Hi all, could greatly use some advice! My horse was colicky earlier this week. The vet came out and tubed him and also did a succeed fecal blood test, which came back positive for both stomach and hindgut ulcers. He has had a history of ulcers- I got him a year ago and he had grade 1 and 2 squamous ulcers, after 60 days of gastrogard and sucralfate still no improvement, switched to misoprostol and treated him for another 60 days then tapered and he had been showing no signs of ulcers after (he is a super sensitive horse, if something is bothering him he lets everyone know!). Fast forward 8 months during which he had been a happy, healthy horse to about 2 weeks ago and suddenly he is girthy and grumpy when I brush him or ask him to trot in the ring or on a lunge (he’s happy to move out on the trail though). There had been no changes in diet, routine, etc. so I started wondering if maybe the behavior, colic and positive fecal blood test could be from small strongyles hatching? I’m back to misoprostol as well as supplements to support stomach and hindgut health and I ordered a Panacur powerpac but is it safe to worm him now? And would it make sense that small strongyles hatching are causing this? He had a fecal done which came back moderate positive (525) for strongyles. The more I learn the more I realize I don’t know and my vet hasn’t been particularly helpful. Any thoughts are much appreciated!
If he’s happy on the trail I can’t imagine he’s in that much discomfort. Do you do walk trot canter in the trail or just walk?
I like to feed a flake of hay before I ride. It soaks up the stomach acid a bit.
I have never heard of strongyles causing fecal blood results but it’s an interesting question. What do the Succeed people say? If this is true it kind of invalidates the ulcer fecal blood test as all horses have strongyles.
I’ve always just used Quest Plus to knock out encysted strongyles. Certainly a horse should be wormed on minimum once or twice a year and I’ve never heard that you can’t work a horse with a history of ulcers. I don’t think wormer impacts ulcers.
Yes, I would worm him based on that fecal regardless of the ulcer history/issue. I would also go back to the miso if that has worked for him in the past. The fecal occult blood test is suggestive, but not reliable in terms of diagnosing ulcers. I’ve never heard of worms causing false positives, but I can see how it might be possible.
I know plenty of horses whose ulcers seem more related to the weather/season change than any diet/stress issue. I also had a horse with grade 3 ulcers who showed symptoms when putting on the girth/mounting/working in the ring, but not in the fields or on the trail. Who knows whether it was stress, or his level of enjoyment of the activity, that allowed him to ignore the pain sometimes, but the scope did not lie.
Worms can certainly cause ulcers – my older horse developed ulcers from a high worm load & had to stay on ranitidine for the rest of his competitive career.
I don’t know the answer to the test result question, so can’t comment on that.
Cyathostominosis is the emergence is cyathostomes/small strongles from their encysted state. This leaves little ulcerations where they emerged. And yes, this can result on occult fecal blood. It’s definitely not something gastric ulcer medications will great, but certainly something sucralfate can help heal.
It’s ALSO why I don’t recommend a Power Pack. The PP will kill the encysted cyathostomes, causing them to decay in place and cause those same little ulcers. On the other hand, Quest will paralyze them, causing them to let go and be expelled.
Yes, this is why my vet insisted I use Quest.
I’ve been thru the hindgut ulcer mess as well. Followed vets advice ~ put my boys on all the popular prescriptions, many already mentioned, but saw little improvement. So I followed my own gut ~ stopped the meds, did a power pak (for possible encysted strongyles) followed by probiotics and added aloe vera juice, French green clay and Excel to their soupy bran mixture. Also tried acupuncture and a variety of herbs. Exercise seemed to benefit my guys after they stopped chewing on their right sides. And I agree with Scribbler, feeding hay prior to exercise seems to help with excess acid. Keeping grass hay in front of mine throughout the day was also beneficial. Good luck to you! I know how frustrating it can be.
It takes time but healing is certainly possible. With my guys, it looks like I will always be managing ulcer issues. Eventually you will find something that works for your unique situation. Keep researching, follow your heart and be prepared to step out of the box if necessary.
Thanks all, this is really helpful! I give hay and purina outlast before riding which I think helps. I thought I had this ulcer thing under control which is what makes the last few weeks so frustrating! I was surprised too that he would go from behavioral issues with grade 1/2 ulcers to being fine for 8 months to 2 weeks of signs the ulcers were back and then this succeed test showing fecal blood (which would indicate bleeding ulcers right?) so hoping this isn’t ulcers at all and instead related to small strongyles which seem easier to treat…
With my ulcer prone boys, all have tested positive (Succeed) in the past for bleeding hind gut ulcers, I power pak in the spring with Panacur followed with Quest 10 days later. Maybe horses that have had gastric and/or hindgut ulcers are more prone to encysted strongyles? I don’t know…
Why?
Just use QP to start, and take care of everything without the cyathostominosis issue. A PP isn’t going to kill tapeworms or bots, QP will.
