Ulcers? How to treat?

[dressagelove]

My usually laid back TB is becoming a completely different character. He is unpredictable, fights something chronic with the other horses, he spooks (never been spooky in his life) and throws a wobbly for no reason - complete unlike him.

He is an ex racer, and they are more prone to developing ulcers I believe?

I have not had him scoped, but have done some accupressure and he is fairly grumpy to be touched in the digestive tract, and tacked up, mounted etc.

I have been reading up on ulcers, and know about the expensive drug treatments available, but do these definitely work? How long would I have to feed them? How do you get hold of them? It may sound irresponsible but I tend to avoid vets like the plague, my vets are hopeless, charge me through to nose and only get used in emergencies, I would like to avoid involving them where possible.

I read that aloe vera juice and charcoal also help? Is this true? He is kept turned out full and is only fed sugar free fast fibre, and supplements.

 

[alsxx]

The only way you can diagnose is through scoping, and if your horse does have ulcers the only way you can treat them is using omeprazol. On the acupressure; my TB scoped to show very bad ulcers, yet didn't react to the acupressure points as he 'should' have done given the severity of the ulcers, so I would be wary of concluding through that alone although agree it can be s good indicator.

Can you get another vet out, or use a different practice?

The reason omeprazol is effective is that it continues to work over a 24hr period. Other drugs or feedstuffs may be useful but will be limited by their short term effects and will not allow the ulcers to heal.

 

[mumperry]

The only way to diagnose ulcers is to get the vets, but make sure you are sitting down before they prescribe omeprazole! I believe this is an acid blocker so it actually reduces the amount of acid your horse is producing, where as most of the feed supplements help to absorb the excess acid the horse is producing. If you don't want to go down the vet route yet, try a month on a good quality pure probiotic product, and equus health Gastro-Kalm (charcoal). If that doesn't make a difference then it is probably vet time. Good Luck!

 

[YasandCrystal]

OP you can do a trial test using Rantacidine or limestone flour as we discussed to act as an indicator to ulcers.

My only question would be - how long have you had the horse? You say he is normally happy, so one needs to question why have ulcers flared up (he m,ay have had some from his racing days) ?

It's all very well people getting horses diagnosed with ulcers, but you need to find a cause and change your horse's management accordingly (although yours sounds there already) to adlib forage, no sugar and a stress free environment.

My horse had ulcers caused by chronic pain. I wouldn't expect them to reoccur unless he was injured/stressed.

 

[HVG]

Get a new vet practice! If not involving vets max turn out, minimise hard feeding, make sure plenty access to forage, minimise stress, regular non stressful exercise, pro & pre biotics & lime stone flower.

Really want vet diagnosis though...

 

[Archiepoo]

hi i did a ranitidine trial before asking my vet to scope. i used the tesco own indigestion tablets (£1 odd a box) but make sure its got ranitidine (sp?) as the active ingredient. i gave a box a day for a week . its a acid blocker so should make the stomach much more comfy if theres ulcers in there. it wont have any result if its hind ulcers (not in the stomach but further down) but it might make a dramatic difference so worth a try. good luck