Possible gastric ulcers? Advice please!

lauraea

lauraea

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So I have noticed over the past few days my 8 yr old gelding is getting girthier and girthier, has dropped weight and has turned into a wood chewer.

He has never been bothered when tacked up but has begun to extremely dislike the saddle coming towards him and does all he can to get away from the girth begin tightened (I have always done this gradually, first hole and then back a few minutes later to tighten again) I also notice he is slowly dropping weight and I have been offering more hay to keep him full (he is turned out 24/7 but not on the best grass)

I do know that he has been extremely stressed over the past few months, having moved several times within a short period of time but I now have him at a lovely quiet yard where I can see he is relaxing into his new way and enjoys his surroundings. I also had a few saddle fitted very recently (and questioned whether the girthy-ness was related to this) but I'm now beginning to wonder however whether my poor boy is trying to tell me something!

I will be contacting the vet tomorrow however I just wondered if people had any advice, suggestions or anything I can try to help him? I don't believe this is the first time he has had stomach issues (due to an exclusion on my insurance for him) and wondered if there are any supplements people recommend for managing him in the future (I have heard a lot about slippery elm and also various NAF products, and I would love to treat this as naturally as possible)

Thanks in advance
 
I was told that for gastric ulcers it is better to break their feed down into several small feeds per day. Try lower protein feed such as Alfa-A Oil. Also make sure that the horse never has an empty stomach. Give it half a scoop of chaff before you ride it in order to prevent the stomach fluids (and acid) from swilling around its stomach when being ridden.
 
I used slippery elm on my horse. However you need to be aware that if used with certain drugs that are absorbed through the stomach lining then this will prevent these drugs being absorbed. Bute is one.

Slippery elm is a 'mucilage' and if you mix the powder with water (ie stomach juices) it produces a thick gel which coats the stomach and prevents acid splash.

Its very effective. I bought mine of a natural remedies supplier on ebay and can recommend them (PM me if you want details).
 
Darremi said:
I was told that for gastric ulcers it is better to break their feed down into several small feeds per day. Try lower protein feed such as Alfa-A Oil. Also make sure that the horse never has an empty stomach. Give it half a scoop of chaff before you ride it in order to prevent the stomach fluids (and acid) from swilling around its stomach when being ridden.
Click to expand...

At Alfa a oil is a high protein feed it's 14% protein .
But alfalfa is an excellent buffer for stomach acid because it's high in calcium .
 
applecart14 said:
I used slippery elm on my horse. However you need to be aware that if used with certain drugs that are absorbed through the stomach lining then this will prevent these drugs being absorbed. Bute is one.

Slippery elm is a 'mucilage' and if you mix the powder with water (ie stomach juices) it produces a thick gel which coats the stomach and prevents acid splash.

Its very effective. I bought mine of a natural remedies supplier on ebay and can recommend them (PM me if you want details).
Click to expand...

Hi applecart, thank you for this. I did purchase some slippery elm from eBay, likely the same supplier as you as it had been recommended here on another thread.

It arrived today so I will start him on this tonight. He currently only has 1 small hard feed per day as he is usually a very good doer and lives out. I feed him a small amount of fast fibre only so that I can get supplements into him. He is currently on magnitude due to being extremely stressy when he first came to me. He is not on anything else, but I will bare this in mind and make sure I mention slippery elm to the vet should he ever need to take anything in the near future.

I've just started giving him a couple of haynets tied around his field, instead of just chucking a slice on the ground as he tends to eat this too quickly. I'm hoping this will keep him munching longer, get him moving between them and stop him standing with an empty stomach or getting bored and chewing the fence.

Does anyone have any other suggestions I can try? Thank you for your help so far! It's so nice to be on here and talking to people who actually have the slightest clue what I'm on about! :)
 
No problems, I hope you can get it resolved.
You might consider double netting your nets to make them last longer and mimic a horses natural grazing pattern. You can also buy bitter apple stuff from the pet shop (designed to stop puppies chewing) that you can spray on the fence. Unfortunatley this is only a short term solution, as soon as it rains you will have to reapply. But its much cheaper than any horse product. The word 'horse' on a product seems to escalate the price somewhat ! :)

You might also like to consult a physio. If there are saddle fitting problems or the horse has a sore back (mine resulted from a badly fitted made to measure saddle) you can find that the muscles that stretch down from teh back around the girth area (can't remember what these are called, sorry) can become tight and sore and this might be why the horse displays some girthiness. Not saying this for sure but could be possible.

Good luck hun x
 
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Lots of information here http://equinenutritionnerd.com/2014...tions-for-stomach-ulcer-treatment-prevention/

Basically you need to reduce the acidity in the gut (low sugar/starch feeds and high fibre plus bicarbonate of soda) line the stomach to enable healing (coconut oil, slippery elm etc) ensure the stomach always contains food, reduce stress (so basically have living out with company if you can) and maybe use a probiotic to ensure the git bacteria are working well. I hear good things about the healing properties of aloe vera as well.
Worked for mine. Good luck
 
All very good posts!! you need to eliminate problems 1st would be a back and saddle check, then i would go for a gastroscope to see if he has ulcers, mine had ulcers and made a full recovery thanks to Derbra at equine science not only did they treat my horse but gave me real good advise on the care side but its a lot of good management and understanding ,diet must be changed which i would do asap, let us know how you get on xxxxx
 
Hi all, thank you so much for your responses. All really good, sound advice!

I have had his back and saddle checked in the last few weeks so although I won't eliminate those completely I think stress from moving and diet is likely the culprit in this case. I have just picked up a couple of shires haylage nets (holes just that bit smaller than double netted) and these seem to last him a while out in his field! I'm also going to give the slippery elm a little while to see if this appears to make much difference to his comfort.

Now that he has got a little more to keep him occupied he doesn't appear to be touching the fence posts (fingers crossed!) - I moved him to his rested paddock today with new fencing so I will notice right away now if he starts to take a nibble at it again.

Will keep you all updated and once I hopefully get to the bottom of it, will share with you all what worked for us.
 
Hope he's doing ok!

Mine was diagnosed with ulcers about 9 weeks ago now. Shes on a low sugar, low starch mollases free diet. She was on an alfalfa based diet but that sent her off her rocker so thats out too now! She has Equitop Pronutrin & the vet also wants her to stay on a small dose of gastrogard as a preventive measure. She is a completely new horse now! I do make sure has a chaff feed before she is ridden too x
 
Look at Abler.com.

Mine had gastric ulcers, he was very girthy and wasn't too forward after 2 lots of GastroGard he's doing really well. I put him on a quarter dose when the seasons change and when I notice something that may be bothering him. He used to snap at me when girthing, not I can girth no problem :)

I feed mine Alfa pellets, saracen essential balancer (low starch and sugars) and in winter add low starch/sugars conditioning cubes. He doesnt like big dinners, i find he struggles so i try to get the calories in without too much bulk x
 
Mine was diagnosed with ulcers last year. He'd just moved to my place and the vets who scoped him said he'd have had the ulcers beforehand which was good as he has the following now; 24/7 access to grass; a companion; (barefoot); forage based diet (ie no sugar; I use Simple System); feed before riding (with Simple feeds you can feed 10 mins before riding); he gets grazing on a hack if its more than an hour long; I use a gastro supplement called Eugsin (?spelling) from Forage Plus; didn't bother with GastroGard though vet kept forcing it upon me - but doesn't deal with hind gut whereas Eugsin does. And he seems completely fine.

He had the same reaction to me bringing the saddle to tack up; he wasn't keen on girthing; and he'd moved as soon as I mounted him - nothing of the above now.

Good luck with finding a solution - I strongly recommend Eugisin. PM if you need more help.
 
I would totally recommend Gastro Plus from Equine Science - check out their website/FB. I have an ex-racehorse and it has totally changed his life (and mine). He's just a different horse now and so much happier.
 
thanks everyone :) I've started him on some slippery elm in his small fast fibre feed once a day and he is already showing huge improvements. I'd never heard of his magical herb before I joined H&H so you are all to thank for that!

I moved him into his rested paddock to give him some more grass and always leave him with large small holed nets through the night to pick at. There is almost always a small amount of hay left in his nets so I know he is not going hungry and is constantly grazing again and keeping his tummy working! Since this, he has not (fingers crossed!) touched the fencing and yesterday when I tacked up he didn't step away from the saddle and when tightening the girth only looked at me once (but with ears forward, with a face like a dog's when you say "walkies") ;)

I have a couple of other things to try from recommendations, and big big thanks to fuzzle as she has been extra extra helpful with her advice too! will keep you all informed xx
 
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Does he have a companion? Horses feel vulnerable if on their own and this could cause stress, apologies if he is in with another... Just a thought

Edited to say, must read all posts properly, looks like you have it sorted
 
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