which human supplements do you give your horse?
I read that some people on COTH give vitamin e.
Cvs is having a deal so that peaked my interest ha.
There is no difference between “human vitamin E” and “horse vitamin E”. They are both vitamin E, or more accurately mixtures of compounds known collectively as vitamin E. The recommended dose may be different, but you could certainly use human vitamin E for your horse, although if your horse needed large (10,000IU) doses, it may be harder to get them to eat lots of capsules, for example. Most horses will likely need 1000-2000 IU as a supplement. Horses do absorb natural vitamin E (d-α-tocopherol) better than the synthetic vitamin E (dl-α-tocopherol), so you should probably check if the CVS deal is on the synthetic or natural version.
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Where there are chemicals/vitamins/minerals that have proof of efficacy in horses and humans, it is almost always more $$ to use a human form. Obviously there are exceptions. It’s almost impossible to get human E significantly cheaper than the most economical horse-labeled E, but a penny or 3 is not hard. Many horse-labeled E products are expensive, but something like Santa Cruz UltraCruz Natural E is $.13/1000IU, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a human bottle less than $.10/.11.
Omeprazole can be used, but it’s a lot more $$ to use a human form than even Ulcergard/Gastrogard.
It all comes down to how much of “it” the horse needs relative to a person. Horses have a much lower E need on a per pound basis than people do, so we can use the 1000IU caps at 1-2 a day, then can do the same.
But in the omeprazole example, it’s much more relative to the size, so the cost goes up significantly.
If your CVS E is natural E, and you can get it <= $.13/1000IU on sale, go for it.
What is your horse’s diet deficient in?
I don’t recall at the moment. But other than potentially adding vitamin E, I don’t currently plan to add more.
im just curious which human vitamin supplements other people have given their horse as general knowledge.
I’ve given Gas-X to a gas colic-prone mare.
It was entirely experimental on my part, I knew it wasn’t going to hurt her, and it was after a round of diagnostics and a scope, all of which came up with no reason why she should be having little colic bouts regularly. Vet and I deduced her particular gut conformation possibly was such that she was susceptible to pockets of trapped gas. She was a funny horse.
It was one of those things where I tried it, her # of colic instances dropped dramatically, and so I didn’t question whether it was actually having an effect or not because anecdotally it appeared to be working.
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I always found the opposite to be true, that there is a “for horses” tax! All Natural Vit E on Amazon is always ~$.10/ct. A month of Nexium in the range recommended on the thread here is sub $100.
I have used human Vit E, human Omega 3 (because I bought too much for myself!), Nexium, Gas-X, Tums, etc. I only really consistently use the Vit E and still have not found it cheaper (although the horse doses are perhaps more convenient).
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I use human Vitamin E. By the time I roll over my CVS bucks and stock up on a good sale, I pay around .5/ct for Vitamin E. I also get Sudafed over the counter as I can’t get Tri-hist and my pony is allergic to corn anyway. I just need it when his allergies flair up.
Omeprazole is cheaper especially if you get it at Costco.
There’s a large number of Vit E capsules at 1000U. For the ones I quickly looked at on Amazon that were < $.13, they would be cheaper if you have Prime so don’t pay shipping. If you don’t, that’s where the cost can end up more. Like I said, there are definitely some sources of natural E that are less than $.13/1000IU if you’re willing to shop around
A month of Nexium in the range recommended on the thread here is sub $100.
Sure. There is no equine equivalent of esomeprazole, but thankfully the research is there to back up its usefulness, including possibly being better for glandular ulcers than omeprazole This is one of the exceptions I mentioned existing.
I have used human Vit E, human Omega 3 (because I bought too much for myself!), Nexium, Gas-X, Tums, etc. I only really consistently use the Vit E and still have not found it cheaper (although the horse doses are perhaps more convenient).
Sure. But Gas-X and Tums don’t have the research in horses. Yes, they may work for a given horse for a given situation, and that’s great. Again, my comment was that where there is scientific backing for both horses and humans, it’s very common for the human equivalent to be more $$ due to different metabolisms and therefore sometimes vastly different dosing by weight. Fortunately there are human and other animal products that have proven to be useful for some situations with horses.
For the E, it’s hard to beat the convenience of plopping 2 1000IU capsules in the feed and be done with it 
No powder to dampen. Most horses munch them right up. The fine powder of some horse supplements work better for horses who won’t touch the caps and you don’t want to poke them open every day. I sure wouldn’t do it!
Kirkland brand is $14 for 42 of the 20mg tablets, or $.017/mg. A 1200lb horse needs 2.28gm - 2280mg. That’s 114 of the tablets, and at $.017 that’s $38.76 per dose. Prilosec is way more than that.
True. I assume everyone has prime!
[QUOTE=JB;n10043157]
Sure. But Gas-X and Tums don’t have the research in horses. Yes, they may work for a given horse for a given situation, and that’s great. Again, my comment was that where there is scientific backing for both horses and humans, it’s very common for the human equivalent to be more $$ due to different metabolisms and therefore sometimes vastly different dosing by weight. Fortunately there are human and other animal products that have proven to be useful for some situations with horses.
[QUOTE=JB;n10043157]
I have no idea how pricing compares for those products, since they’re basically just for people. That part was more for the OP’s original question of what I’ve used.
Otherwise, I can see how a human product would be more expensive simply due to economies of scale. Where there isn’t that economy, I do think horse products are typically overpriced.
We split open the E caps on the ones that spit the capsules out, easy and not messy if you just poke them open right over the feed bucket. Besides, good for your skin and what’s left of your fingernails.
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Very true - economies of scale 
Any time a species-specific label gets onto something, especially when it is considered a drug which means at that point there is FDA approval and its associated costs, price increases, often a lot.
And then you have something like Mane & Tail which hit the human market long after being a horse-specific product :lol:
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Ah sorry my whole reply got all messed up and now it’s gone! I bet Mane & Tail is more $$ at a tack shop, too 
When I met my BO in 1999 she was using Gas-X on the advice of the vet who still takes care of our horses. Her daughter had an AQHA gelding who had gas colic on a regular basis and we’d give him 10 tablets. If it’s the right flavor they will eat it right out of your hand. It cleared up whatever was going on and he never had a full blown colic episode. Vet says that even if Gas-X doesn’t help it won’t hurt them. So our routine is vitals, Gas-X and banamine at the first sign they are uncomfortable. There is always a box in the first aid cabinet. It may be anecdotal, but it does appear to work - not much colic at our barn.
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I find, in general, it is cheaper to buy horse doses. I buy UltraCruz Vitamin E, about $1/day for 8000 IUs, and no squeezing capsules.
As already mentioned, Omeprazole, although I’ve gotten it for far less through Abler then I could get for human dosing.
Ranitidine - I usually buy Costco, since there aren’t a lot of horse options out there.
Tumeric, Chia, Flax can all be purchased human or horse (every once in a while, I’ll find ground flax on sale cheaper then I can buy for a horse bag, but not often).
There are a few others - some use Pepto for horses. I’ve always used human enemas for my new foals, not really a supplement, but one of those things that crosses species 
My holistic equine vet/chiro had me try Gas-X and Mylanta on one of my horses before I called the traditional vet and might pay for an unnecessary road fee.
the horse had mild gas and digestive issues during one of our periods of wild wild temperature swings. He didn’t show the normal colicky signs but he was sensitive in the area of his cecum, when mild pressure was applied.
the Gas-X and Mylanta worked but, if he developes issues again, I’ll have to call the traditional vet:(
Get your vet to write a script and its less than that at Costco using the GoodRX card for omeprazole. Rantadine is a 4.00 script for 30 days or a 90 day script for 10.00. Been a while since I have purchased omeprazole, but I think its around 8.00 a bottle with script.
Of course my vet is awesome about writing scripts.
I calculate that the Santa Cruz vit E is 10.8 cents for 1000 IU, not 13. The pellets look to be 13.5 cents. Are there gel caps less then 10 cents per 1000IU?
The UltraCruz price must have dropped because you’re right, it’s now $.10.8. I promise it used to be more! I did the calculations enough times and had a couple others come up with the same thing. It takes me so long to go through the 4lb bag I never remember the total cost LOL
Ranitidine will always be cheaper than omeprazole, and a Rx for 300mg pills lowers the cost even beyond OTC 150mg pills. And if you end up compounding ompeprazole and ranitidine together, the cost for each is lower still.
“8.00 a bottle with script.” - how many of what size pills in that bottle?
30 pills at 40 mg per pill at 8ish dollars and it was 120 pills at 40 mg at 29.ish last time I priced it out.
