Will keep the details to a minimum for obvious reasons but a horse at the same barn as mine has untreated ulcers. Owner is aware that the horse has ulcers but can’t afford to treat them.
Horse is losing weight and looking uncomfortable.
So, my question. What’s the most cost effective ulcer treatment. If the owner will agree to it a couple of us will chip in to get the meds but want to keep the cost down as much as possible, since people are doing this out of pure generosity.
There are a few options:
Ranitidine - you can get powder from the vet, or buy human pills at Costco. It is supposed to be fed 3x/day roughly equally spaced. If this isn’t possible, some people have luck with 2x/day roughly 12 hours apart even though this isn’t ideal.
Omeprazole - You can order Abprazole granules from Abler. You add the correct number of packets by weight to the 1x/day. Has no approvals in the US. HorsePreRace also sells syringes of omeprazole (unapproved).
Your best bet is likely generic omeprazole. The Abler comes in individual packets, and for your average 1200lb horse, the treatment dose is 3 sachets a day, which is like $6/day vs the almost $9/day that ulcerguard is.
[QUOTE=Denzel;8916056]
Your best bet is likely generic omeprazole. The Abler comes in individual packets, and for your average 1200lb horse, the treatment dose is 3 sachets a day, which is like $6/day vs the almost $9/day that ulcerguard is.[/QUOTE]
FYI - the $9/day ulcergard/gastrogard is only for the prevention dose (1/4 tube/day). To actually treat ulcers with either ulcergard or gastrogard, you need to dose 1 whole tube/day, which is >$20 per day.
[QUOTE=theresak;8916060]
FYI - the $9/day ulcergard/gastrogard is only for the prevention dose (1/4 tube/day). To actually treat ulcers with either ulcergard or gastrogard, you need to dose 1 whole tube/day, which is >$20 per day.[/QUOTE]
Right. The cheapest I have found Ulcergard is around $28 per tube and you need at least one full tube per day for the average horse.
We treated one elderly horse who developed stomach ulcers fairly cheaply in terms of dollars but at a cost of considerable time. Vet worked with the local pharmacist to supply superstrength famotidine (so we could use fewer pills for each dose). A bottle of 500 was around $50 (blessed pharmacist sold them to us at cost). Horse also got tums (could use feed lime but it doesn’t taste as good). Half hour before each meal the horse was pasted with a syringe of powdered tablets and powdered tums. This particular horse was fed meals because he had no useful teeth left and had to have soaked feed at regular intervals as his nutrition.
Talk to your vet. I had to treat my horse and just couldn’t afford the brand name treatment. Was going to consider racehorsemeds.com or prehorserace.com but my vet mentioned they have access to a generic version from a legit vet pharmacy for $250 for a month of treatment - which was much more reasonable for me and more reassuring than just ordering online.
Ditto on the $28/tube - from Valley Vet - and they say its on sale so I don’t know how long that price will last. I just finished up treating my horse. Ugh. :o
Thank you for the suggestions.
Pretty sure the barn vet is coming out this week to do some vaccines and teeth. If he could get the generic at a better price that would be ideal.
She pulled the horse off turnout and is feed grain to try increase his weight. The BM wasn’t aware of the ulcer issue so I’ve mentioned it to her and she’s gonna tell the owner to cut the grain and feed more hay and put him back on turnout with the seniors (who won’t run the horse off his hay).
If the vet can get the meds at a good price I’ll just go ahead and buy a month supply. If owner still refuses to treat I can always just donate the meds to a rescue.
[QUOTE=joiedevie99;8916055]
There are a few options:
Ranitidine - you can get powder from the vet, or buy human pills at Costco. It is supposed to be fed 3x/day roughly equally spaced. If this isn’t possible, some people have luck with 2x/day roughly 12 hours apart even though this isn’t ideal.
Omeprazole - You can order Abprazole granules from Abler. You add the correct number of packets by weight to the 1x/day. Has no approvals in the US. HorsePreRace also sells syringes of omeprazole (unapproved).[/QUOTE]
This.
I will NOT feed any omeprazole that’s compounded powder. The Abler granules at least have an enteric coating whereas the powders, well, who knows if that omeprazole makes it through the stomach alive. :lol:
Ranitidine is easier to get, I have actually found that Walmart OTC is by far the cheapest place to get it. You must calculate the actual price/milligram to be able to compare apples to apples in terms of prices at varying vendors.
[QUOTE=joiedevie99;8916055]
There are a few options:
Ranitidine - you can get powder from the vet, or buy human pills at Costco. It is supposed to be fed 3x/day roughly equally spaced. If this isn’t possible, some people have luck with 2x/day roughly 12 hours apart even though this isn’t ideal.
Omeprazole - You can order Abprazole granules from Abler. You add the correct number of packets by weight to the 1x/day. Has no approvals in the US. HorsePreRace also sells syringes of omeprazole (unapproved).[/QUOTE]
Listed above are your best options. Walmart was cheapest place for Rantadine, cheaper than the vet. I just mixed in some flax and aloe and horse licked bucket clean.
I have GREAT NEWS for you!!! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24761780
http://www.doctorramey.com/use-less-ulcer-medication/
The 1/4 tube a day of Gastrogard/Ulcergard CAN treat ulcers. You still need to go 30 days. Scientific study done abroad. I’m sure it made Merial’s day.
You’re welcome. 
Rantadine 3x a day is good, but spacing 8 hours a part is a PITA. Also, Ulcergard/gastrogard takes several days to kick in, so starting with both for three days is a good idea. Finally, rantadine is actually better than gastrogard if you suspect hind gut ulcer.
I buy 2 packs of rantadine at Costco.
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8916293]
I have GREAT NEWS for you!!! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24761780
http://www.doctorramey.com/use-less-ulcer-medication/
The 1/4 tube a day of Gastrogard/Ulcergard CAN treat ulcers. You still need to go 30 days. Scientific study done abroad. I’m sure it made Merial’s day.
You’re welcome. ;)[/QUOTE]
Thank you - this is very interesting. I wonder about treating without scoping for 5-7 days to see if there is symptom improvement with a full tube and backing down to 1/4 tube for 25 days…
Does anyone know what other treatment could help with glandular ulceration, because there was significantly less healing of glandular ulceration? And can someone tell if there was less healing of glandular ulceration at all three dose levels or just the lower dose levels?
If anyone has access to the entire article and not just the abstract, I’d love to see it. I wonder what they mean by “brief fast.”
Alfalfa cubes (soaked) at a rate of 2-3lbs/day.
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8916293]
I have GREAT NEWS for you!!! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24761780
http://www.doctorramey.com/use-less-ulcer-medication/
The 1/4 tube a day of Gastrogard/Ulcergard CAN treat ulcers. You still need to go 30 days. Scientific study done abroad. I’m sure it made Merial’s day.
You’re welcome.
Rantadine 3x a day is good, but spacing 8 hours a part is a PITA. Also, Ulcergard/gastrogard takes several days to kick in, so starting with both for three days is a good idea. Finally, rantadine is actually better than gastrogard if you suspect hind gut ulcer.
I buy 2 packs of rantadine at Costco.[/QUOTE]
Thank you!! That makes a huge difference
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8916293]
I have GREAT NEWS for you!!! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24761780
http://www.doctorramey.com/use-less-ulcer-medication/
The 1/4 tube a day of Gastrogard/Ulcergard CAN treat ulcers. You still need to go 30 days. Scientific study done abroad. I’m sure it made Merial’s day.
You’re welcome.
Rantadine 3x a day is good, but spacing 8 hours a part is a PITA. Also, Ulcergard/gastrogard takes several days to kick in, so starting with both for three days is a good idea. Finally, rantadine is actually better than gastrogard if you suspect hind gut ulcer.
I buy 2 packs of rantadine at Costco.[/QUOTE]
Not that I wouldn’t think it wonderful to be able to treat with a lower size dose and therefore a lower cost, but I believe the product used was NOT UlcerGard/GastroGard, and that might not mean the same outcome if something different was used in that study.
Good point SuckerForHorses. Thank you.
This again? 
Not GastroGard. They used a product that isn’t available in the US and has a higher bioavailability–something like 25% higher.
Sure, go ahead and apply this to gastrogard if you want, but you really might just be flushing your dollars straight down the toilet because you’re well below the magic dose of gastrogard to do anything on active ulcers. More gastrogard is degraded in the stomach than with the product used in the study.
We talked about this at length when the study was published. Here is one of the threads.
[QUOTE=Simkie;8917466]
This again?
Not GastroGard. They used a product that isn’t available in the US and has a higher bioavailability–something like 25% higher.
Sure, go ahead and apply this to gastrogard if you want, but you really might just be flushing your dollars straight down the toilet because you’re well below the magic dose of gastrogard to do anything on active ulcers. More gastrogard is degraded in the stomach than with the product used in the study.
We talked about this at length when the study was published. Here is one of the threads.[/QUOTE]
Thanks Simkie, hadn’t seen the other thread.
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