Ulcers - any experience with them just healing without treating?

[hillary_again]

Long story short: my horse had an impaction colic episode last week. Treated at home, but then I had to take her to the clinic for IV fluids and an overnight stay (she was there ~24hrs), with another followup trip the next day. She’s resolved all that now, thank God.

She’s a terrible loader and had to be sedated for all of the trips. She was nervous at the clinic- stall walked constantly, and not really eating normally.

She is now eating and drinking normally - BUT - eats a bit, walks away, comes back… For me, this is classic ulcer behavior.

Here’s the question: Anyone have experience with this situation just improving? I’m planning to just wait and see how things go, but wanted to check in with the CoTH collective knowledge on experiences with horses showing these signs and then just improving on their own, without any intervention.

[sascha]

Ulcers = discomfort or downright pain. Why would you choose NOT to treat your horse’s pain?

There are cheaper (if less convenient) options than brand name omeprazole tubes if that’s part of the decision making process.

[fivestrideline]

Because the symptoms of ulcers can be so vague it’s really hard to tell if the horse has them or has healed them without a scope. And people who aren’t treating don’t tend to scope so… I don’t think you’re going to find many who have scoped a horse, confirmed ulcers, not treated, and scoped again. Perhaps some small sample size studies, like the Merck one? I’d have to go back and look at their methodology.

Ulcers are extremely painful (literally acid splashing on open wounds, all day every day), so I don’t know why you wouldn’t treat - seems cruel. Also, ulcers get progressively worse the longer they go unhealed.

ETA as far as “improving on their own”: some horses can be forcibly trained to perform despite ulcer pain (or various other pains), as the symptoms of ulcers are often ascribed to behavior issues. But there will still be signs - the horse just may not show XYZ behavior that has been punished severely.

[hillary_again]

My vet will not scope in the field. That means another trip to the clinic, which, given what we’ve seen, might INDUCE ulcers. I am not saying I won’t treat. I’ve treated her, several years ago, so no, I am not opposed to the cost. I’m not seeing the same symptoms that I saw years ago. Then, she was showing pain, and a lot of it.

After the thrash last week, and through the weekend, I don’t want to be too aggressive. Right now, she’s just eating slowly and pausing. She had multiple rounds of sedation.

Thanks for the replies! I’m grateful for the experience shared here. I love this forum and have learned so much from being part of it.

[fivestrideline]

Based on what she went through, I’d treat regardless if I couldn’t scope! Even if I wasn’t seeing the same symptoms.

[frugalannie]

When I bought my OTTB a year and a half ago he was hyper reactive. Then he started kicking and biting. Two vets said “treat for ulcers” without scoping so I did, for almost two months. We changed his feed to a bucket of alfalfa cubes every night, Platinum GI and lots of hay. His behavior got much better and he was weaned off Ulcergard.

I had saved a little money this spring so I asked my vet to scope him even though e wasn’t showing any symptoms. She found one ulcer that was almost completely healed, which was great.

So my answer is that if there are symptoms, treat aggressively. If not, they might heal themselves with supportive care.

[hillary_again]

Thanks, I’m thinking the same thing. Appreciate you encouraging me to move forward.

[hillary_again]

That’s great to know. Just looking for various experiences.

[CanteringCarrot]

Well, if you treat and see a change, you’ll have your answer. If you treat and see no change, then you can just stop. It doesn’t necessarily do much harm, although I do taper my horses off and keep them on something supportive, which is usually aloe juice.

I know that either way it’s money out of your pocket though. I’ve personally seen results with the Abler “pop rocks” but not with Nexium. I treated a horse accordingly (proper dosage, consumption, and all that) but he had grade 3 ulcers following that treatment. I used Omeprazole and the ulcers healed (horse scoped clean). I do know that Nexium does and can work, but didn’t in that particular situation. So I reach for the Omeprazole first. YMMV.

If it were my horse, I’d scope and/or give treatment a try. They may not display the exact same symptoms every time. I feel you on the having to travel for a scope thing though. It just adds to things.

[GraceLikeRain]

No. I’ve never known anyone who scoped, didn’t treat, and rescoped to see a clear stomach. I’ve seen people notice symptoms, ignore, and then the symptoms reduce or seem to resolve. The ulcers could have healed or just improved to a subclinical level or the horse learns to internalize the pain. Hard to know.

[sascha]

@hillary_again

I don’t want to be too aggressive

Not treating is far more “aggressive” than treating

[RhythmNCruise]

I never had my horse scoped, but I’m pretty sure he developed ulcers shortly after being moved from his home where he’d grown up and spent 10 years to a boarding barn. I was clueless about ulcers (having never dealt with them before) and didn’t have him scoped nor did I treat. I chased every other possibility for his behavior and various issues (tense back, dropping weight, etc) and eventually he improved but was never what I’d called “cured” of this “new normal” for him. I even moved him to a different barn and he improved even more (more hay, better overall set-up for him). Then we moved this last time to our new (and favorite) place, and he went absolutely nuts. I took advice from this forum to treat for ulcers and within a day of his first full tube of Ulcergard he was improving. By the end of 30 days, he was his old self from “back home” where he’d spent most of his life.

We’ve been at our new barn for a year and a half (I think) and he’s never relapsed. I truly believe he’d been dealing with the ulcers for a few years. They’d improve with management changes and such, but never went away and when we made that final move, the ulcers flared with a vengeance and he let me know it.

Now I make sure he eats tons of grass hay, some form of alfalfa (cubes, chopped, baled, pellets), about 6 Outlast cookies a day, and is in a situation with 24/7 access to a small pasture and a nice, comfy stall (with a fan) with his good buddy. He’s happy as a clam and it shows in both his calm demeanor and slick, shiny, dappled, plump physique. I’d forgotten just how easy of a keeper he used to be back when I had my place. He’s that again. (My barn is self-care so it helps that his “mama” is feeding him, hehehe).

All this to say, in my one experience, I do think they can IMPROVE, but I sort of think they’re always there if they’ve not been treated, and therefore any little thing may cause them to flare up again.

[bingbingbing]

@hillary_again

She is now eating and drinking normally - BUT - eats a bit, walks away, comes back… For me, this is classic ulcer behavior.

Is that eating normally for your horse, or not? It’s not for most horses.

@hillary_again

I don’t want to be too aggressive.

Ulcer meds are not aggressive.

[Angela_Freda]

I’m a human with ulcers.
They don’t just get better and are incredibly painful.
.

[beowulf]

Ulcers are aggressive to ones wallet.

Can you treat with Nexium and an ulcer friendly diet, try ulcer friendly management, like turnout 24/7 with a herd and with as much hay as possible?

Ulcers can cause colic. Just something to think about.

I can appreciate the question, but I think in your shoes it would be best to try treating, even if you can’t scope. There is a good chance ulcers developed from what happened to her last week, anyway. I hope she continues to feel better.

[KJT]

This past November 19yo gelding had his first colic episode. No obvious cause at the time. Vet treats, tubes, etc. Horse improves for about a week. Then mild colic signs begin again. Vet says might be ulcers, let’s try soaked pellets and 30 days Sucralfate.

I was out of town for three weeks or I might have scoped him a week or two in to confirm the ulcers. Instead, I opted for meds and soaked pellets only while I was away. When I got home, a friend suggested trying Redmond Equine Daily Gold (supplement). Horse was weaned off soaked pellets, is back to regular hay and now gets Daily Gold every day. No colic signs since. If colic signs begin again, he’ll be scoped.

Their ulcers won’t resolve without help (changes in feed, supplements, management, etc. etc.) from us.

[hillary_again]

Thanks to everyone who provided experiences! My mare’s back to normal eating, drinking, and all the rest at this point. I think her main symptom, when she returned from the vet clinic, was #overlyanxiousowner. If that situation deteriorates, I’ll consult my vet again. Thanks again!

[jherold]

I treated mine with a few days of tagamet (8 tablets twice a day). She got girthy within days of finishing doxycycline for her Lyme disease. Nothing else had changed, so we figured it was an acid stomach from the Lyme treatment and not full blown ulcers. It worked.

[candyappy]

@jherold

tagamet (8 tablets twice a day)

Never heard of anyone treating with anything besides Nexium or the generic equivalent .

[Angela_Freda]

What’s the advantage of tagamet over a ppi?

https://www.goodrx.com/compare/tagamet-vs-prilosec