What happens after gastroguard...

[wench]

I will be ringing my vet over the next few days, but just wondering what other people have had.

Horse has had a course of gastroguard; got another two weeks to go. All the instructions on the packet say 1 tube per day. I have read on here that they should be weaned off it slowly? Is this right?

Horse has an enormous pot of supplement given by the vet to help decrease acidity levels, this will last well beyond the course of GG.

 

[philamena]

Yep, wean off gradually - they usually say 2 weeks on half syringe, 2 weeks on quarter. Mine came off a bit quicker but if it makes no odds I'd err on the safe side and stick with the longer regime.

 

[Fruitcake]

Mine had a month at a full syringe per day, then a month at a quarter. He then went on to Equitop Pronutrin which is supposed to react with the stomach acid to form a protective mucous coating. Not sure how effective that was. (Was rescoped and still small ulcers).

He's just finished a course of Gastro Plus and is going on to the everyday version of this. (Again, not sure how effective this is, but just feel like I should be giving something rather than nothing!)

My vet was quite skeptical about supplements and said that anything given should be something to form protective coating rather than decreasing acid levels as apparently most only decrease the acidity for a few hours and the 'rebound' when it rises again can be worse than the original acid. I'm now considering giving slippery elm alongside the Gastro Plus stuff (Equine Edge- I think it's called) as I've read that people have had good results with this- Again, it's supposed to coat the stomach lining.

I must've spent a fortune on different supplements. (I thought the Gastroguard was expensive- That was just the start!)

 

[philamena]

Agree - promoting a healthy lining far more to the point than lots of antacids, which are effective for a v short time and can actually risk causing an increase in production over the long term.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I have to say I think veterinary advice with Gastroguard is seriously lacking!
I currently know two horses on it and neither owner knows anything about giving it on an empty stomach or weaning them off. Horses still grain fed. As ulcers are such a common problem you'd really think better advice would be more readily available to owners. Op as far as I've researched yes it's best to gradually cut down or acid production resumes too suddenly causing ulcers! Good luck x

 

[Wagtail]

I have to say I think veterinary advice with Gastroguard is seriously lacking!
I currently know two horses on it and neither owner knows anything about giving it on an empty stomach or weaning them off. Horses still grain fed. As ulcers are such a common problem you'd really think better advice would be more readily available to owners. Op as far as I've researched yes it's best to gradually cut down or acid production resumes too suddenly causing ulcers! Good luck x

How is your horse doing? Has he/she started on the abprazole yet?

OP, I have two horses here with ulcers. The first, a mare has them in the lower, glandular part of the stomach. These are proving very stubborn indeed. She comes back to normal after 6 weeks on gastroguard (most recently, due to cost, her owner bought the US equivalent, ab guard), and she is then given a month on two thirds of a tube, then a month on half, then a quarter etc. This does the trick with her for a while, at least, before she then relapses. It's a nightmare. Sadly, the cheaper abprazole granules have not worked at all on her. We tried all kinds of ways to dose her with them and she just got worse. It seems that the paste has a different buffer protecting the omeprazole than the granules.

My own gelding responded to the granules after only four days. I kept him on them a month. He is now in his second month at two thirds dose, then next month he will go onto a third dose.

Good luck with your mare.

 

[catembi]

Mine came off the abprazole after 3 months. He was between 70 and 30% better on it from our starting position, varying from day to day.

Then I switched to Egusin SLH. 24 hours later (3 doses) - very noticeable improvement. 10 days later - best he's been since the summer. Offering lengthened strides; extravagant jump (that I'd forgotten we even had) is back.

Worth a go. It's £££££, so I decided I was going to try ONE tub & see what happened. It's worked amazingly well, so it looks like I'm stuck with the expense. I'm only feeding a third of the recommended dose cos I simply cannot afford the full whack.

Hope that helps.

T x

 

[poiuytrewq]

How is your horse doing? Has he/she started on the abprazole yet?

Yes he started just over a week ago on 3 sachets a day. Ive found it a little difficult too give and the first few days there were tiny blue balls everywhere!

I think he's improved already- its annoyingly timed being Easter holidays my daughters been off school so he's not done a lot. I have noticed he's less girthy, some days he'd even look round at me (as if to bite but he wouldn't!) when I was doing rugs up- That's all stopped. My daughter has ridden him a few times and commented on him seeming happier and wanting to go more!
His coat is also showing signs of improvement but of course it could be summer coat finally making an appearance anyway. All in all im hopeful