Stomach Ulcers

[druid]

Ok...this is gonna be long!

Bob (151cm/14.3hh, ConnemaraxTB, 7yo, gelding) came to us about 5 months ago. He's underweight by roughly 25-50kg at 400kg. His previous 2 sets of owners say he's always been this weight from 4yo+. He crib bites and wind sucks (only wind sucks while holding something in his teeth). He's a very quiet almost dopey pony on the ground but extremely jazzy under saddle. He was scoped as having ulcers at 4.5yo.

He lives out 24/7 and doesn't wear an anti-crib collar/strap (I refuse to use one) though he did prior to me getting him. He has access to ad-lib good quality meadow hay. He gets fed 1.5kg of soaked oats, 500g of flaked maize, 150ml of Soya oil and a vit/min supplement with selenium & Vit. E inline with his oil intake. He is very finicky about concentrates, he won't tolerate new foods/supps without grated carrots and would choose a hay net over a bucket of feed.

We first put him on Gaviscon (www.gaviscon.com) within 2 weeks of getting him, his eating habits got better and he looked less tucked up within days. However, his cribbing didn't change. We then swapped to Coligone powder (www.coligone.co.uk), which he refused to eat. He's now having Coligone liquid and at first showed a dramatic improvement (Stopped cribbing for ~2/3 days) but now has regressed to cribbing again. So, am I looking at the ulcers reoccuring, acid rebound syndrome or should I be looking at there being a different cause for this behaviour?

Despite being under weight he's bright in himself (or as bright as Bob gets) and has lots of energy. His coat isn't starey and his hooves are good.

I'm not really sure why I'm posting this, I guess I've just reached the end of my tether

 

[annie02]

Sorry I got lost in the 3rd paragraph. Are you looking at reasons why he cribs and how to stop that? Are you trying to connect the medication with the ulcers or the cribbing habit?

 

[EllieBeast]

I suppose that the fact he has cribbed for so long means that even if the ulcers are better, he still has the habit. therefore, once it can be proved that the ulcers are no longer causing a problem, then the nxt step would be to try and break the habit

dont ask me how though!

good luck.

 

[druid]

Annie - He cribs to relieve pain, we know this as he only does it when stressed/in anticipation of food or after feeding.

The medication shoudl treat the ulcers and therefore the source of pain.

What I waffling on about is, mostly, why the medication works for a limited period of time and then seemingly stops working or at least becomes less effective. I'm also looking at wether this means I should be looking for another source of pain that may be causing the cribbing that I'm missing

 

[druid]

I don't care if he cribs forever and a day if it's haibtual..I *do* care about solving the pain that causes him to crib currently!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Have you tried feeding Aloe Vera? 60-90mls of Aloe Vera Gel can really help sooth the digestive tract (works brilliantly on my mare who is sugar/grass intollerant, but is also supposed to be good of ulcers too). I get mine from Forever Living.

 

[GTs]

Have you scoped him? If not you are just playing a guessing game.

 

[druid]

GTs - yes he was scoped at 4.5yo and most recently about a month before we got him. I have notes from both scopings...

I'm considering a re-scope currently..

 

[GTs]

I would, it is not expensive if he has ulcers and it is causing this problem then you can get some a prescription for it.

 

[PuddingandElla]

I would re-scope. My mare is being treated for ulcers at the moment.
They can come back so quickly, that's the problem.
My mare is on Gastogard and Anspetin tablets. Okay if you are insured, very expensive. But there are alternative treatments out there.
I would deff speak to the vet again.
Good luck

 

[Fiona]

Our old TB ex racehorse cribbed for years (this was way before the link was made between cribbing and ulcers so he was never scoped). He had plenty of time in the field and ad lib forage but we assumed that he still did it as a learned habit and for the endorphin hit. He wore his front top teeth v badly and eventually it must have been impossible for him to grab a post to crib on. At this stage he gave up the habit completely and lived for his last year or two completely free of it (and his bouts of colic disappeared at the same time), we were delighted as you can imagine.

What I am trying to say though, is that I suppose a re-scope will tell you if he still has the ulcers, or is the cribbing just a habit that he is loth to break (think of all the smokers trying to give up at this time of the year and lots only lasting a couple of days before they start again).

FIona

 

[annie02]

I dont think it would hurt to scope again and see if it has gotten worse or stayed the same. You have to approach it differently depending on what is going on.

I think that it is a cycle. As he feels worse he cribs more which could make the ulcers worse which makes him crib more....

It is interesting that the medicaiton works so well for a short period. I dont know about mixing medications but what if you were to alternate the use of the medications every 3 days or so. Maybe he builds up a resistance. Talk to your vet about an option like this.

 

[Lucy_Ally]

I would cut out all the cereal and have him on a fibre and oil diet only ith something like alfa and as much adlib haylage as he would eat. If he dropped weight then I would bring in something like topspec flakes but keep the majority of his feed fibre.

 

[GTs]

You will have to speak to your bank manager about it too...........

 

[H's mum]

PMSL!

yep you're right GTs!

Kate x

 

[druid]

Thanks all..I'd reply individually but I'll only repeat myself sooo

He's getting Rescoped asap (all depends on a TB free clinic at the clinc..don't want to mess with the EIA issue!)

On vets suggetsion he's comign off all feed and medication once the course is finished and having just Topspec balancer (small amount..easier to get him to eat) plus a chaff..if we can get him to eat it (he hates chaffs and chops and hay replacer cubes, fussy animal). We're syringing his Coligone to ensure he actually has it until it's finished.

Re:Gastroguard...his owner pays for all vet treatment...