Ulcers.

[angrybird1]

Can anyone give any info on what's involved with diagnosing ulcers please.
Can tests be done at yard or does horse have to go to hospital.
Is it in anyway a dangerous procedure?
If ulcers,are found what's the treatment.

 

[be positive]

It depends on the vets as to whether the horse needs to go in or can be done at home, they need to be starved overnight so sometimes it is easier to take them in, I had one scoped at home by Tim Brazil who travels around scoping horses all the time.
They need to be fairly well sedated, there is a risk with any sedation but it is low and most tolerate the procedure well, if you are there you can see the screen which is really interesting.

Treatment varies but the most common is a course of GastroGard and a carefully thought out management plan which may include a change of diet, ulcers are often secondary to other issues so it makes sense to have a thorough check before getting the horse scoped as there is little point treating if the cause remains as they will probably come back.

 

[angrybird1]

Thank you. What symptoms are common in a horse with ulcers?

 

[SEL]

Thank you. What symptoms are common in a horse with ulcers?

Sometimes they lose weight - but mine didn't. She just tried to kill you if you touched her stomach (teeth & hooves came at you). That was first time round. Second time round she'd been ill and went off her food.

 

[angrybird1]

Thank you that's interesting.

 

[Birker2020]

Just bare in mind that Gastroguard isn't cheap.I know someone who had a horse who was pretty much exluded from everything so the horse was no longer insured. He asked the vet about scoping his horse because someone suggested it might have ulcers as it had lost a lot of weight and was girthy. The vet said he would scope the horse as they had a deal on at the vets and it would be considerably cheaper than normal but the cost of the gastro guard was around £300 per week and the stuff which wasn't as good as that was still around £250 per week. So he decided not to have it done.The horse had a physio visit booked and the physio diagnosed a problem with its saddle area and the saddle was reflocked.THe owner investigated a different diet and the horse began putting on weight. Not everything is down to ulcers, but if you do decide to go ahead with scoping you had better hope you are insured!