This is a good question 
I always treat for a week before and a week after weaning at the very least. Itâs cheap insurance if nothing else.
I donât know that mine had ulcers as I didnât want to get him scoped so I just treated him.
I did also switch feed to a non-grain, McCauleyâs Alam.
He was managed exactly like my other two foals, from the same mare, who (as far as I know) never had any issues. I still have them, they are now 3 and 5.
Minimal grin, some alfalfa and grass hay 24/7 would be ideal with lots o fturnout, but in a boardig barn things are different.
My foal needed longer than the 28 days (canât remember exactly, sorry)
and then tapered with the GG.
The filly is doing a lot better. Last night I noticed that she was able to sleep a lot more than she had been the other nights. Other nights she was on her feet most of the night (Yesterday was the first day she got GG). I donât know if it works that fast but she was a different horse last night. I havenât seen her lay down and stay down for such long periods of time since she was a newborn. In hindsight, I feel really badly because this was probably going on longer than I realized.
Yes - it does work that fast:)
Here are three articles about ulcersâŠwe lost a beautiful healthy filly to silent ulcers. She was normal one day and dead the next at 4 1/2 months old so do not hesitate even if you suspect go on Gastro Guard ASAP
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/hrs3712
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/21602.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC340153/
Iâm very sorry for your loss, peskee. Thank you for the articles. These are very helpful.
I suggested rantidine because it is far cheaper than Gastroguard AND because it works immediately. Gastroguard takes 72 hours to become therapeutic and if you foal has a bad case that may be too long to wait. You can use both together or use the rantidine the first few days while the GG is kicking in. Good luck.
So after reading http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Departm...sf/all/hrs3712, it states that in one study of over 200 horses ages between 6 months - 1.5 years, 90% of the horses had non-glandular ulcers with many never showing clinical signsâŠ
My question is⊠after reading this article would any of you guys out there that have young foals and young adult horses going into training or just hanging out in the field consider putting your horses on some kind of daily ulcer guard? Or in your opinion do you consider that overkill?
Is there a good daily ulcer guard on the market?
I used SmartGut as a daily maintenance supplement on one of my âsuspectâ horses and I was happy with the result. I will put the orphan foal I have on it when she reaches 6 months.
Another update. The filly is doing excellent and I am looking into other ideas to keep her on something a little longer once she finishes the 30 days of gastrogard. I had used UGard on her mom when she had ulcers and it kept her feeling great. Anyone have any other favorites they like to use once done with the GG?
I have used tractgard for years. Made by Foxden Equine.
[QUOTE=About Time;6809889]
Another update. The filly is doing excellent and I am looking into other ideas to keep her on something a little longer once she finishes the 30 days of gastrogard. I had used UGard on her mom when she had ulcers and it kept her feeling great. Anyone have any other favorites they like to use once done with the GG?[/QUOTE]
In the beginning I would keep her on gastrogard for at least a few weeks at a reduced dose after finishing the 30 days. Like maybe half a dose for two weeks then 1/4 dose for two weeks. Luckily foals are smaller so half a dose or a quarter of a dose is hardly anything. When you wean factors in as well as you want to make sure she is on it the week before and the week after at a minimum. Glad to hear she is doing well!
SmartPak makes a new supplement - Smartgut Ultra- they have research showing that it helps to counteract the ârebound effectâ when you stop the GG. The research showed that feeding smartgut ultra (vs no supplement) significantly reduced the number of stomach ulcers post GG treatment. HOWEVER, if you look at the study (and they donât tell you this), at day 42, both the treatment group (got smartgut ultra post GG treatment) and the control group (did not get a supplement post GG treatment) had the exact same amount of gastric ulcers. I figure it canât hurt and it is one of the only supplements that have been proven to have any effect.
I would be nervous feeding a foal a supplement such as Ugard that contains a lot of Calcium as it may upset their Ca/P balance. I have no idea if the antacid supplements contain enough Calcium to cause a problem but I would be careful. Iâd certainly check with a vet before feeding it to a foal (and take into account your total ration you are feeding as well).
Ditto on the Gastroguard. I never had troubles with ulcers until the last few recent years and Iâve been breeding since 1984. And Iâm not that lucky to not have something go that long without hitting me. I lost one weaned foal that went so fast, you couldnât do anything. Now they are on ulguard pellets and if there is any grinding teeth or anything, ulcerguard paste right away. So far so good. knock on wood. Kathy
Thank you all for your input. And Ticofuzzy, I never thought of that so thank you and I will certainly look into it.
So after 8 days on the GG, the filly had a very mild colic this morning. Iâm a little dismayed because she was doing so well and I thought we were on the right path. I had stopped her grain for a few days but she was doing so well so I let her back to it. I know i shouldnât have. Those precious little doe eyes beckoned me to let her have a bit. I guess I will be taking it back away for the foreseeable future.
Does anyone have any recommendations as to how I can safely and effectively get the proper nutrients into her since she is a growing foal? Her weight is great. She gets unlimited access to nice grass hay and shares 1-2 sections of alfalfa with her mom in the evenings. Iâm not sure if that will give her all she needs in her diet.
Contact Don Kapper at Progressive NutritionâŠhe can probably help youâŠHere is the products site and Donâs email. He is a wealth of knowledge, he should be able to give you suggestions and maybe a different out take on the symptoms. Tell him Dee Osborne referred youâŠ
http://www.prognutrition.com/
dkapper@prognutrition.com
