stomach ulcers

[carthorse]

My homebred coloured eventer was very grumpy in the spring when you touched his girth area or did up the girth. He is on global herbs zephyr pollenex for headshaking and super calm for his tension.
I put him on Acid X and he did improve quite a lot and he stayed on this through the summer.He is now resting and I have taken him off suppliments.He has a lot of fibre in his diet, calm and condition,alfa A, speedibeet and good hay plus out all night.Today I touched his girth area and he was very upset again, maybe because he is off Acid x.
Can anyone give me the cost of having a horse checked for stomach ulcers and the treatment and does it work and was your horse similar in symptoms to mine. He is difficult to keep weight on, also is it just one treatment or do they have to stay on treatment.
Any help would be great. Can you buy something without having them scoped?

 

[kerilli]

there's a product called Gastroguard, might be worth having a look. i'm interested in the answers to this thread, too.
i'm not feeding any cereals at all to the one i suspect may have an ulcer, fwiw. might be worth a try. slippery elm powder is very good for gut problems, i believe... and it's half price at Holland and Barrett at the moment!

 

[FigJam]

I posted a question the other day about antacids for my horse who was stuffing herself and getting a bit bloated on fresh grass.

Your post has just made me think a little more in depth to her problems though regarding the grumpiness when being tacked up. My mare has always been like this since the first day I rode her.

Does anyone think this could be stomach ulcer related or is the fact that she's like it all the time just mean habit due to previous/random discomfort? Would be interested to know more about the scoping/costs/treatments.

 

[carthorse]

Well Acid X from global herbs did help but I am worried that I am covering a problem up that could be cured. Lets hope we have more replies.

 

[vicijp]

A blood test (£40) would give an initial inclination towards ulcers. To scope would then be around £250.
Bearing in mind a high percentage of horses have ulcers, I don't see the point in spending the money on scoping, when a course of Gastroguard would benefit most anyway.
Most ulcers resolve themselves if you take out the bad bits (stress and hard feed), so if you are in the position to turn away for 3+ months it would help.

 

[carthorse]

That is interesting and informative.Do you need to get gastroguard from the vets? Would it be ok to get a blood test,give gastroguard and give no cereals and say a month off.Could you still feed alfa A and speedibeet ,oil and good hay?
I didn't know they could heal themselves.

 

[vicijp]

That sounds a good plan. Its best if you speak to your vet when he does the blood, you never know it may show something completely different.
As long as the horse is out 24/7 you could feed near enough what you like!
Im pretty sure you can just order the Gastroguard from Equine America, but there is another product that a lot of vets have a preference for.

 

[lisaward]

my friend feeds simple system and was told to feed brewers yeast for stomach ulcers and her horse has improved.

 

[seabiscuit]

I had a horse scoped for stomach ulcers once, and the results showed that he was fine. This was when the horse was about 4 months out of racing, and the vet asked me about his care/feed routine since him coming out of racing (the horse had access to fibre 24/7, was out at night and wasnt getting much hard feed) and he said that it was very unlikely that he had any ulcers because in that time period, along with his care/food routine, any ulcers that had developed whilst racing would have had time to heal. I still wanted the horse to be scoped because he was a grumpy unhappy person but the scoped showed that his gut was perfectly heatlhy. (we later found out he had severe food intolerances to everything that was causing his symptons)

My point is that unless you are keeping/feeding a horse in a way that would cause stomach ulcers- i.e high cereal diet, little fibre, or constant bute for long periods of time, then its very unlikely that it will have ulcers.

I'd be exploring the possibility that your horse may have some food intolerances..

 

[carthorse]

Ok food intolerance, how do you check for that.He does get lymphangitis if I give him certain feeds,eg readigrass.He has not had that condition for at least 18 months and we do try to feed fibre and oil feeds.
I like simple system lucinuts and was going to give them an order at your horse live so will discuss feeding an eventer with them as well.

 

[Weezy]

Try Coligone - honestly it is great and stopped my Andy windsucking - www.hbradshaws.co.uk/

 

[carthorse]

Do they have to stay on it for life,as it seems expensive if you always have to feed it ?

 

[Weezy]

No - give Kate a call, she will talk you through it and is lovely (She is Hs Mum on here) - honestly she knows more about stomach complaints than I do and will be totally honest with you as to whether Coligone will help or not, there will be no hard sell and she certainly will not sell you her product if she doesn't think you will see results.

 

[carthorse]

Thank you Weezy, nice not to be scared of your posts.I was getting flashing syndrome

 

[miller]

I'd second Coligone - OH's mare was awful when in season - very uncomfortable and colicky - vet said may be something like ulcers.

Put her on Coligone (she has half a measure of the liquid a day) and we've not had a grumbly colic, sore back or girth since. Her temperament has also improved and she is now rideable when in season.

Definitely worth a go and iirc cheaper than Gastroguard

 

[carthorse]

Thank you I will phone and hope they think it will work .I think he has lost some weight even though he is having loads of really excellent hard hay and feed

 

[Weezy]

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you Weezy, nice not to be scared of your posts.I was getting flashing syndrome

[/ QUOTE ]

Oooops- you will have to endure a little more new flashing for the next few days

 

[Llwyncwn]

Cassy had a perforated ulcer and peritonitis when she was 12 months old, that was 9 years ago and little was known then about ulcers. I very nearly lost her but with the help of Spillers and my local health food shop (vets were no help at all as they hadnt dealt with this before) we eventually sorted it.

Druid also has a lot of experience with ulcers.

Keep him (Rafi or Penfold?) off any cerial and just feed fibre. You can give him up to half a pint of veg oil a day too which will help put the condition on, and plenty of best quality hay.

 

[carthorse]

It is Penfold I worry about ,he dropped a bit of weight and as soon as I took him off Acid x he started to get tender around girth area again.He doesn't really have cereals unless calm and condition is counted but he gets very tense and worries when travelling. Giving him a month off and will try Coligon and get a blood test.
Rafi fighting fit

 

[air78]

I asked my vets about ulcers and as a full course of gastroguard is about £800 (or something) they always recomend scoping first, as at around £200 it's a conclusive diagnosis.
I fed Equine America U guard plus at the full rate and it cost me £180. My horse was just the same!
I've also fed coligone for a few months with out much change.
If you want answers and peace of mind get the scope done.