My horse had a history of gastric ulcers but was treated and cured with gastrogard. Lately he has been sensitive on the right side of the flank. We did a 30 day trail of gastrogard but it made no difference. I asked my vet about trying Sucralfate. Would 1/2 tube of gastrogard and sucralfate twice an hour apart be effective. I have never used sucralfate.
One of my guys responded better to Sucralfate than Gastroguard due to having hind gut ulcers. It was just annoying because I had to dissolve the pills and give them orally 30 mins before he ate. Otherwise it really made him feel better !
I give compounded sucralfate 2x daily in meals to my horse who had hind gut ulcers. He doesn’t get it ahead of meals, he eats it fine, and it has made him much happier. Gastroguard did not really help him at all.
Yes…you give the Gastroguard (which is to reduce acid in the stomach) FIRST then the sucralfate/carafate(which coats the entire digestive system so helps hind gut). So with my guy I pop the GG as soon as I show up we do our thing and then I pop the pink pills(sucralfate/carafate) in the morning he gets the pink pills in a bit of his grain as a before breakfast appetizer. Yes it is ideal to leave an hour between GG Pink Pills Food, but sometimes you just do the best ya can.
Thank you everybody. I just picked up the sucralfate. You think I could mix it with apple sauce? He had one month at one tube of Gastrogard daily. I’m wondering if it’s possible for him to continue healing with 1/2 a tube of Gastro guard daily and Sucralfate twice daily?
I mixed it with a little bit of applesauce. I found that ranitidine worked well with sucrafalate. Gastrogaurd did nothing for my horse.
[QUOTE=ShotenStar;n10547900]
Sucralfate seems to do a better job with hind gut ulcers, while Gastroguard does better with stomach ulcers. Wedgewood Pharmacy makes a compounded powder form of Sucralfate that is easy to administer – seems to taste good and can be added to feed. It does need to be given 2-3 times a day and is a prescription product, so you will need to work with you vet.
My vet told me to give sucralfate every eight hours and two hours away from other medication. How important is it to give every eight hours? With my work schedule I might be able to do 7:30 AM, 4:30 PM, and around 12:00 AM.
I think you just do the best you can, even if it’s not exactly 8 hours. My horse was recently on sucralfate plus gastrogard for 30 days for pyloric ulcers. She got the gastrogard at 7:00 am and the sucralfate around 8:00 am, 3:30 pm, and 9:00 pm. Her ulcers were cleared up when we re-scoped.
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Slight correction - it coats lesions, as the aluminum in it binds with albumin that leaks from ulcer sites
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/sucralfate
“When given orally, sucrose octasulfate reacts with hydrochloric acid and is polymerized to a viscous sticky substance that binds to the proteinaceous exudate usually found at ulcer sites. Because of electrostatic charges, sucralfate preferentially adheres to ulcerated tissues. It protects the ulcer against hydrogen ion back-diffusion, pepsin and bile and therefore promotes ulcer healing.”
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This is encouraging I am glad your horses ulcers cleared up! Did you the the Sucralfate in a food or by syringe?
It was a mix - by syringe at 8:00 am because she wouldn’t eat grain then (too excited right before turn out), but with her evening grain at 3:30 pm and the person doing night check usually gave it to her with a handful of grain at 9:00 pm. Hope the sucralfate works for your horse!
My vet left instructionsThat said 60 mL three times a day. I’m wondering if that’s a mistake because I think she only gave me 600 mL which doesn’t even seem worthwhile that is pricy too.
Hmmm, mine were tablets that we crushed and dissolved in water, not anything liquid that would be measured in mL. She got 10 tablets (1g each) three times/day. I would check with the vet.
How quickly did you guys notice a difference with sucralfate?
How long before you noticed an improvement with Sucralfate ?
The stuff my vet gave me was liquid 540ml bottle with instructions to give 60 ml, 3 times daily. At $59 day I cannot afford to continue to experiment. He seems alright going to continue 1/2 tube of gastrogard the gastrogard and add equine 74 which is similar to Purina outlast. I live in Canada so cannot get Outlast as it’s only sold in the US :(. If I can get a less expensive version I will try Sucralfate at a later date.
