putting a mare in foal that has/had gastric ulcers

[MissHocusPocus]

horse getting scoped tomorrow for gastric ulcers which I am pretty certain she has, if they are found she will then go on a course of gastrogard..

I was hoping to put her in foal may (first foal she will have) would this be safe?

may be a stupid question but I really dont know the answer! wondered what your opinions on this were? I shall be asking vet tomorrow

 

[JanetGeorge]

A couple of things to consider:

Ulcers can be due to any number of things - but of course are more common in 'stressy' types. Stressy types are not usually good brood mares. However, if she's NOT a stressy type, the only ? would be over treatment while pregnant.

From the official data sheet:

"CAUTION: Safety of GASTROGARD in pregnant or lactating mares has not been determined. ULCERGARD can be used in horses that weigh at least 600 pounds. Safety in pregnant mares has not been determined."

However, the usual course of treatment is 28 days so if she started fairly soon, the treatment would be over by May. Living as a brood mare (no work, turned out, no high concentrate feeds, ad-lib grass/haylage etc) should minimie the risk of ulcers returning.

 

[Jamana]

As Janet-George has said above management of her in-foal may actually improve her ulcers. As far as medicinal help when she is in-foal we use antepsin for the mare on the stud with ulcers.Both whilst she is in foal and with foals at foot. It is a human med but supplied by our Vet.

Aside from that, things to be aware of regarding breeding are low birth weights and low levels of milk production. This can lead to the foal itself developing ulcers (perhaps how the non-stressy types get them?) as there is not enough milk to satisfy the demands of the foals digestion. These can be managed by stabilising the day-to-day medication beforehand to enable the mare to eat and absorb enough from her food to grow the foal and to maintain herself and lactate after birth. The hardest thing with ulcer mares is getting them to drink sufficiently to hydrate themselves and cope with the demands of milk production.

Another side effect, as it were, from ulcers can be windsucking. Not desirable if she teaches the foals!

 

[minime]

excellent advice from the others, I would suggest as said that you find out why she has ulcers and then take it from there. I wouldn't advice you breed a stressy type mare as it can be very hard on the foal.

 

[micramadam]

My mare was diagnosed with ulcers about 4 weeks ago after 5 bouts of colic in 2 weeks. She is not a stressy mare at all. She has already had 1 foal and we are planning to breed from her again either next year or the year after.
We think she developed the ulcers as a result of the trauma from a nasty fall on concrete which caused her to be lame for a few weels.
She is going back to the clinic tomorrow to be scooped again to see how she is progressing after treatment with Gastroguard.
We have already discussed with the clinic about treating her with natural products - Slippery Elm Bark powder and Chamomile tea made from the dried flowers and they didn't foresee any problems.
Could that be an option for you once she has had her (?GastroGuard) treatment.