Horse with Ulcers

[clipclop25]

My ASB gelding was diagonised with ulcers. He was put on 30 days of Gastro Gard.He was endiscoped at the end of thirty days and has basically healed. Because Gastro Gard is soooo expensive,what other alternatives do I have to help him? All that I have read says that stress can aggravate them. What can I do before I show him?Someone said to give him banamine before any shows. But my vets said that could cause ulcers.I know there is Ultragard too. Just looking for less expensive alternatives.I give him probiotics everyday. He nevers seems to be upset or nervous at shows. He was shown for two years without any incident. But last year(09) he had several colic attacks,which prompted the endiscope,finding the ulcers. Just looking for some ideas to help him that won't cost me a fortune.

[♥Gabrielle♥]

PPI's(proton pump inhibitors) like Prilosec (Omeprazole), Nexium, Prevacid, can help curb mild flare ups. I believe they make Omeprazole for horses. I would consult with your vet before switching medications.

[laffingdog]

Banamine or bute will simply aggravate the ulcers, so you don't want to do that, but Ulcer Gard would probably be a good idea just before and during the show.

Every horse is different, and what works for one may not work for another, but the following has been my experience with horses with ulcers. I have an old (30 yrs.) Arab here that we thought we were going to lose a couple of times a few years ago, but he has done very well maintaining on a minimum dose of Ulcer Gard every other day. We haven't had any problems with him since we started that routine. We also have him on a low NSC diet. He is ridden regularly three or four times a week.

I also had another older gelding here last year, very underweight, that I could not get to eat enough to put weight on him, no matter what I tried. I began to suspect he may have ulcers to be causing his poor appetite, but knew his owner would never spring for the cost of treating the horse with Gastro Gard. Out of desperation I tried SmartPak Smart Gut and that horse started eating better within two days of putting him on Smart Gut. By the time I sent that horse back home, after three months on Smart Gut, he weighed almost 1300 lbs and was gorgeous. Smart Gut costs about $35/month.

Also remember that grain products are difficult for horses to digest and will aggravate ulcers. Avoid feeds that are grain based, and stick with feeds that are beet pulp/rice bran based, which is very easy for horses to digest. Fortunately, there are lots of goods one on the market now. If you live in an area where you can get high quality alfalfa hay, that will help too, since ulcer prone horses may do better with the higher calcium content in alfalfa.

[Anke]

Brave had bad, bad ulcers and it would flare time and time again. There is a liquid Emeprazole product that is used for cattle. Instead of $30 a day/$900.00 a month, you can cut it down to $275 per bottle (month's worth). Watch high carb feed, sugars and grains. I also feed Smart Pak Ulcerguard in pellet form am and pm and Brave has gained a ton of weight, but whenever there is something stressfull in the future, I dose him for 2 days before the event and 2 days after the event with the liquid Emeprazole, just in case.......
He also eats Equine Senior by Purina as it is easy on the system.
Knock on wood, no more flare ups the past 10 months.....

[attafox]

You can use Slippery Elm Bark (powdered) mixed into feed along with Aloe Vera juice. Up to 2 T of SEB and a C of AV juice - keeps the meds at bay, and won't ever turn up on a drug test.

[figaro]

You need to touch bases with saddlebredlady....she had a horse with ulcers and after the initial treatment with the paste she purchased from the vet she started a daily dose of baking soda. Sure is a lot less expensive! I think she adds a tablespoon in with the grain. But again - check with saddlebredlady...she'll gladly share the information with you.

[SmartAlex]

Papaya juice and aloe vera juice have been said to help. See this topic on COTH

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3655875

[clipclop25]

I was instructed to put him on Senior,which I have done.I give him soaked alfalfa cubes as alfalfa hay is very expensive in my part of the country. I was just reading the instruction on the box of Gastro Gard and it says that after the intitial 30 day treatment to continue for another 30 days with half the dosage. It continues to say that if this treatment isn't continued that the ulcers could come back worse. Now my vet never told me anything about that.(He is with a group of 5 equine vets) I wonder how important the continued dosage for 30 days is????
Thanks for all of the input.

[clipclop25]

Anke-- where do you find the cattle version-emeprazole. I have been searching for it on the net,but with no luck. I also went to the Smarkpac site and can't find Ulcergard in pellet form??? Where do you find that? I didn't see that product(the pellets) on the Ulcergard manufacturer site either.
Gabrielle- Omeprazole is Gastrogard and Ulcergard,it is the chemical ingredient in both products.

[Anke]

Anke-- where do you find the cattle version-emeprazole. I have been searching for it on the net,but with no luck. I also went to the Smarkpac site and can't find Ulcergard in pellet form??? Where do you find that? I didn't see that product(the pellets) on the Ulcergard manufacturer site either.
Gabrielle- Omeprazole is Gastrogard and Ulcergard,it is the chemical ingredient in both products.

Let me check tonight on the label on my bottle. I also will check Smart Pak.....
It is called U-guard!
http://www.smartpakequine.com/productclass.aspx?productClassid=5477

It really has done wonders for Brave, also make sure the horse has forage in front of him 24/7, being it good hay or Alfalfa. I did try the cubes, but Brave was not 'into that'.....spoiled brat!

[magic]

farmvet.com has a prescription strength version of ompirazol. You will need a prescription from your vet. We have used it on the Rescues instead of UlcerGuard. Don't remember the price but it is much cheaper.

You will probably have to call and talk t them as I doubt it is on the web.

[Mona129]

You can use generic human Omeprazole straight from the grocery store pharmacy section. One pill once a day. MUCH cheaper. Also consider taking the horse off concentrates and just put as much high quality hay as you can, in front of him, supplement with alfalfa. Horse's guts are made to utilize forage and only very small quantities of grains. Get some probiotics into that gut, the more the merrier and the horse will be better able to utilize its feed.

[Anke]

You can use generic human Omeprazole straight from the grocery store pharmacy section. One pill once a day. MUCH cheaper. Also consider taking the horse off concentrates and just put as much high quality hay as you can, in front of him, supplement with alfalfa. Horse's guts are made to utilize forage and only very small quantities of grains. Get some probiotics into that gut, the more the merrier and the horse will be better able to utilize its feed.

In order to get the mg's needed, you would need to give the horse more then 1 pill...... I will look on my bottle, but I do think 30cc's per day is 200mg......
I posed this same question to my Vet a couple of years ago with Brave, that was when he told me about the liquid....... He said it would take at least 10 pills over the counter....

[Mona129]

I'll take the advice, Anke! The omeprazole piece of information is what I have been given as advice from people who raise and maintain TB's which are quite prone to ulcers. It makes sense to even up the dosing and I never understood why they didnt.

[horseluvr]

Long before people became aware of equine ulcers, one of our Standardbred race horses was diagnosed - our vet wrote us a prescription for human meds (no equine ones around).

My daughter's CP horse gets ulcers during show season, so he kept on ulcer meds while showing. Then, when he's let down for the winter and turned out, they stop the meds - this works great.

[Anke]

Ok, here goes. On the bottle it says:
Galar Compound Pharmacy Inc.
1 877 523-1968
Omeprazole susp. 2000mg/30cc
I am certain you will need a prescription

30cc for a 950-1000 lbs horse once a day

I use a 60cc syringe, cut off the tip and squirt it in the mouth. Brave loves the taste of it now, so I just squirt it over his feed if he needs it. I pay 275.00 per bottle and as he needed it for about 3 months, I saved a ton of money this way. After the first month, I added U-guard pellets to his feed am and pm and so far so good. No more tummy ouchies!

[walkinghorseowner]

check with Bedco Vet Pharmacy in shelbyville Tn... you may need a prescription, but they compound pharmaceuticals there, I am sure they have a product available that is cheaper.

[StilettosAndBoots]

I work for a pharmacy, and we fill medications for animals (such as omeprazole, sertraline (animals do get depressed :( ), etc.) If you're going to go the route of OTC meds, I would highly suggest that your vet writes an Rx for "human" omeprazole and you purchase it from Walgreens or Walmart. They have some $4.00 generic program. However, horse may act differently to the fillers that are in generic drugs, so I would definately discuss all options with the vet. I used to ride cutting horses for a long time and I had a stud that had ulcers and I put him on Omeprazole. It worked out for us just fine, and it didn't hurt too bad financially.

[StilettosAndBoots]

OTC prilosec is $25.00 here in KC. Meh ... But I know Prescription Solutions has the ability to fill a very large quantity of omeprazole for horses and other livestock, but they will not compound it (make it into a paste).

[clipclop25]

I talked to my vet and he said the compounded omeprazole is not as effective as GastroGard.I don't know if there is a pharmacy that would do that here anyway. Plus my vet charges to write a RX. He also said that the emeprazole(for cattle) is not suggested for horses as horses have a different ph in their stomachs. He did not advise it at all for horses.

[StilettosAndBoots]

One place I get my supplemets from is http://www.horsewarehouse.com/. Scroll down on the main page until you reach ulcer prevention. You'll find some discounted prices. I've never had any problems with them.

[pbs]

I've heard really good things about neigh-lox, though I've never used it our vet recommends it very highly.

[Anke]

I talked to my vet and he said the compounded omeprazole is not as effective as GastroGard.I don't know if there is a pharmacy that would do that here anyway. Plus my vet charges to write a RX. He also said that the emeprazole(for cattle) is not suggested for horses as horses have a different ph in their stomachs. He did not advise it at all for horses.

Omeprazole is Omeprazole. I asked my Vet that same question and that was the answer I got. It works!

[ASB_EQ_Gal]

You can use Slippery Elm Bark (powdered) mixed into feed along with Aloe Vera juice. Up to 2 T of SEB and a C of AV juice - keeps the meds at bay, and won't ever turn up on a drug test.

Just saw this. My gelding is on Gastrix at home but is not allowed to show on it because it has a forbidden substance so we have to put him on the Ulcer Guard for the shows which can get expensive. Would this be a better alternative money wise?

[saddlebred-lady]

Figaro is absolutely right -- I just saw this thread. I did have a horse suffer from severe ulcers. After a long course of Gastro-Gard, which worked great, my vet strongly recommended giving her plain ole' baking soda -- a tablespoon or two a day, mixed in her feed. He said "There are a lot of good products on the market, most of them work pretty well, but baking soda works as well or better and it's a heck of a lot cheaper." Boy did I appreciate that after all the money spent on Gastro-Gard ... and it worked great.

The other thing I was advised was to keep hay in front of her 24/7, which I have done (when she doesn't have access to pasture). This way her stomach is never empty and thus the acids can't build up. I stopped giving her baking soda last year, but of course have continued with the hay -- she has done great.

Incidentally, the vets at Purdue told me it's a misconception that ulcers are definitely caused by stress ... in fact they don't know what causes ulcers ... could be viral, could be bacterial, possibly stress ... but they know horses in high stress situations who never get ulcers, and horses living an idyllic life who have terrible ulcers. Interestingly, a horse can have severe ulcers and never show signs .. . and conversely can have only a minor, small ulcer and get emaciated.

[Mona129]

I thought of a question reading all the awesome responses. Curiousity got me. I wonder what the therapeutic dose is for Omeprazole. Often times we overdose the animals, including vaccinosis. Is it possible for a lesser dosage to be equally therapeutic? I don't like chemicals, use them if they are needed but if I can use one and its as effective as ten, well? I'd rather give one. The less chemicals I put in their bodies, the better, if it can be avoided. Hmmm I'll probably see my vet tomorrow, I should ask him.

[clipclop25]

I ran into my old trainer at the UPHA convention in New Orleans today. He also told me to give my horse baking soda. So I am going to give that a try. I am surprised it only takes a tablespoon or so. Glad that is all it takes.

[scrtwh]

I second the baking soda, in addition, soaked beet pulp. Gives as much if not more of the Ca that alfalfa does without the excess protein, also gets more fluids in your horse, ALWAYS a good thing.

[kittymom]

Bumping this topic up again as I have a rescue that we suspect has ulcers. He has all of the symptoms except colic issues. He was rescued from a situation wherein all he received was a few handfuls of HAY per day, very little water and who knows what, if any type of grain product. He was literally skin and bones when the rescue org. found him.

My question is for those of you who tout the baking soda remedy, do you still feel as strongly about it? Just want to be sure there's no chance of harmful side effects.

Thanks!