Ulcer treatment

One of my friend's horses has ulcers. They are affecting her phsyical condition(weight, energy, etc.) fairly strongly. GastroGuard is not a financial option for her. She had another friend with horse experience look at the mare, and she reccomended that if they couldn't afford it, she should be put down

I've heard of Ranitidine, but I'm not exactly sure what it is/how to use it as a treatment.

The mare in question is about 10 years old, an Arabian.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything at all would be helpful.

Contact terry at equisupps.com - she's got my super ulcery tb on something that's less than $20 a month I think and it works great. I forgot offhand what it is but tell her that I sent you and she can def help. Please don't put her down! And I know gastro guard is a lot - if necessary short term you can give her some pepto to settle her stomach and then get her started on a good supp (that is affordable).

Terry also runs the arabian rescue mission so very familiar with arabs!

Could your friend look into the generic version of Gastro Guard? I think it's called Omeprazole. The generic stuff is a little cheaper.
What is your friend doing management wise for the ulcers? Management is the best way to cure ulcers, next to Gastro Guard. Lots of turn out, water, concentrates (grain ration) in small frequent meals if she gets grain. Reducing stress and an overall balanced diet will help a lot. Pro/prebiotics can halp as can aloe vera juice and a number of other natural type supplements. Look into it.
I would certainly not put a horse down on the advice of anyone other than a licensed vet...I think it's scarry that someone other than a vet would suggest that to an owner.

I use U-Gard, vet strength on my boy who has a history of ulcers. We also turn his grain into a mash to make it easier to digest.

Your friend may want to look into SmartPaks. They have a number of different ulcer meds, and she can order taste samples (three days worth) to make sure her horse will eat it. They can be pretty affordable, too. I think regular strength U-Gard is about 20 dollars a month.

No grain -- check the ingredients of all supplements. Many have grains in them. Aloe Vera juice and slippery elm bark twice a day for two weeks, then once a day for two months, or forever if needed. If I remember correctly, I used 2 ounces of juice and 2 tblspns of bark powder for each feeding -- so 2 and 2 in the morning, then 2 and 2 at night for 2 weeks. It cost me about $20 a month I think and worked for my ex-racehorse. He improved dramatically after just the first two weeks.

There are a lot of things you can try to help ulcers. Personally, when it is time to put down my horse, I would want it to be a decision between my vet and myself, not just someone who "knows a lot about horses".

A call to the vet who diagnosed the ulcers is free. That is who should be consulted on what to do as they are the one who can see how bad off the horse is clinically and make the best judgement for the animal.

Supplements like U-gard and the ones sold by smart pak are NOT treatments for ulcers. They are instead like using TUMS for ulcer pain in humans. They provide very short relief from stomach acidity (less than 1 hour) and thus can make horses more comfortable at meal time (which is when horses are most likely to show pronounced symptoms caused by ulcers), but they will not allow the ulcers to heal.

Gastrogard, Ranitidine and Cimetidine lower stomach acidity for prolonged periods (4-24 hours depending on which drug you are using) which with dosing at appropriate intervals allows the stomach tissues time to heal. Ranitidine or cimetidine should be discussed with the vet treating the horse because just as Tealamutt said--the vet knows much more about the disease process and the drugs/supplements and what they actually DO than someone who "knows alot about horses". Gastroguard requires dosing once every 24 hours, Ranitidine and Cimetidine require dosing every 3-4 times a day in order to maintain lower stomach acidity and allow for healing.

GastroGuard IS really expensive, and not a long term solution for ulcers. It shuts off the acid producing pump, which then disturbs digestion and absorption. Try UlcerAide from Blue Ridge Distribution. Actually goes in and gives horse what he needs to heal the mucous membranes, coats linings, allows ulcer to heal.

The best treatment would be a round of Gastroguard and then an ulcer preventative long term (smart pak has great, affordable options!). I know it is expensive but ulcers are serious and in extreme conditions can lead to systemic infection, perforation, and death.

I would also look at treating the cause. Ulcers are symptoms of stress, usually caused by domestication:
Long breaks between eating, large amounts of food/grain in one go, confined in stable, isolation from other horses, etc.
Small mesh haynets can help horses with ulcers. Mesh size can be as small as 20 mm. That makes eating really slow. They are kept busy nibbling all day and you have a consatnt stomach fill. You basically feed like mother nature: small amounts of hay throughout the day.