Ulcers

Today I went out to the barn to work on Abby's herdbound problem. When I arrived, some other people were going riding. I was going to tack up quickly to catch up to them. Well, when I went to cinch her up, I received a glare, pinned ears and a back hoof trying to kick me in the face. I took off the saddle and ran my hand along her side and part of her belly. She pinned her ears and put her foot up again. Except this time, she more scratched at her stomach a couple of times.

My first thought was colic by the way she was scratching at her stomach. We later ruled that out because she was eating normally and she didn't try to roll or lie down while I walked her around. I did some googling of her symptoms when I got home and the best I could come up with was ulcers.

I called the vet and told her that's what I thought it was. The vet is also the chiro I had come readjust Abby's hip a few weeks ago. While she was there, she did some acupuncture to get rid of the "wind" in her withers. She said her stomach points were hot and wouldn't be surprised at all if she had ulcers, but since she is the nearest vet and is over an hour away, she can't get up here until Monday afternoon.

She said, if possible, start her on some GastroGard just in case, but it would suck to start her on that because it's super expensive. Well, I looked up the price. She was right: It's very expensive. And the closest thing to a horse supply store we have is Tractor Supply, which does not have GastroGard. If I ordered it online, I doubt I'd have it before the vet came out..

What I'm trying to get at: Is there a cheaper option that would help for the week? I'm not sure what TSC has for digestive supplements.

Also, she's not on any grain, just free choice hay as she is kept in a pasture rather than a stall. She's a bit high strung, which is what I think would have caused it.

Sorry for the novel!

Gastrogard is soooo expensive, but it will cure an ulcer is a few short days. If your horse will eat bananas, they soothe the stomach and can help prevent reoccurence. Some people use Malox, but I'm not sure how much.

I delt with this for the last year! Yes, Gastroguard is the only thing that will treat ulcers. Ulcergard is the same product as gastroguard, but does not require a prescription because the dosing instructions are different. If you get Ulcergard, give 1 entire tube per day, as the Gastroguard instructions would tell you to do. In the meantime, to give her some relief, you can give her a syringe of Pro-CMC (looks and acts just like Pepto for horses). Realize that left untreated, ulcers can cause colic and will continue to worsen. The longer you wait trying alternatives, the greater the risk for the ulcers getting worse. I know it sucks but get the gastrogard or ulcergard as soon as possible. You have to leave them on it for the whole month to heal the ulcers. Additionally, take some time to determine the cause of the ulcers. Reduce grain, increase turnout, take a good look at your hay, and look at some digestive supplements for maintenance. Ulcers were one of the most frustrating things I've ever dealt with!! Oh, and don't feel bad. I almost got kicked in the head more than once when trying to get near him when he wasn't feeling well... Sending lots of hugs, I know how stressful dealing with this can be!

I know it can cause colic and it'll just get worse until the vet can come out. I may have to drive out to the vet that's about a half hour away (the only reason I don't use this vet to come out is because they charge SO much more just to come out to a farm. I don't have a trailer myself, so I'd have to have them come to where I'm boarding her) to see if I can get GastroGard or UlcerGard. I'm pretty sure that's the only place I could get it. If they don't have it, I'll probably have to try the bananas thing.

I'll look at Tractor Supply for Pro-CMC or ask the other vet.

Thanks!

How about having it delivered to your place?

GastroGard Merial (Equine - Horse Prescriptions)

I looked on valleyvet.com. I'm going to try to go to the closer vet tomorrow because even if I ordered it right now and got 1 day shipping, I wouldn't get it until Thursday because it's late.

Check the tack shops. The vets may not actually have it in their office. Tractor Supply might even have ulcergard. Pro-CMC can also be found most places that carry supplements. What is her current diet and turnout arrangement? Does she have hay in front of her 24/7? If you can give her hay all day, even during turnout, and split her grain into several meals per day, it will help to ease this discomfort and should be considered for ongoing management.

She's pasture boarded, so she's never in a stall and she only gets hay. If it were different, I would make it what she has now, but there's not much I can do there. And we have no tack shops. I plan to go to TSC tomorrow though. And either calling the other vet or just going out there.

Sorry Poseidon, I was doing three things at once last night and missed the turnout and no grain as stated in your first post. If you can't find Pro-CMC or Ulcergard over the next couple of days, you can get people Pepto. I use a big syringe, can't remember the size, maybe 2ml? I've also seen people feed chewable tums, but you need to feed about 5-6 tablets. Pepto or tums should help keep her comfy til the vet comes out. One thing to mention, the only way for the vet to truly diagnose ulcers is through scoping, which needs to be done at the clinic. The vet will certainly be able to look at her symptoms and take a guess, but there is no other way to definitively know if ulcers are present other than scoping. Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions and keep us posted!

Here's the cheapest 28 day pack I've found of ulcergard, Amazon.com: UlcerGard (Omeprazole 2.28 gm) Oral...
I actually needed to give Danny an extra two weeks after I did his 28 day treatment. I spent about $2000 for ulcergard orders and vet bills with the ulcers. He suffered from frequent minor colic as well all summer long and had several more emergency vet visits. I'm still paying off that credit card... The good news is that he's doing great now! We had changed his diet, changed his turnout, kept him on digestive supplements, but he was still having trouble. Everyone was totally out of ideas and I thought we were actually going to have to put him down. As a last resort, we sent him to a semi-retirement home in Delaware at a friend's place, where he has a stall open to a big pasture with only a few other horses. He can be out as much or as little as he wants. A girl comes and trail rides him once or twice a week. I don't know if the stress of the big show barn was just too much for him, but he's feeling much better now!