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Member
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| Ok so I need some help/advice. I have never had a horse with ulcers before my mare. I apologize if this turns lengthy...
I noticed my mare started losing weight back in March, we thought it was because she wasnt getting enough calories with starting into work. Per the Vet, we changed her feed from a low starch/low sugar diet to Nutrena Safe Perform. After about 3 weeks of no change we decided to treat her for ulcers because of multiple symptoms.
I made the mistake of buying compounded Omeprazole rather than the Gastrogaurd. 20 days into the treatment she coliced on me, while on Probios and Aloe Vera juice as well. The vet believed it was due to the ulcers, so the next day I bought the last 8 days of Gastromaxx3 from my local tack store (Gastrogaurd isnt sold locally here and i didnt want to wait). Since then she has completed her course of omeprazole and gained weight (still not back to where she was though). I have NOT been riding her much since she coliced on May 8th. (Maybe twice at a walk)
She is now on Sucralfate twice a day, pro bios and aloe vera juice. With her 2 feedings of grain she gets timothy/orchard pellets mixed in. She gets a 3rd feeding a day of soaked alfalfa cubes and has a round bale to herself in a grass pasture. When I rode her on Tuesday, she was still REALLY anxious. She didnt want to walk, chomping and grinding her teeth, looking all over. This isnt my horse she has done a complete turn around with the ulcers. The last time I rode her I did give her 1/2 tube of omeprazole prior to riding too.
So I guess my question is...has anyone ever had a horse who was super sensitive to Ulcers and never came back to work? Or what did you find worked for you to help those horses? Im worried that I cant even keep her legged up to ever enter her because shes SO nervous and we're just going to keep fighting the ulcers as a set back.
Any advice is greatly appreciated! |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
  
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | rodeo923 - 2015-05-21 6:20 AM Ok so I need some help/advice. I have never had a horse with ulcers before my mare. I apologize if this turns lengthy... I noticed my mare started losing weight back in March, we thought it was because she wasnt getting enough calories with starting into work. Per the Vet, we changed her feed from a low starch/low sugar diet to Nutrena Safe Perform. After about 3 weeks of no change we decided to treat her for ulcers because of multiple symptoms. I made the mistake of buying compounded Omeprazole rather than the Gastrogaurd. 20 days into the treatment she coliced on me, while on Probios and Aloe Vera juice as well. The vet believed it was due to the ulcers, so the next day I bought the last 8 days of Gastromaxx3 from my local tack store (Gastrogaurd isnt sold locally here and i didnt want to wait). Since then she has completed her course of omeprazole and gained weight (still not back to where she was though). I have NOT been riding her much since she coliced on May 8th. (Maybe twice at a walk) She is now on Sucralfate twice a day, pro bios and aloe vera juice. With her 2 feedings of grain she gets timothy/orchard pellets mixed in. She gets a 3rd feeding a day of soaked alfalfa cubes and has a round bale to herself in a grass pasture. When I rode her on Tuesday, she was still REALLY anxious. She didnt want to walk, chomping and grinding her teeth, looking all over. This isnt my horse she has done a complete turn around with the ulcers. The last time I rode her I did give her 1/2 tube of omeprazole prior to riding too. So I guess my question is...has anyone ever had a horse who was super sensitive to Ulcers and never came back to work? Or what did you find worked for you to help those horses? Im worried that I cant even keep her legged up to ever enter her because shes SO nervous and we're just going to keep fighting the ulcers as a set back. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
GastroPLUS. I swear by THE supplements because I used them for yrs before I became a distributor. I have a few pictures of before and afters-ulcers in the stomach pics. It is safe enough to leave them on full time if needed, but most do a 32 dose bag ($115.95 shipped) and then use a ulcer prevent blend in their Muscle Mass/Performance Forumla. Several of the top TB trainers use it in their barns. California Chrome and American Pharoah are 2 of the latest greatest that are on it. |
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 A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
 
Location: NC | Ok does she have ulcers or hind gut issues or both? Usually colic is a hind gut issue.
I've used the GastroPLUS on a horse I suspected of ulcers and he's now looking 10000% better than he did before I started it. He gained a bunch of weight and is acting like he feels a whole lot better too.
I would look into a super low starch grain like Triple Crown Senior. (The SafeChoice Perform is the highest starch version of SafeChoice at 28% nsc. TC senior is 13%). It's also high fat and high fiber so you shouldn't have to feed much to keep her fat. High fat also helps the stomach. If you can't get it, I would use the special care SafeChoice. It has 15% nsc compared to the 28 of the perform. (Only 2% less fat also). And I would add some fat to that with rice bran or weight builder or something along those lines if she loses any weight.
High fat and low starch feed and I would start the GastroPLUS and keep her on it until you see an improvement. Then you can switch to U7 as a daily maintenance or another THE supplement for support. She went from a low starch diet to having a feed pretty darn high in sugar content. That paired with time off from riding probably isn't helping her stomach or her nerves.
Edited by hlynn 2015-05-21 7:48 AM
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Member
Posts: 31
| hlynn - 2015-05-21 7:46 AM
Ok does she have ulcers or hind gut issues or both? Usually colic is a hind gut issue.
I've used the GastroPLUS on a horse I suspected of ulcers and he's now looking 10000% better than he did before I started it. He gained a bunch of weight and is acting like he feels a whole lot better too.
I would look into a super low starch grain like Triple Crown Senior. (The SafeChoice Perform is the highest starch version of SafeChoice at 28% nsc. TC senior is 13%). It's also high fat and high fiber so you shouldn't have to feed much to keep her fat. High fat also helps the stomach. If you can't get it, I would use the special care SafeChoice. It has 15% nsc compared to the 28 of the perform. (Only 2% less fat also). And I would add some fat to that with rice bran or weight builder or something along those lines if she loses any weight.
High fat and low starch feed and I would start the GastroPLUS and keep her on it until you see an improvement. Then you can switch to U7 as a daily maintenance or another THE supplement for support. She went from a low starch diet to having a feed pretty darn high in sugar content. That paired with time off from riding probably isn't helping her stomach or her nerves.
We assume she has both gastric and hindgut ulcers which is why we decided on the Sucralfate for maintenance after not seeing a "great" improvement with the Omeprazole. She was originally on the Safe Choice Special Care prior to all of this (she had mechanically foundered back in September), but this is what we switched from after she started dropping weight. Shes only 4yrs old so we were worried the calorie intake wasnt enough for her with barrel racing and we supplemented her on Coca Soy for added fat and U7 but stopped it after she coliced. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Sounds like hind gut
Also my understanding is it takes less then 3 days to develop ulcers so she may have developed new ones
A friend of mine told me about green clay which was recommended to her by a very well respected chiro.
I have not seen any research on it but it worked on her horse who didn't respond to omeprazole, it has worked on mine with hind gut problems, and has worked on two other friends horses that I suggested it to.
It is cheap I paid 13 for the box at the health food store, I had mine on it for 2 weeks, one friend had hers in for three before changes were noticed.
The other product I would try is Redmond clay, I haven't used it yet as it is not available in Canada yet. The product was developed for ulcers |
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A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
Location: NC | rodeo923 - 2015-05-21 9:08 AM
hlynn - 2015-05-21 7:46 AM
Ok does she have ulcers or hind gut issues or both? Usually colic is a hind gut issue.
I've used the GastroPLUS on a horse I suspected of ulcers and he's now looking 10000% better than he did before I started it. He gained a bunch of weight and is acting like he feels a whole lot better too.
I would look into a super low starch grain like Triple Crown Senior. (The SafeChoice Perform is the highest starch version of SafeChoice at 28% nsc. TC senior is 13%). It's also high fat and high fiber so you shouldn't have to feed much to keep her fat. High fat also helps the stomach. If you can't get it, I would use the special care SafeChoice. It has 15% nsc compared to the 28 of the perform. (Only 2% less fat also). And I would add some fat to that with rice bran or weight builder or something along those lines if she loses any weight.
High fat and low starch feed and I would start the GastroPLUS and keep her on it until you see an improvement. Then you can switch to U7 as a daily maintenance or another THE supplement for support. She went from a low starch diet to having a feed pretty darn high in sugar content. That paired with time off from riding probably isn't helping her stomach or her nerves.
We assume she has both gastric and hindgut ulcers which is why we decided on the Sucralfate for maintenance after not seeing a "great" improvement with the Omeprazole. She was originally on the Safe Choice Special Care prior to all of this (she had mechanically foundered back in September ), but this is what we switched from after she started dropping weight. Shes only 4yrs old so we were worried the calorie intake wasnt enough for her with barrel racing and we supplemented her on Coca Soy for added fat and U7 but stopped it after she coliced.
I would go back to the Special Care or find a low starch high fat alternative. Triple Crown Senior is awesome to keep weight on one rather easily without causing sugar spikes and starch issues.
If you go back to it, just add something fatty to it. Nutrena has a high fat supplement. Empower Boost I think it is??? That would be a good way to keep the weight up without adding a lot more starch to the mix. Almost doubling the starch and sugars will definitely make a horse hotter and will definitely aggravate the stomach and hind gut.
Forco is a really good affordable supplement to have for overall gut health. It never hurts. It's good stuff.
The perform only has 2% more fat than the special care so I don't think it made a huge difference as far as weight is concerned. I would bet the stomach issues was what caused the weight loss. |
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Member
Posts: 31
| hlynn - 2015-05-21 10:44 AM
rodeo923 - 2015-05-21 9:08 AM
hlynn - 2015-05-21 7:46 AM
Ok does she have ulcers or hind gut issues or both? Usually colic is a hind gut issue.
I've used the GastroPLUS on a horse I suspected of ulcers and he's now looking 10000% better than he did before I started it. He gained a bunch of weight and is acting like he feels a whole lot better too.
I would look into a super low starch grain like Triple Crown Senior. (The SafeChoice Perform is the highest starch version of SafeChoice at 28% nsc. TC senior is 13%). It's also high fat and high fiber so you shouldn't have to feed much to keep her fat. High fat also helps the stomach. If you can't get it, I would use the special care SafeChoice. It has 15% nsc compared to the 28 of the perform. (Only 2% less fat also). And I would add some fat to that with rice bran or weight builder or something along those lines if she loses any weight.
High fat and low starch feed and I would start the GastroPLUS and keep her on it until you see an improvement. Then you can switch to U7 as a daily maintenance or another THE supplement for support. She went from a low starch diet to having a feed pretty darn high in sugar content. That paired with time off from riding probably isn't helping her stomach or her nerves.
We assume she has both gastric and hindgut ulcers which is why we decided on the Sucralfate for maintenance after not seeing a "great" improvement with the Omeprazole. She was originally on the Safe Choice Special Care prior to all of this (she had mechanically foundered back in September ), but this is what we switched from after she started dropping weight. Shes only 4yrs old so we were worried the calorie intake wasnt enough for her with barrel racing and we supplemented her on Coca Soy for added fat and U7 but stopped it after she coliced.
I would go back to the Special Care or find a low starch high fat alternative. Triple Crown Senior is awesome to keep weight on one rather easily without causing sugar spikes and starch issues.
If you go back to it, just add something fatty to it. Nutrena has a high fat supplement. Empower Boost I think it is??? That would be a good way to keep the weight up without adding a lot more starch to the mix. Almost doubling the starch and sugars will definitely make a horse hotter and will definitely aggravate the stomach and hind gut.
Forco is a really good affordable supplement to have for overall gut health. It never hurts. It's good stuff.
The perform only has 2% more fat than the special care so I don't think it made a huge difference as far as weight is concerned. I would bet the stomach issues was what caused the weight loss.
Thank you! Ill definitely give it a try and see how it goes.
I did have her on Forco while i had her on the special care originally. I saw a difference in the first week or two and then she gradually went downhill and I started the omeprazole treatment. She went through about 2 months of Forco before starting Omeprazole. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | Love THE GastroPLUS! Used it on my gelding who is the biggest pansy ever and now he is like a new horse. |
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