I suspect my horse has ulcers and am going to schedule a gastroscopy this week. So assuming my horse does have ulcers and I have to give gastrogard, I am presented with an issue. He is freakishly good at avoiding tubed medicine. He has an ability to spit it out or jerk his head away at the last second that I have never experienced before. When he was a baby he was REALLY bad and syringing treats like maple syrup into his mouth helped (I can no longer do that be cause he was diagnosed with PSSM-1) but he’s still a turd. Is there any tricks like treats I can squirt it into or something to help get the meds into him?
It’s actually not that bad tasting. He might just lick it.
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My horse was the pickiest but gastroguard/ulcerguard he never spit out… gobbled the stuff like candy once I syringed it in! Once he got used to it, I never had to put a halter on (I used it to stop him from moving) as he’d stand there and open his mouth for it!
Honestly, I don’t believe there’s an alternative way to feed it! Make sure you have a halter on to hold him steady, stand next to him on the left side GG in left hand, hold halter on right side of face lower down on the cheek piece and then put the syringe into the side of his mouth toward the back left (make sure it’s in far enough) and push the plunger as fast as possible…… chances are by starting calm, moving slow the first few times he won’t mind and he will lick it up!
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Do you have a twitch available to you ? Easy enough to have someone just hold it on and give just the lightest bit of pressure needed while you squirt the medicine in.
That stuff is too pricy to waste that is for sure.
I’m right handed and find it easier to stand on the horse’s right. With my younger horse I hook my left thumb under the halter below the side ring (fingers towards his nose, back of the hand facing me) and slip my first two fingers in the corner of his mouth. Then open his mouth by spreading those two fingers, and slip the syringe in. I’m not holding his head with the thumb on the halter, just stabilizing my hand to keep it in position as he lifts his head.
He’s fine with the GG and Sucralfate. It’s the misoprostal he doesn’t like.
Can you use apple sauce to train him to the squirting?
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My horse loved it. Not like wormer or bute at all.
Not ideal but when I was out of town and our caretakers did not want to give Gastrogard I had them just squeeze out the amount onto a tiny bit of grain. Since it doesn’t seem to taste bad my horse ate it right up.
Gastrogard needs to be given on an empty stomach to be most effective, so mixing with any sort of feed will reduce its effectiveness. I would agree that most horses do not object to the taste, so I would see if he will tolerate just squirting it in his mouth first. If he really objects, then mixing with the tiniest bit of grain may be okay. But the ideal protocol for giving Gastro/Ulcergard is fasting for at least 4 hours so the stomach can empty, and then waiting 30 minutes to an hour after dosage before feeding again. This facebook page is a great resource for ulcer treatment and management! https://www.facebook.com/equineulcerresearch
Have you looked into doing Nexium instead?
Given the “empty stomach” mandate, this isn’t ideal, but when I had to have my not-entirely horse-savvy mother give my pony Marquis (for epm) while I was traveling, I had her squirt the dose onto a slice of bread, then fold the bread over the paste and hand feed the Marquis that way. Pony happily ate her “sandwich” and mother didn’t have to deal with syringing anything in.
YMMV
Just wanted to update this thread. I have given medication hundreds of times to many horses and my guy was definitely the worst. He still HATES the taste of the gastrogard but I dip the tip in molasses and that has greatly helped. He no longer puts up much of a fight.
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Great! My horse used to love ulcer guard so much that when I went around the shedrow dosing horses, if he was walking by and see me he would stop; raise his head, put his lip out, and flatten his ears like a donkey; and refuse to move until I came over and gave him some. He thought it a great treat. That was at the racetrack, the hot walkers had no idea what he was doing and thought there was something wrong with him. I did too, at first, until I realized he just wanted some paste. If he wasn’t on the list to get it that day, I would just stick the tip in his mouth—there was usually a little on there—and he would be satisfied with that and start walking again. 
