Best long-term ulcer treatment?

[eventer215]

I acquired a new OTTB in January. He was in great condition and had a great attitude overall, but was a picky eater, crabby about having his sides touched/groomed, and was also quite girthy. I decided to let him have more time to let down after a few initial rides to see what he was like under saddle. I also did 30 days of the Abler omeprazole (blue pop rocks) and his attitude improved almost immediately— brighter, cleaning up his grain, better for grooming, and didn’t mind being tacked up (I did some work in hand & lunging with him). Started back under saddle towards the end of the treatment and he was great. Now he’s been off the omeprazole for about two to three weeks and he’s crabby again. With the current virus situation, I don’t think it’s an emergency to take him in for scoping, but would love to hear thoughts on longer term ulcer care? I’ve thought of another 30 days of Abler, or maybe trying Succeed, or aloe Vera juice. Open to thoughts and comments, particularly if you’ve had a similar horse and something really worked for you.

also, I have him a tube of the abler omeprazole today and his demeanor improved almost immediately. so we are doing half a tube a day to see if that helps. Thanks!

[Potato]

Did you stop the omeprazole cold turkey or wean him off? Standard omeprazole dosing, if I remember correctly, involves another period of time (2 weeks ++) of steadily lowering the dose.

[Duckz]

Right, wean him off and slower than you might think. Do 1/2 tube/day for two weeks, then try backing off to 1/2 tube every other day. And so on.

[Sing_Mia_Song]

Stick with the approved product (GastroGard or UlcerGard). Otherwise you really don’t know what you’re getting. Abler is unapproved and they’ve gotten warning letters to boot. I appreciate that GG is ridiculously expensive, but at least you know unequivocally (and not anecdotally) that it really works.

[FitToBeTied]

I would keep the horse on the pop rocks. I would also look into sucralfate which is also available through Abler.

We have used Abler for years with excellent results. Back in December we had one colic and took him in. It turned out the colic was due to a feed problem. The last time he coliced he, an OTTB, had very severe ulcers. We went through two rounds of gastroguard. Then he was put on Abler omeprezole. omeprezole does nothing for hind gut ulcers and neither does GG. So we added in abler’s sucralfate because sucralfate treats hind gut. So when the horse coliced with the food issue, he was also scoped. After 8 years of Abler products he was clean.

I know there are vets and people who think the only thing that works is GG but omeprezole is omeprezole.

So for our OTTB’s they get a maintenance dose of Abler Omeprezole once a day. As they role into hunting season I add back the sucralfate as a layer of protection. I will say sucralfate is a bit of a pain to administer. It is supposed to be given one hour ahead of a meal or two hours after and should never be given at the same time as other oral meds. I mix it with some applesauce and then syringe it into them. They like the applesauce. When we finish hunting season I taper them off of the sucralfate.

[Duckz]

@FitToBeTied

So for our OTTB’s they get a maintenance dose of Abler Omeprezole once a day.

What are you using as a maintenance dose? Pop rocks or paste?

[ClassyJumper]

Redmonds daily gold was a savior for my ottb mare. It sounds too good to be true but it really does work. I was sick of the omeprazole roller coaster and started my mare on it on a whim and havent had any issues since.

[gardenie]

I have gone down many roads and ended up going no grain. I feed based on this veterinarian’s idea

https://www.equinenutrition.thehorsesadvocate.com/horsemanship-nutrition-offer

It was a real leap to go here, but once I went over the edge, I found there was no reason to go back. No more omeprazole. My feed program now is simple and cheap. My horses have never looked and behaved better. I did do the nutrition course so I could understand the ideas, and the class has paid for itself in saving on supplements and meds that didn’t work. Good luck to you.

[FitToBeTied]

@Duckz

What are you using as a maintenance dose? Pop rocks or paste?

pop rocks. It’s easy to just dump them in the feed.

[ala359]

I know a few people who have had good luck with the omeprazole injections ( I believe it’s a series of three). Obviously you would have to wait until a vet comes out but it’s another option long term.

I was also going to suggest the diet changes that gardenie posted from the equine nutrition group above. Diet and lifestyle changes will help to manage it long term- living outside or as much turnout possible with friends, 24/7 forage and as little concentrated feed as possible. Some nutritionists are thinking that commercial feeds with GMO ingredients are covered in round up and that is adding to ulcer issues.

It may also help to give a few good handfuls of Alfalox with a cup of aloe juice (can get it at Walmart) prior to riding so that there’s a buffer in his belly!

Good luck, I’ve been there and know how frustrating this can be:(

[eventer215]

thanks everybody for the replies! I guess I didn’t realize they would require a maintenance dose after the 30-day treatment. Interesting, as I had a different horse go through the entire scoping and 30 day gastrogard last year and the vet just said when the 30 days was up, nothing else was needed. argh.
So, he is on 1/2 tube of abler omeprazole (comparable to GG but ten bucks per tube) until his new blue pop rocks come in the mail. figure I’ll do another week at full dose then cut back to half dose and see how it goes. he is NOT stoic so it is easy to tell what works.
I do know that there is some controversy over the Abler products vs GG. All I can say is that $200 for a 30 day supply vs $1000+ for GG and it showed absolute results immediately.

Edit to add: Thank you for the nutritional info! I am definitely interested in finding out more about a grain-free diet. I am lucky that he was out 24/7 for Feb and March, and now is out for about 18 hours per day, with his best buddy.

[FitToBeTied]

Whether you need continuing maintenance depends on horse, turn-out situation, job, etc. Some horse are just more high maintenance than others. if they tend to stress easy then they are going to be prone to ulcers. Horses that get limited turnout are going to more prone to ulcers. High stress jobs like competing or fox hunting can make them more prone to ulcers.

There are a lot of factors. Basically anything that adds stress to their lives or reduces access to forage is going to add to the possibility of ulcers.

[FrittSkritt]

I used Uckele G.U.T. on my guy as a daily supplement, and made sure he got omeprazole the day before, day of, and day after any competitions. Also would give him a 60 cc syringe of some sucralfate (sp?) or straight up Corta-Flex U-Gard liquid (basically horse mylanta) before any trailer rides to lessons or gallop sets. U-Gard is magnesium so shouldn’t be used as a daily supplement but IMO it works great as a preventive if you’re only going out for a few hours.

[anon69112984]

@eventer215

I acquired a new OTTB in January. He was in great condition and had a great attitude overall, but was a picky eater, crabby about having his sides touched/groomed, and was also quite girthy. I decided to let him have more time to let down after a few initial rides to see what he was like under saddle. I also did 30 days of the Abler omeprazole (blue pop rocks) and his attitude improved almost immediately— brighter, cleaning up his grain, better for grooming, and didn’t mind being tacked up (I did some work in hand & lunging with him). Started back under saddle towards the end of the treatment and he was great. Now he’s been off the omeprazole for about two to three weeks and he’s crabby again. With the current virus situation, I don’t think it’s an emergency to take him in for scoping, but would love to hear thoughts on longer term ulcer care? I’ve thought of another 30 days of Abler, or maybe trying Succeed, or aloe Vera juice. Open to thoughts and comments, particularly if you’ve had a similar horse and something really worked for you.

also, I have him a tube of the abler omeprazole today and his demeanor improved almost immediately. so we are doing half a tube a day to see if that helps. Thanks!

Beat pulp in shreds (not pelleted) often make wonders to stomach and/or intestinal problems. Of course it is something that needs a bit of soaking in water before feeding. To me the use of beat pulp shreds is one of the most forgotten “secrets” to a healthy horse.

[olim2005]

Aloe does nothing. Alfalfa can help if fed after grain. Beet pulp. Pasture. I like Abguard. Tubing, but you can do a maintenance dose and it’s really cheap. I had great results with that.

I feel your pain, my horse always has ulcers and he is such a meanie when they flare up. lol.

[FitToBeTied]

I will second alfalfa. All of the OTTB’s are on straight alfalfa hay. The grain we use is a beat pulp based feed with no grain.

[SeattleSourcer]

I have an OTTB mare that had horrible ulcers that I battled for over a year and a half. Did GG for almost 2 months with doing the step down and then did succeed as well. She wasn’t responding to the succeed or any other “feels like millions of gut support” products I tried. during this time I had her tested for allergies as she was having skin issues. Came to find that she was allergic to Soy, Wheat, Oats and Corn. I had to get her off the succeed - however it is a good product for hind gut ulcers and you will want to check/treat for those as well. I was able to have my vet to a fecal test for blood that while isnt 100% confirmation that the uclers are gone it was cheaper and I keep checking periodically to see if there are any flare ups to be addressed. So far so good.

I reached out to an equine nutritionist and started the process of getting her on 24/7 access to feed. No grain only forage based product. I found Wild Horse products https://wildhorseproducts.com/ and the girthiness, not being able to groom her sides and her disposition changed when I started her on Tummy B Calm. I do think that you need to heal before you can move to something more natural. It took me over a year to get her where she is now but I am very happy with the results.

She is now on a forage based diet with hay 24/7 we don’t have access to pasture for our turn out where she is but she looks really good and seems very happy now.

[pegasusmom]

After watching Gardenie and Badger switch over to the grain free plan, for Badger it was literally a life saver, we took the opportunity to give it a spin during the shutdown. None of the three we have here who work for a living get grain. The advanced driving pony, an air fern, gets strictly a cup of ration balancer, treats are zero sugar. He absolutely does not tolerate alfalfa in any form, gets bizzaro on it. The other two, a 20 year old Holsteiner and a 15 year old Australian Stock Horse, have been grain free for three weeks now. These guys are training level eventers, Holsteiner had a confirmed pyloric ulcer in the spring of 2019, treated twice $$$😱 in the last year. The Aussie is a 🔥mare. Have seen changes in both horses, increased rideability, less grumpiness. Too soon to tell how this is going to translate once shows start back up, but grain free certainly isn’t hurting them.

As you travel down the ulcer path, take a moment to learn about the equine stomach and how and where it protects itself. And of course the best quality hay you can afford is never a bad thing.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

I’ve got one with chronic ulcers…treated him numerous times with GG and misoprostol. He’s been scoped several times. He is otherwise on everything else you are supposed to do to prevent ulcers (Outlast, other supplements, always has hay, lots of turn out, alfalfa etc). Still got them again (we treated for MONTHS on a tube as day of GG and backed of slowly…lived on a half a tube for a long long time). We did EVERYTHING one could do… We are shifting him to grain free. I’ve had success with one of my others going grain free and just Renew Gold. These are high energy working TBs who were getting a lot of grain before the switch. That first horse put weight on…so I”m hoping this guy will do well and maintain his body condition.

[Hilarycarey]

I have had good results and have heard of others liking MadBarn visceral for ulcers. Maybe do gastroguard then try switching to the visceral? That way if he relapses or not you will know for sure if the pellets work for your horse!