Just looking for opinions to help me make a decision. I have a 4 year old thoroughbred that was recently diagnosed with ocd lesions on both stifles and is going to be getting surgery for those soon. My dilemma is treating him for ulcers. He really doesn’t show many of the classic symptoms for ulcers. The only one that I would say is he is proving to be a bit of a hard keeper. Especially considering he is not currently in work. I would be treating him more because of his history. He came off the track in great shape last December. The boarding barn I had him at previously was not a good fit. They were definitely using grain over hay to keep his weight on. His new barn has a good feeding program. He is out 24/7 with a shed and is very content. I don’t really want to scope him because going through surgery should be enough, right? Would you treat a horse for ulcers just based on their history? Or would you look for more symptoms or proof with a scope? I think I’m having a hard time deciding because of the cost. My vet seems to want to scope.
I treat everything coming off the track or undergoing a stressful event with Nexium. If there are still signs of ulcers, scope.
It’s dead cheap and many of us have found it very effective.
I would absolutely not skip treating this horse with something for his belly following surgery.
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I was thinking of starting the treatment while he is on stall rest. I’ll check out Nexium. Thank you!
I wouldn’t scope just treat. Maybe start some Outlast or something
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As long as the horse is in for surgery, scope.
I’ve spent an unbelievable amount of money trying to heal ulcers with UG, UG, etc. and nothing worked. Getting an actual scope identified the full breadth of the problem and if I had done it early, it would have probably saved me $10k.
