My 14 yr. old hard keeper has all the symptoms of ulcers and I was thinking why not just treat him rather than pay for the scope avoid risks the risks of perferation . Anyone done that?
I’m curious. Other than going “off feed”, what are the symptoms of ulcers?
Thanks.
[QUOTE=walkers;8482030]
My 14 yr. old hard keeper has all the symptoms of ulcers and I was thinking why not just treat him rather than pay for the scope avoid risks the risks of perferation . Anyone done that?[/QUOTE]
If you have the money I advise the scope. IME I have never used the scope to find out if they have ulcers - I’ve used it to figure out how bad they are. It was invaluable to see how bad some of them were compared to how little symptoms the horses displayed.
For the horses that I wasn’t 100% convinced I did do a few rounds of UG/GG and would wean off if there was no difference after a week.
I’ve had two horses that we suspected ulcers and treated without scoping.
First one, coach recommended a course of ranitidine and it made a tremendous difference immediately. We switched to omeprazole for a while, and still put him back on it during periods of stress or transition.
Second horse is a neurotic little mare that is not great about vets, moves, or anything outside her little bubble. Scoping would have meant trailering to the clinic for the procedure and our vet (during farm call) drew blood and ruled out other potential causes for her issues. So we started treating with ranitidine/omeprazole and saw improved appetite and overall outlook, so I’m happy with our course of action.
as for common ulcer symptoms: weight loss, appetite loss, hard keeper, spooky, teeth grinding, girthiness or unaccepting of leg aids. All of these or none of these.
Thanks, ElementFarm.
I’m currently 10 days in, I’m treating with the Abler pop rocks. He’s out 24/7 with free choice hay.
From the outside he looks like a quiet, lazy guy, but I’ve had him since he was a yearly and I can tell when he’s internalizing anxiety. Through no fault of his own he had a not so great trailering experience, and then was shipped across Canada when I moved, followed by a few away clinics. Over that period he got a little spookier and a lot girthier. We’re both sick of it so I just decided to treat for ulcers and I’m having saddle reps out.
Yup.
One horse was colicky, went off his feed, didn’t want to drink, and dehydrated so we took him to Mario DuPont where he was scoped as part of the diagnostics. Had severe ulcers, so of course we treated.
Another horse, normally very laid back and kind, because extremely reactive, spooky, explosive to mount and ride (bucking, tense, bolting, etc.) so I went ahead and treated for ulcers with success. He started returning to “normal” about a week into it. He already had his saddle professionally fitted and recently adjusted by the chiropractor so I knew that wasn’t the problem.
If you think your horse has ulcers, I don’t think it would hurt to start treating for ulcers and see how they do after about a week. Try alfalfa hay too. If no change after a week or so, maybe go ahead and scope.
Last year my TB showed every symptom of ulcers…he was also on stall rest and a pretty neurotic creature on the best of days, so I asked our vet about gastrogard. She usually recommends scoping horses before the first dose, but the holidays were coming up quick and she said “you know what, let’s just start him - if there is ANY horse in my practice that has ulcers, it’s yours. If you don’t see a difference in 72 hrs, I’ll scope him the day after Christmas.”
Started the GG and lo and behold, he stopped showing symptoms after two days. We were all pretty happy, especially the barn owner who didn’t have to deal with an extremely cranky 17.3 hh beast! The vet scoped him at the end of the 30 days to find…the cleanest GI tract she had ever seen. No ulcers whatsoever. Still not sure if I want to laugh or cry over this.
She felt bad, so she gave me a discount on the GG, but it was still a pretty expensive “whoops.” Get the scope, the $300 might save you $1000!!!
yes, I did. walked and talked like a duck. Decided it was likely a duck. Treated with GG and symptoms went away.
I used to treat without scoping, but never again. Mine is on month 8 of treatment, and his ulcers aren’t healed yet. If I had done one or even two months of Gastroguard and assumed he was healed - I’d have thrown money away, and I wouldn’t have known he still had a serious problem.
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We use a very reputable experienced sport horse (Olympic Team) Vet. If anyone knows a horse with ulcers he does.
He very rarely recommends the scoping procedure as he is pretty certain he knows what he is dealing with already when it gets to that point.
He does recommend a 30 day treatment of GastroGuard if he suspects ulcers. $1,000.00 US per month is a great price by the way! Cost me almost $1,400.00 CDN for 30 days of treatment given the horrible US/Canadian exchange rate right now. Not including the Vet call and examination fee.
Still…MUCH happier horse! Happy owner.
Ulcers are one of those tricky things. We had one horse in our who never cared in the world about being girthy. For some other reason cant remember why he was coped and the vet said he had the most ulcers she had ever seen. Never showed symptoms. If your unsure scope, If your confident do as jumper princess said and try it for a few days and see if theres improvement.
Certainly it is done quite frequently. Some owners don’t want to spend the money on scoping or have other reasons why they don’t. It’s something to discuss with your vet so that you can weigh the risks vs. benefit.
Yes, I’m doing it now after spending a grand on lameness evaluations, chiro, massage and body work, and professionally re-fitting my saddle, after my mare has started having major issues under saddle (wouldn’t go forward, anxious, spooky, etc).
I wish I treated her weeks ago!
[QUOTE=joiedevie99;8482420]
I used to treat without scoping, but never again. Mine is on month 8 of treatment, and his ulcers aren’t healed yet. If I had done one or even two months of Gastroguard and assumed he was healed - I’d have thrown money away, and I wouldn’t have known he still had a serious problem.[/QUOTE]
Same!
Yes, just finished treating one pony. Tried omeprazole for a few days to see if there would be a noticeable improvement in disposition (girthy, cranky when flanks brushed, picky at feeding) and
noticed a big change for the positive so continued for a month. I did run this by my vet first and they were on board with the idea.
Yes.
Vet treated with Cimetidine 3x a day for a month.
Since then horse has been on a U-Gard supplement and will likely be on it for life, and is fed free choice hay.
Okay - another dumb question.
Can ulcers heal without medication?
I have treated without scoping - but would never do it for eight months (or more then 30 days). You should see some improvement within the week, and a lot of improvement in 30 days.
The reason I would treat this way - first of all, ulcer symptoms can be pretty obvious. And I’d have to haul a few hours to get to a vet with a scope, which is more stress on the horse. And 30 days of Omeprazole will not hurt your horse. I would talk to your vet before doing it of course. And if there is anything unusual presenting in your horse, I’d probably scope and/or do other tests first.
My mare gets stressed about stuff - she lives outdoors, she is fed multiple times/day, but she is typical ulcer horse when she’s stressed about things. Such as hauling a long ways, stabling at a show or clinic, etc. So I keep Abler pop rocks on hand, and keep her tummy feeling better when we are showing or clinicing away from home.
My understanding is it is highly unlikely that ulcers will cure on their own. I never say “never or always”, but I think the odds are not good.
WE treated with Ranitidine for 30 days then scoped. Four days in the symptoms were greatly reduced. Scope at the end confirmed he was clear. Also added a slow feed hay net to his routine to ensure he always had something to “graze” on.
