I have an almost 9 week-old foal and my vets suspect that he was either born with ulcers or developed them shortly after birth. He became very colicky within a couple days of birth and was put on Gastrogard. I suspect his weight was underestimated so it took a little doing to get him on the right dose but, once we found the effective dose, he has done really well. He’s easy to medicate and likes the taste of the Gastrogard so it’s not problem giving him his medication. I’m also confident he’s getting it every day because I medicate him myself and none is dropped.
The problem is that we can’t seem to wean him off the Gastrogard. We did a full month of treatment (5 weeks actually), followed by tapering the dose down over a couple weeks and then stopping completely. He was on Gastrogard for 7 weeks total and he is almost 9 weeks old now. After stopping the Gastrogard, his ulcer symptoms are clearly returning. My vet seems very nervous about putting him back on Gastrogard because of the risks of him picking up a bacterial infection due to imbalances in his hindgut but he’s clearly not comfortable off the Gastrogard. She’s not offering a lot of solutions other than going to the hospital so I have a call in to another vet for a second opinion, as I’ve never had a foal with ulcers before.
My main question is - has anyone ever dealt with chronic ulcers in a foal this young? Did you end up just treating long-term? Did you have hindgut issues? I’m wondering about using a product like Succeed. The packaging states it can be used for mares and foals but I can’t find a lot of literature about using it.
There aren’t a lot of stressors in this foal’s life but there has been one major one - he and his dam live out with a pony and they all get along well but shortly after his birth I lost my dominant gelding (only had 4 horses at my house). He was basically my mare’s closest companion and it has been hard on everyone. I’m sure that has added a degree of chronic stress as the mare has had to learn to live without her companion and she has been insecure. The mare also had a retained placenta and underwent a number of medical procedures shortly after the foal was born. Still, the foal seems very well-adjusted, eats well and plays a lot. For the most part, everyone seems happy.
Finally, before you ask, I did not have the foal scoped originally because it was super hot here when he was born, his Mom was quite sick and in a lot of pain from the retained placenta, and I lost my gelding on the same day the foal became colicky (it was an awful weekend). The poor mare was in misery and I felt it would be unfair to haul them to the clinic unless in an emergency so we just treated him. I may decide to scope him now but am just trying to gather information at this point.
