd like to just give him something to help him settle then see how he is on a fibre diet like the others before deciding if we need to investigate further. I'm hoping it's just the feed/lifestyle change....
Click to expand...

Yes it can, I dont think it has a cumulative effect in anycase. Speak to H's Mum (or facebook Katie Loker) as she designed it. I swear by it and have stopped colics in their tracks with just one dose.
 
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