Gastrogard vs. Ulcergard

[SonyaT123]

Strength of Omeprazole in Gastrogard vs. Ulcergard

I’ve been reading the replies to this thread to determine for myself which product to buy for best effectiveness in ulcer treatment for my cribbing ex-racehorse.

I’m a nurse and need more information than give 1/4 of this tube or a full tube of that tube. For those of you that need more information, I’ve looked this up on the [B][U]Drug Monograph.

[/U][/B]Both Ulcergard and Gastrogard have the drug Omeprazole in the same strength ( 370 mg of Omeprazole per 1 g of paste).

It is correct then that one would administer a larger dose of paste to treat an active ulcer and a smaller dose of paste to prevent an ulcer with either Ulcergard or Gastrogard. The dose would be calculated by weight, using the same calculation for both products depending on treatment vs. prevention.

When I suspected ulcers in my cribbing horse (rather than going with everyone telling me that she was seeking endorphins and this was habituated), I tested the theory of ulcers through giving her tums twice a day for 2-3 days. She quit cribbing within 10 minutes of receiving the tums and began again when the tums were wearing off (in about 4-5h). This tells me acid relief was part of the problem. My veterinarian does not scope so I have to go with my instinct on this treatment.

The issue with giving Tums as a long term treatment for any condition is that it can change the way that acid is secreted for normal digestion… long term use could actually cause the horse to produce more acid, need more tums… etc… basically doing this long term will cause your horse’s digestive system harm.

I would personally be concerned with using any medication in an animal such as omeprazole on a long term basis… more than 6 months… In humans we would reassess the omeprazole when symptoms resolve so I would suspect that should be done with horses as well.

My plan for my horse will be to give a full tube of Gastrogard for the recommended 28 day period, and then to go to a maintenance dose of Gastrogard with my mare for a few months (perhaps 2 or so). To prevent ulcer formation in the future I plan to administer Gastrogard prior to anything stressful via the maintenance dose… for example prior to trailering.

There are several herbs of interest to keep a horse’s digestive tract working well if they have a history of digestive issues. I’m going to do more reading on those to see which is best researched and supported in prevention/maintenance.

[JB]

Yes, it’s dosed by weight, but it’s not like deworming by weight, not that granular. 1500lb should get more than a full tube for treatment, 900lb probably less. But 1000-1300 or so, I think it is still just a full tube for treatment, 1/4 tube for prevention.

Tums is a contact product. It’s just sucrose and calcium carbonate. It lowers acidity while it’s present in the acid. That’s not very long for horses. It is not a systemic product - it does not decrease acid production, like omeprazole and ranitidine do. So with Tums, there’s no real long-term issue unless you’re feeding so much as to greatly reduce the acidity, which interferes with proper digestion.

Personally, if you’re going to treat, treat for the 28-30 days, then do a 3/4 dose for a week or 2, then 1/2 dose for the same, then 1/4 dose for the same, to wean off it so as to not cause a rebound effect.

[judybigredpony]

Call Merrill…There is a reason why one is prescription and 1 is over the counter…I use alot of GastroGaurd and have done scope clinics and have had Merrill Reps here 2X yearly…Ulcergaurd is meant to be used as a preventative not as a treatment…

[JB]

@judybigredpony;8850679

Call Merrill…There is a reason why one is prescription and 1 is over the counter

Merial And the reason is they presented one to the FDA for treatment, and one for prevention.

1 tube of each is identical in every way, except for the label.

Ulcergaurd is meant to be used as a preventative not as a treatment…

Because it’s exactly the same content, in terms of % of omeprazole and total amount of paste, it can absolutely be used as treatment. You give a full tube of either for 28-30 days for treatment, or use 1/4 tub of either as prevention/maintenance doses.

Really

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=JB;8850852]
Merial And the reason is they presented one to the FDA for treatment, and one for prevention.

1 tube of each is identical in every way, except for the label.

Because it’s exactly the same content, in terms of % of omeprazole and total amount of paste, it can absolutely be used as treatment. You give a full tube of either for 28-30 days for treatment, or use 1/4 tub of either as prevention/maintenance doses.

Really :)[/QUOTE]

I always tell people: if you removed the labels, you’d never know, and it wouldn’t matter, because they are exactly the same. Use 1/4 of a tube to prevent, or a whole tube to treat. Forget about the label :lol:

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=judybigredpony;8850679]
Call Merrill…There is a reason why one is prescription and 1 is over the counter…I use alot of GastroGaurd and have done scope clinics and have had Merrill Reps here 2X yearly…Ulcergaurd is meant to be used as a preventative not as a treatment.…[/QUOTE]

For photographic evidence, my mare was scoped to reveal ulcers.

I used 1 tube per day of UlcerGard (not GastroGard) to TREAT her ulcers. Photographic scope evidence to prove it works.

www.photobucket.com/ulcers

UlcerGard and GastroGard are the same thing, in the same amounts, in the same size tube.

One is simply labelled to treat and therefore require a DVM’s prescription to treat a diagnosed illness.

UlcerGard is labelled for prevention, therefore not requiring a script.

It’s similar to Ibuprofen for humans: in order to get the 800 mg tablets, you need a doctor’s prescription to treat something they’ve diagnosed. Or, you can just go get it over the counter, and take 4 of the 200 mg tablets and achieve exactly the same thing.

[paintedtrails]

What is the reccomended mg/lb dosing of omeprazole for horses?
Like instead you were to buy http://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signature™-Omeprazole-20-mg%2C-42-Tablets.product.11273073.html
instead of ranitidine and use it. Not sure if it works out more cost effective than the tubes (horseprerace.com seems to have the best prices there)

[Simkie]

[QUOTE=paintedtrails;8852212]
What is the reccomended mg/lb dosing of omeprazole for horses?
Like instead you were to buy http://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signature%E2%84%A2-Omeprazole-20-mg%2c-42-Tablets.product.11273073.html
instead of ranitidine and use it. Not sure if it works out more cost effective than the tubes (horseprerace.com seems to have the best prices there)[/QUOTE]

1.8 mg omeprazole/lb body weight (4 mg/kg) so you’d need 2160 mg per day for a 1200 lb horse. 108 of those pills you linked per day. It doesn’t really come out to a cost savings, unless you’re comparing to Gastro/UlcerGard. There are so many other options (Abler, HorsePrerace, compounded) for less. Those pills also have the added challenge that you need to get them all down the horse’s gullet intact.

There’s some evidence that esomeprazole works in horses at low doses, though. Like this: http://www.j-evs.com/article/S0737-0806(09)00641-8/abstract

That would be two pills of this for a cost of $1.20/day.

(No, haven’t tried it, but people were talking about it on FB a few months ago…)

[eclipse]

[QUOTE=JB;8850852]
Merial And the reason is they presented one to the FDA for treatment, and one for prevention.

1 tube of each is identical in every way, except for the label.

Because it’s exactly the same content, in terms of % of omeprazole and total amount of paste, it can absolutely be used as treatment. You give a full tube of either for 28-30 days for treatment, or use 1/4 tub of either as prevention/maintenance doses.

Really :)[/QUOTE]

Yep, even my vet advised me to buy Ulcerguard Instead of Gastroguard to save $$$$ when we were treating full dose for ulcers!