Suspected gastric ulcers - best way to manage this until he is scoped?

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IsabelleJ

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My lovely boy hasn't been himself all year, going from irritable to downright aggressive in the last 10 days. I finally have more than a niggly feeling that something is wrong and have booked him in to be scoped next Friday. If this turns out to not be what is wrong with him, I plan to carry on with blood tests and x rays if necessary.

Symptoms seem to be very similar to what you would expect with ulcers: irritability, discomfort being tacked up (he bit me for the first time ever last week when having his girth done up), loss of appetite, discomfort while eating, chewing wood, being aggressive, especially when being brought in from the field. Not at all my normal sweet boy
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What I would like to know is what I can do to make him feel less awful until we get a diagnosis from the vets. How should I manage him for the next week? At the moment I have him off work, as he is obviously not himself, but will some gentle exercise help at all? He will be out in the field all day, and I am making sure he has more than enough hay to last the night. His normal meal is HiFi good Doer with nothing else except supplements, and he has Hi Fibre Cubes in his snackball. I have given him two haynets and a tub of Hi Fi tonight, which should last him all night.

Is there anything else I can do? I have some Omega Oil, which I could give him in his feeds. He is a bit of a fatty, but to be honest I am more concerned with making life less painful until he can see the vet. I soak most of his hays - does this help or not? Is there any supplement that will work over such a short period?

I really hope someone has some suggestions, I am already kicking myself for not noticing the signs earlier
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Thanks for reading!

Isabelle
 
You really need to keep him in normal work levels as rest cures ulcers! When my horse was diagnosed last year, I had to keep eventing him so we knew the drugs had cured him rather than the rest if you see what I mean. Sounds horrible but is for the best in terms of diagnosis and long-term prognosis.

I personally wouldn't use any supplements etc until he has seen the vet - once you have a diagnosis you can then use lots of techniques to manage him and make him more comfortable.
 
You could ask your vet for some omeprazole and sucralfate which will ease his symptoms if your suspicions are correct. I know some vets who just prescibe a course of this (as it causes no harm if horse doesn't have ulcers) and see if this eases symptoms rather than bothering to scope...
 
Isabelle, I'd immediately give him Coligone. It's specifically made for stressy neds and neds with ulcers. It is a product recommended by vets. It's palatable as it is aniseed flavoured and it soothes and protects the gut lining. Sunny had 3 days on it after a scary episode of gassy colic last spring and he now has 3 days on it whenever any major changes happen in his life. Before he went out onto spring grazing this year he had 3 days Coligone and no sign of colic. PM H's_mum - she can tell you all about Coligone and she arranged a special overnight delivery last year when Sunny was in trouble - it arrived the next day.

Spotted cat - not sure what you mean when you say that rest cures ulcers. Often it is box rest/stabling that causes ulcers.
 
Ah, I have already ordered some Coligone, having heard about this wonder product!

I may just keep him in light work then - he is definitely not himself, and is struggling to do anything too strenuous.

Thanks for the tips
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Isabelle
 
I mean rest as in not working them. Believe me I know an incredible amount about this having had a horse with grade 4 ulcers last year - caused by bacterial infection as opposed to my mis-management. I personally would want a clear diagnosis from a vet, not muddied by any use of supplements - things like coligone/neighlox/succeed cannot 'cure' ulcers, only gastrogard can cure them, which sometimes needs to be used in conjunction with antibiotics. Then supplements can be useful, though most are not clinically tested.

My horse is under the care of one of the leading experts in gastric ulcers in the country who also treats the british eventing team horses. This is just the way I'd choose to manage it until I had a diagnosis having been through it all and done a lot of research into it. I was asked by the vet not to drop my horse's work levels whilst he was being treated - as I say just my experience, I would not see chucking the horse in a field and using lots of supplements as a sensible way to get a clear diagnosis of the problem. However I fully appreciate others may see it differently.
 
Do you know that your vet can get a poo sample tested for occult blood presence? It will show up the smallest amount of blood from even mild ulcers and then if it comes back positive you can get the horse scoped. Only cost about £20. I have my eventers tested every six-months just as a precaution.
 
My friends horse had gastric ulcers and was given gastro guard, but I believe it is very expensive. He had the type of symptoms your horse had. Its worth noting that he was restricted with the amount of haylage he was fed and was not fed adlib. I would keep up with the adlib hay/haylage if you can. My friends horse was operated on and has never been right since, but I believe this cannot accurately be pinpointed to colic and gastric ulcers and his behavioural problems have not been diagnosed as such. My friend gives her horse a lot of soaked nuts, like a bran mash type of consistency if that helps as I think a lot of water in the diet helps with colicky horses. She also soaks his nets. Good luck, I will try and find out a little more over the weekend.
 
The Gastrogard is about £1000 per month. My vet recommends Equine America UGard as an alternative if your insurance won't cover it which is about £60. Also recommends low cereal diet and giving the horse a handful of food before working it so that the stomach has something in it to stop the stomach acid burning the lining.
 
Gosh thanks for that I will pass that onto my friend. I wonder if she does give her horse something before riding. His behavioural problems are so severe under saddle that she has made the decision not to ride him anymore. That might account for the fact that somedays he is good and other days not depending on whetehr he is fed or not.
 
Applecart the type of feed is important in this scenario! I give my horse a big double handful of alfalfa and straw high fibre chaff - something like the Mollichaff high fibre with mint is good. It needs to be long fibres such as those found in alfalfa stalks, meadow hay, straw etc to give adequate protection to the stomach when the horse is worked. The reason this works is because of the layered way in which the horse's stomach is designed to work - the grass we have them on these days is very leafy and not at all what they evolved to eat, so the stomach does not get adequate protection even when they live out.

Ugard won't cure ulcers but one of the supplements may help if he has been diagnosed and cured with gastrogard. The other thing to tell your friend is that Biotal Equine Gold (not the gastro version) can be really helpful with ulcer horses - mine is going on to that. The only two supplements which have been clinically trialled are Succeed and Neighlox.
 
Well, horse is still a little down and off his food, but has been given plenty of hay and Hifi to eat. I may well give him some gentle exercise next week, just walking and trotting and some hacking around the farm.

I am worried that he may be in a great deal of pain, as he has started lunging at other horses that go near him, and tries to kick anyone who brings him in from the field. That's why I asked if there was anything that would make him feel a little better, I hadn't thought that anything would work well enough to clear the possible ulcers up completely!

I do appreciate the advice, and think I will give him a couple of handfuls of HiFi half an hour before riding him. Spotted Cat, does HiFi Good Doer count as long fibre? I'm happy to get him some Alfa A if that will work better (but I've only just opened the bag of HiFi, how typical is that?!)

Spotted Cat, when you treated your horse how long did it take for him to get back to himself? I understand that they may be at risk of recurring ulcers, how do you manage him?

I feel a lot better now that I know a bit more about this, thank you all!

Isabelle
 
I don't know what is in hifi as it's not something I've ever fed, but if it helps the vet told me that if it is cheaper then I could use a chaff cutter on normal hay to make a chaff - so if it's at all practical getting him in with a haynet will help just for a week (the idea with making it into a chaff is then you now they have eaten it if that makes sense, rather than ignored a haynet!).

Alfalfa is good on more than just the fibre levels as it is high in calcium which can help to buffer the acid in the stomach. I avoid alfa-a because it is mollassed and prefer either Countrywide's own brand high fibre alfalfa chaff (which is not tested to be competition legal) or Mollichaff high fibre or GroWell Feeds do a good alfalfa chaff too.
 
Thanks for all the info, Spotted Cat, I will definitely make sure I come back and read it when I have heard from the vet.

Have just got my instructions on what to do before the scoping <gulp> Poor boy is not going to be happy!

It's a pity I didn't know about the Mollichaff before, as I could have gone to have a nose around at Badminton! HiFi has alfalfa in it, so it should do for now. I am just going to keep going as normal, with some light exercise walking and trotting around the farm. I am just hoping to get my gentle horse back, I miss him so much
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Isabelle
 
You really need to keep him in normal work levels as rest cures ulcers!

Unfortunatly it doesn't, its just that without the stress of work the symptoms aren't so obvious. I can highly recommend global herbs acid-x, its done a great job on my Tb.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You really need to keep him in normal work levels as rest cures ulcers!

Unfortunatly it doesn't, its just that without the stress of work the symptoms aren't so obvious. I can highly recommend global herbs acid-x, its done a great job on my Tb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, in most horses with ulcers, it does. This is because the majority of horses have what are known as 'splash ulcers' which occur when the muscles of the horse cause the stomach to contract during exercise and the acid splashes up onto the parts of the stomach wall which are not protected by mucus. Therefore if you rest them, the acid irritation ceases and the ulcers will, over time, heal. For horses with deeper ulcers around the duodenum area, it does not heal them as these are caused by a problem with the mucosa covering the stomach wall as obviously this part of the stomach is designed to be covered in acid. The reason why 'wild' horses galloping about do not suffer from debilitating splash ulcers has nothing to do with stress and everything to do with diet - if a horse has the majority of his forage as long, stalky fibre then the stomach works in the way in which it has evolved to do and you end up with a layer system in the stomach with the longer, stalky fibres on the top which stop the acid from splashing up onto the wall of the stomach. As we tend these days to keep our horses on very improved pasture, which uses mainly rye-grass, they have a predominantly 'leafy' diet with not as much of the long stalky fibre they require to protect the stomach in this way. When you then add in the higher work demands we make on them, you create a problem.

Yes, ulcers can be caused by stress, but there is a whole litany of other causes including diet, management and bacterial infection which can cause them.
 
Thanks Mayflower - it is amazing how a horse with an illness plus a biology degree and a science MSc on the part of the owner coupled with friends who have access to scientific literature can cause you to become a complete and utter dull and boring geek on a subject LOL.
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Many thanks for your help Spotted Cat, I will certainly pass on to my friend. Many apologies, I didn't mean to hijack the post from the OP. x
 
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