Tell me how best to treat Ulcers-

[McNally]

Dont know if its a vet question?!

I'm trying to help a horse and one issue we have thats going to make things difficult is he cribs severely -ie the old yards fencing has to be replaced. Mine is electric but i have wood stables/posts etc.

I dont know he has ulcers but the way he's been kept rings alarm bells to me. He's been mostly stabled but only with a arm full of top quality haylage 2/3 times a day (probs eaten in half hour or so) and a lot of hard feed. He varied between say 5 months of this then a few months out in the field so also has known little in the way of routine.
In the field he was very bullied so all in all quite a stress full life (since 4 now 13)

He has other problems which i need to work on or do what i can but need to iron things out one by one and figure here is a good place to start.
I have given him 24hr T/O with a nice friend and will get a routine going- what else can i do/ give him- are there tests for ulcers?

 

[Emby]

Ulcers are definitely a vet job.
I've not had it done with mine, although it was discussed at one time because of symptoms he was showing.
I was told he would have to be hospitalised and starved before hand and sedated then 'scoped (stick a camera down!)
The usual course of treatment is quite expensive but insurance would usually cover it.

 

[boxcarhorse]

Scoping is the 'official' way to tell if a horse has ulcers or not. And the most proven treatment is Gastroguard, which is very effective but expensive (I'm not sure but I think you can only get it from a vet).

However, it can be easier just to treat the symptoms and see if they improve. Equine America have something called U-Guard, which a friend of mine used with great success, I've used Coligone in the past and thought it definitely improved symptoms. (Just google it you can buy it online).

You should also look at a cereal free diet. So just fibre only ie. something like Alfa A, plus a balancer.

Best of luck anyway.

 

[sarah23]

However, it can be easier just to treat the symptoms and see if they improve. Equine America have something called U-Guard, which a friend of mine used with great success, I've used Coligone in the past and thought it definitely improved symptoms.

I have just done the same thing and I started using U-Guard, i have seen a big difference in my mare.

The only problem with it is you have a high loading rate for the first 60 days before you can start the maintenance rate and at £60 a tub quite Expensive to begin with as i tub at maintenance last 40 days, but i think it well worth it with the improvement it has made on my mare.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I wondered if my new mare had ulcers. She was very grumpy, trying to bite when girthing and fighting the others when food was around I knew that she had been given quite a lot of cereal feed by the previous owners and had been in a RS before that, so possibly fed cereals for fairly hard work. She then had a short-lived bout of colic, which fortunately she had recovered from before the vet arrived.
All this made me suspect ulcers, so I started feeding her Aloe Vera in a handful of dried grass. She is like a different horse - definitely worth a try. I doubt if it would cause any problems even if it didn't cure anything.

 

[McNally]

I wondered if my new mare had ulcers. She was very grumpy, trying to bite when girthing and fighting the others when food was around I knew that she had been given quite a lot of cereal feed by the previous owners and had been in a RS before that, so possibly fed cereals for fairly hard work. She then had a short-lived bout of colic, which fortunately she had recovered from before the vet arrived.
All this made me suspect ulcers, so I started feeding her Aloe Vera in a handful of dried grass. She is like a different horse - definitely worth a try. I doubt if it would cause any problems even if it didn't cure anything.

Aloe Vera how??I mean in what form do you feed it and where do you get it from?