Help with managing ulcers induced by traveling

[subk]

I’ve spent several hours over the last few days combing through the ulcer/Nexium threads and I’m looking for a plan to go forward with once we are done with our current and first complete ulcer treatment and I was hoping a few of you could check in and I could get the collective COTH wisdom on this.

I have a 4 year old WB that I load up 1-2 times a week to haul out for a lesson. We spent the summer traveling any where from 4-8 hours for weekend events about once a month. I’m pretty sure the travel is the ulcer trigger and more so the overnight trips. What I now recognize in hindsight as ulcer-y behavior was very mild end of summer but significantly ramped after our last show which was the middle of November, 6 hours away where I gave him bute 2 days. He came home and was ornery under saddle, dead to my leg, didn’t want to bend and would hop through his upward transition. He had a couple weeks off before I could get him to the vet where he looked super on the lunge, didn’t show much of the behavior under saddle, got a chrio adjustment and was declared sound. A week later a friend was watching a school and suggested “ulcers.” OMG of course! The moment she said it I knew that was the problem.

Fast forward and 10 days of OTC UlcerGurd and he’s fabulous. Like amazing. I didn’t know about the Nexium option and now I’m very hesitant to change the program in the middle of what’s working so well and so feel stuck finishing the 30 days plus taper on it. (Merry Christmas to me!) Going forward I want to try the Nexium. I do not want to put him on a PPI full time at any dosage if I can at all possibly help it.

So now I’m exploring what options might be particularly good in a hauling situations. (And avoiding bute since that is probably what put him over the edge!) He has been on Outlast because a leased horse in the barn was on it and it seemed like a good idea, but I wasn’t using the full recommended amount or doing it in any strategic way. He’s also now has alfalfa in a slow feed net in front him most of the time.

1. I’m thinking to start by trying a cup of Outlast before local hauling. What type of timing would you do, 30 minutes before loading? More? Less? Give more after how long if we aren’t home? Anybody having good results with using any other supplements for traveling?

2. How would you use and dose Nexium (or would you?) when hauling out of town for overnight shows? Day before? Each day of show? Days after getting home? Would Ugard be a better option?

3. How long, how much Nexium before I need to be concerned about tapering? If he’s on for 4-5 days does that need to be tapered?

Any suggestions, insights or opinions would be much appreciated.

[NaturalSelection]

Ranitidine (Zantac)! Needs to be fed 2-3x/day at appropriate dosage. Available OTC at human pharmacy, cheap. No taper, not a PPI, actually an antihistamine.

Of course then the FDA pulled it from human and animal pharmacies.

So I switched to Famotidine (Pepcid). Same class of drug, same frequency, different dosage. Slightly more expensive than ranitidine, but not much. That’s what I use for my horses when traveling night before, day of, day after. I also use it for my ulcer prone older TB as a preventative because he is on daily equioxx. I just add the tablets to their grain.

I also try to convince my horses that mint flavored tums are peppermint candy and I feed those like treats when traveling. Similar in concept to outlast.

[anon6003733]

Edited to add, I seem to have missed where you’re specifically enquiring about ulcer meds. Sorry that I have nothing to add there.

[Lusoluv]

This topic is very top of interest to me as well. What dosage of Pepcid do you give for the day before/day of/day after showing? I’ve Googled, but didn’t find any specifics. TIA!

[spacehorse]

I have a similar creature in my barn. He travels at least once a week. He is fairly new to me and sort of different than I am used to, so learning his quirkiness has been an ongoing process. But I noticed in fairly short order that he would not finish meals the night and day after he had been in the trailer (my lessons are local, less than an hour each way).

I started next trip with 2 nexium in the morning meal on the day of travel. I have previously treated him with the protocol, prob 6 weeks, maybe more to completely taper off. But this has worked, I just give him 2 the morning he will travel and he has been eating fine since. I don’t do any sort of taper on this, just the 2 pills that day and thats it.

In your scenario, I would prob consider treating him the days you are away from home, and depending on the duration you may need to taper for a day or two.

I do also give him a big cup of Outlast along with maybe a half to a pound of Stress Free forage, an hour-half hour before we are loading up. But he has now figured out that when he gets that it means he is going for a ride…and won’t eat it

[NaturalSelection]

The effects of famotidine, ranitidine and magnesium hydroxide/aluminium...

I dose at 1.5 mg/kg every 12h. Works out to thirty 20mg tablets for 1300lb horse per dose. I buy the generic at Walmart in 200 count bottle.

[joiedevie99]

Outlast works really well for some horses (and not at all for others). Since you have it, it might be worth dosing him at the recommended levels for a month to see if it helps. Last time I dealt with it, that was something like 12 oz 4x/day - although we did 16 oz. 3x/day and that did the trick. I don’t remember the weight of that horse, so you’ll have to do the math. Then we just did an extra serving 15-20 minutes before loading.

[Lusoluv]

My highschool math was decades ago, but wouldn’t a 1300 lb horse have to get approx. 49 20mg pepcid pills to = 1.5mg per kg??

[NaturalSelection]

You’re right, I’m closer to 1mg/kg dosage.

[sascha]

Hauling out for a day clinic, I give a dose of sucralfate the morning of and another on returning home in the afternoon/evening.

Going for an overnight/s stay, I start dosing the evening before hauling out and continue 2x day until home concluding with 1 more dose the morning after returning.

Works a charm. I haven’t had her skip a meal since instituting this protocol and initial excitement/tension on arrival at a venue tends to melt away instead of lingering like it used to.

I can get away without dosing for short hauls to places she loves, but if I judge that wrong, I end up with a horse who won’t eat, so I tend to dose her before leaving on short hauls just to be sure and if she remains totally relaxed, not dosing on return home.

[sascha]

Also adding that I try to avoid Bute like the plague and if I must use it, I use sucralfate for the duration of treatment and a few days following. Same for Banamine.

I can get away with using Previcox for about 4-6 weeks before any signs of belly upset appear so that tends to be my drug of choice for discomfort.

[Equkelly]

I second feeding alfalfa while traveling but also if you try outlast, you can get the outlast treats instead too. I think 6 cookies are equivalent to a full portion of outlast maybe? I feed ultium gastric care so the outlast is built into the formula so I buy the treats to give my mare in between feedings.

Also you can do gastro guard/ ulcer guard as a preventive as well.

[subk]

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate the suggestions.

[subk]

I’m happy to hear about non-med strategies. Best care scenario is I figure out something that works that is just a supplement or a management change!

[IPEsq]

I think the protocol is that if you do 1/4 tube of Ulcergard for preventative purposes you want to start it 3 days before the stressful event. You could do Nexium instead.

[joiedevie99]

@IPEsq

you want to start it 3 days before the stressful event

That is my understanding as well. My vet said it takes 3-4 days for omeprazole to reach full effectiveness.