Aloe Vera Juice as a Treatment for Ulcers?

[LookinSouth]

[QUOTE=LDavis104;7239419]

A cribber + an excessively gassy horse seems like a ticking time bomb for colic IMO… I just know of a couple of horses with classic ulcer symptoms that ended up having life-ending colics so that’s always in the back of my mind :([/QUOTE]

Ditto! I would not waste time trying this, that and the other thing with a cribber/gassy horse. Aloe vera juice might be helpful as a supplement post ulcer treatment but it is not a known “treatment” of ulcers. If you cannot afford to scope I would order 30 days of Abler pop rocks (omeprazole) and put him on the full treatment dose of 3 packets a day for 30 days and buy enough to taper off for several weeks too. A horse that cribs and is also gassy I would bet money has ulcers. For preventative purposes after treatment a supplement like Ugard, Smart GUT, GUT etc… would probably be helpful.

[yellowbritches]

I had a horse in my care who had ulcers (scoped), was treated, scoped again to determine they were gone (I guess it was a pretty severe) case, and arrived in my care on a daily preventative dose of UG. The trainer who rode him is a big believer in aloe, and she decided to try it on him. We both noticed a big improvement in his attitude, weight, and overall health. While we made a lot of changes for the better in his care, the aloe definitely had something to do with it, as we ran out once and it was a few days before we got more. He got a little crappy in that time. So, it definitely helped somehow.

All that being said, the horse was confirmed ulcers, treated, and healed AND on a preventative dose of UG. The aloe helped sooth his stomach but it did not “treat” ulcers. If I suspected ulcers, I would go to some for of omeprazole FIRST, then consider something like aloe or the other supplements on the market after.

[cripplecreekfrm]

Years ago I had a TB mare that I treated for ulcers and was confirmed ulcer free. I kept her on 60cc’s of aloe vera juice as suggested by my then vet to keep her happy. I don’t think it will cure ulcers but I do think that does help keep them at bay if you have one that is ulcer proned.

[SuckerForHorses]

How many of you added aloe juice AND changed management practices after discovering your horse had ulcers?

How many of you added aloe juice and kept everything else the same?

Unless the ONLY CHANGE was the addition of aloe juice, you have absolutely no way to tell if its the aloe juice keeping them from getting ulcers again, or another change in your management practice (i.e. more turnout, more hay, less stress, grain with a lower NSC, etc.)

My guess is that most people make some management changes as well as the addition of this supplement and that supplement.

Food for thought.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=rockfordbuckeye;7241007]
I would be careful as many commercial aloe vera juices are likely mostly water and may have citric juices added for flavoring which would be a kind of obvious no-no. I would be curious to take some pH paper to the juices being used…[/QUOTE]

I did a pH lesson with my kids and we tested aloe vera juice and it was acidic. I’m sure it’s lower than stomach acid…but I was surprised. (Although, it tasted sour to me as well).

If I were going to just do something cheap and “over the counter” for ulcers, I’d use an antacid instead of aloe vera juice.

[salymandar]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;7241690]
How many of you added aloe juice AND changed management practices after discovering your horse had ulcers?

How many of you added aloe juice and kept everything else the same?

Unless the ONLY CHANGE was the addition of aloe juice, you have absolutely no way to tell if its the aloe juice keeping them from getting ulcers again, or another change in your management practice (i.e. more turnout, more hay, less stress, grain with a lower NSC, etc.)

My guess is that most people make some management changes as well as the addition of this supplement and that supplement.

Food for thought.[/QUOTE]

In my case, no confirmed ulcers, but a suddenly spooky/balky horse who was horribly sensitive horse when touched in the girth area while being treated with doxy. Horse was practically on 24/7 turnout with a handful of low NSC grain each day. If not turned out in a beautiful field, he had hay in front of him at all times. His life included moderate exercise 5 or 6 days a week and was less stressful than it had ever been. Horse was very happy and unstressed until behavior change related to medication. AVJ was given for 3 or 4 days before omeprazole arrived. By day 2 he was almost normal. Changes in management were not made as horse stayed normal throughout a long doxy treatment with just AVJ after a course of omeprazole.

I know it is anecdotal, but I noticed relief the next day with no other changes. I believe it also helped keep my horse happy after omeprazole treatment while my horse was still being treated with doxy. This treatment was supported by my vet, who is suspicious of ulcers or at the very least irritation caused by meds.

I also support my horse’s hindgut with smart digest ultra. After trying many things, my horse seems to do best on smart digest, with aloe vera and omeprazole during stressful times. Oh, and making sure he has hay, grass, or grain in front of him at all times. Even when on grass 24/7, he was less cranky when he received small grain meals. I have no idea what the grain meals mean for his stomach health, but I sure noticed a difference in his attitude when we tried to cut them back. Fortunately his metabolism is such that he is not a hard or easy keeper.

[Prime_Time_Rider]

After a week of feeding my horse 4 oz of aloe vera juice on top of his feed twice daily, he definitely seems less “gassy”. Nothing else has changed in his routine or feed. It’s difficult to determine if he is cribbing less.

[alto]

[QUOTE=Prime Time Rider;7249282]
After a week of feeding my horse 4 oz of aloe vera juice on top of his feed twice daily, he definitely seems less “gassy”. Nothing else has changed in his routine or feed. It’s difficult to determine if he is cribbing less.[/QUOTE]

If you do some online searching you should come across some studies that observed maximum effects for the aloe juice in combination with (I think) liquorice & slippery elm (or marshmallow root?) - amounts & timing are also discussed … I came across this while looking for something else & just did a little reading but no bookmarks etc.

[rockfordbuckeye]

[QUOTE=alto;7249312]
If you do some online searching you should come across some studies that observed maximum effects for the aloe juice in combination with (I think) liquorice & slippery elm (or marshmallow root?) - amounts & timing are also discussed … I came across this while looking for something else & just did a little reading but no bookmarks etc.[/QUOTE]

Careful with the licorice - it can act as a mineralocorticoid and cause very serious side effects in large doses.

[hat]

Aloe vera juice success

This post may be too old to reply too, but I just came across it.
Yes I have a success story re aloe vera. My horse was at livery on a busy yard. In at night and out in the day, only lightly schooled every week and 8 yrs old at the time. Quite a stressy horse but never had probs before in the ulcer department. Never been fed grains either and was on ad lib hay.
After noticing certain symptoms, I had him scoped. He had 32 ulcers in his lower stomach. It was recommended that he had gastroguard (which at the time back then was well over £1000). My insurance would not cover it and whislt I was trying to raise the money to buy it myself, I needed to try other things in the mean time.
An international breeder of dressage horses recommended that he had 4 capfuls of aloe vera juice twice a day in chaff. Nothing else in his routine changed. I was not able to turn him out fully due to lack of space in the fields. I also kept riding him lightly every week to stop himgoing insane.
After 3 months of this I had him re-scoped and all of the ulcers had gone. So to summarise - just chaff and aloe vera juice.
I have also had success using aloe vera juice with one of my mares who had re-curring laminitis. No one knew why she kept getting it.Negative to cushings and EMS and kept totally off grass in a dry lot.Lightly ridden on the soft again when she was sound.
I put her on aloe vera juice and after 3 months she was able to graze with her buddies for 12 hrs a day in a 4 acre field,without any symptoms of laminitis. I did read somewhere that aloe vera helps the digestion of fructose in the gut. But I really cannot find that journal again unfortunately.
So yes I would recommend aloe vera. I am now also an equine vet myself, and whilst us vets do go down the ‘drug’ route, I also tell my clients to try aloe vera also, as it may benefit that individual horse.

[janisc]

[QUOTE=Prime Time Rider;7239249]
I don’t know for a fact if my semi-retired horse has ulcers, but he is a regular and persistent cribber despite all day (or night) turn out and wearing a cribing collar 24/7. I read somewhere that a high percentage of horses who crib have ulcers.

Recently, my horse seems to be cribbing more often. Nothing has changed in his routine or feeding program. A friend of mine mentioned to me that he has used aloe vera juice to treat ulcers in horses. Has anyone out there had success using aloe vera juice to treat ulcers? If so, how much do you feed for a 1200 pound horse.

The health food store where I purchased the aloe vera juice recommended 1 to 2 ounces daily for a human. They also said that it is good for gas, which would be a welcome benefit as this horse is typically quite gasey. Any success stories with aloe vrea juice out there?[/QUOTE]
I just joined this forum because I was looking for other uses of Aloe Vera Juice. We have a paint horse about 17 years old who (we finally guessed) was suffering from what looked like ulcer symptoms. He had been losing weight and, no matter what we tried, could not get him to gain weight. He was always hungry, looked like he was starving. Finally, a local trainer suggested 3oz of Aloe Vera juice daily and adding Amplify to his diet to encourage weight gain. We also changed to Purina Impact Senior for his grain. Within a month to 6 weeks he went from a body scale of 2 back up to his normal weight. Within 2 to 3 months he gained more weight and looks like a normal healthy horse again. In fact, he looks better than we have ever seen him.
We kind of inherited this boy from a relative going through hard times. He was always pretty grumpy, especially around feeding time. His grumpy, touchy attitude was worrisome to us and we considered selling him. After this treatment and return to health, this boy is still possessive of his feed, but most of his grumpy, threatening behavior has disappeared.
I’m still researching the benefits of Aloe and it’s continued use, but am soooo thankful for what it has done for our guy!

[rcloisonne]

Since you also made significant changes in his grain, how do you know the juice was responsible for his weight gain?

Personally, I’ve had zero luck with aloe juice for anything. I’ve read a lot of testimonials regarding it’s use. The vast majority also include significant management changes (such as mentioned in the above post) but for some reason any improvements are mainly attributed to the juice.

Aloe juice is cheap enough and fairly harmless so I suppose it won’t hurt to try - as long as the belief it’s healing anything is not assumed.

PS: I’m aware this is a zombie thread. LOL!