Scoping for ulcers query

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humblepie

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Is it normal practice for horse to be starved for 24 hours before being scoped at vets. No experience of this so be grateful to hear experiences. Thanks
 
Mine has been scoped three times and just booked in his next one- starve him for 16 hours and no water for 5 hours. That has been the case in all his.Good Luck.
 
It is not that bad and they deal with it better than you think.I always try to get the first appointment for the scope to be done-the food taking away I just give them there tea and bit of hay earlier so yours does not feeling they are missing out-worst thing I find is setting the alarm for stupid o clock to remove the water!!
 
Yes, mine was "starved" from 10 pm until 12 noon. Let's be honest though, we're talking about well covered, well fed horses so they are far from starving. And here's the thing, the unpleasant process of being denied food for 12 hours is nowhere near has horrid as them struggling with serious ulceration and the constant burning that that results in.
 
Mine didn't seem that stressed during the scope. She was sedated and once the tube is past the swallowing stage she was absolutely fine.
If you suspect ulcers I would scope rather than self medicate, what if it's not ulcers and you're wasting money self medicating treating something that's not there?
As it was, mine got the all clear and her grumpyness stopped about a week later so I guess she was attention seeking!!
She's a greedy guts and didn't seem unduly fussed by the 12 hours starving. Water was removed 3 hours before the appointment.
 
12 hours starvation - they cope with it much better than we do. As much as them not being able to understand why it's happening (a negative) they also don't have the knowledge we do that it's going to be overnight, they live in the moment whereas we're fretting about how long it's going to be, which stresses us out a lot I think! I was worried the first time and she was fine, less worried the second time and she was still fine! If you think about it, some horses go out hunting for hours on end without eating. I'm not saying it's good for them, but I do think we get more worried than they do. Agree would always go for early doors appointment if possible. The scope itself is not something I'd worry about - they're well sedated... personally I'd scope as my girl had ulcers but just treating didn't give us a marked improvement that would have counted as a diagnosis. There's so much doubt and guesswork in horsecare that getting a definite answer about a pathology is always quite attractive to me!
 
Yes the horse needs to be starved so that the stomach is empty so that you can see all the surfaces of the stomach. Although you sometimes see some shvings in there!
 
Let us know how you get on. And a word of warning, don't take the receptionist's word for it that there's nothing edible in the stable at the vets. They put mine in an apparently food free stable and she found strands of hay hidden in the shavings which could have ballsed up the scope if she'd had any more time in there.
 
Thanks, he has been dropped round the vets this morning and did double check stable as he was mooching around to see if anything to eat.
 
Scope done, fairly nasty ulcers. Hasn't had any management changes since moving to current yard (over 2 years ago) and has a fairly relaxed attitude to life so not sure why now but at least reason is known so treatment can start.
 
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