Hello all. I am about to start my mare on a course of Gastroguard. She hasn’t been scoped (too stressful for her), ulcers are a presumptive diagnosis based on her behaviour following a few stressful months.
She weighs approx 590kgs and a full syringe of Gastroguard covers horses up to 575kg. Will 1 syringe be enough as a daily dose?
Also, I have been told to either give 1 syringe per day for 28 days OR 1 syringe per day for 14 days followed by 1/2 syringe for another 14 days (28 days in total). Could someone please shed some light on this for me. Thank you so much.
Give full syringe for full 28 days then taper her off it.
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If you’re concerned about the weight disparity, you could easily purchase a few extra tubes and bump her up to her actual weight without much additional cost.
Definitely treat for 28 days at the full dose and taper off after that.
Do note that GastroGard works best when given on an empty stomach. Especially if you chose to give one tube without any additional, timing it when she’s empty (or as close to it as possible) may give you your best shot.
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Thanks very much tazycat and Simkie. Really appreciate your help 
Good morning
Can I also ask your views on whether it’s ok to work your horse when starting the medication. I thought it was fine until someone told me they should have 3-7 days off. But this would make our mare far too fresh. Thank you
I dosed my 500kg mare one on tube/day for 28 days, 1/2 tube for 7 days. and 1/4 tube for 7 days. She is down to her last three days and (fingers crossed) all is looking well!
I didn’t scope either - not really an option in my area - so I was not comfortable going with anything other than the full recommended treatment period. If we’d scoped and shown only mild ulcers and were able to re-scope after 14 days to see the progress, I might have gone that route.
re: giving her time off. I gave my mare about 3 days after starting the meds because she was miserable and I really didn’t feel good asking her to work through the pain. within 3 days she was feeling better enough to start back. She’s got some behavioural stuff lingering that we are working through, but it’s improving daily - I suspect the bitter awful winter plays a part in her grumpiness as well.
Good luck to you and your girl It’s a great medication and the speed with which it makes a difference is pretty awesome to see.
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I never gave them any time off when treating for ulcers.
I’ve never given time off due to ulcers, but if the horse was super reactive (rearing, etc.) then common sense would suggest it would be a good idea. You could also give her some alfalfa to munch on before you ride, so that acid isn’t sloshing around on an empty stomach.
I believe it takes a couple days for gastrogard to kick in. This is also why you are supposed to give a supportive dose of ulcergard ahead of a show, not just the day-of. So the earliest relief would be day 3, but definitely don’t evaluate success too early.
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If they are really miserable/uncomfortable, I wait to ride until they start showing improvement on the meds. Regardless, I do feed alfalfa pellets immediately before riding so tummy isn’t empty and have just started adding aloe vera juice to those pellets and think it makes a difference. I use Abler products instead of GG, but I definitely do 28 days at full dosage, then taper down for 2 weeks.
