Supplements for ulcers....

[Sandee]

My vet suggested a couple of supplements on the market supposed to help heal and/ or keep ulcers from reoccuring. Ulc-R-Aid , Ulcerase, Gastrix, U-gard, Succeed - They all come in powdered form to sprinkle on the food.

Does anyone use any of these and do you recommend them or NOT? I hope there's something out there that works as well as the pastes and is NOT so EXPENSIVE!!! My filly had ulcers when she was soo sick as a baby and she tends to run (not walk) her stall. She's a terrific -fearless - performance horse and so has to be in stalls often. I need something that will calm her, stave off another ulcer, but not put excess weight on her.

Help and suggestions appreciated.

 

[disneyhorse]

There is a horse at my barn and the owner has her on Succeed. Seems very happy with it.

Andrea

 

[Tapestry Minis]

I too have used Succeed and am really pleased with it. I've also heard people say that it is more cost effective than Gastroguard. I know a lot of people with race horses that use it as well.

 

[muffntuf]

I am surprised there was no mention of probiotics from your vet.

 

[wildoak]

Succeed is great stuff. It's not an ulcer cure, but great for aiding digestion and maybe preventing them in the first place. It's not cheap, about $100 for either 30 tubes or 30 days worth (for a big horse) of the powder. One of those times it pays to have minis LOL.

Jan

 

[Casnos Minis]

My instructor uses Ulce-R- Aide (sp?) it works great. We also use Probios everyday.

Christy

 

[Boinky]

Quite frankly if it were me ( not being a vet here) i'd go buy some Prilosec over the counter and use that. It's omeprazole just like gastro guard. try to get it into the horse without it chewing it. That has been proven to help heal/cure ulcers.

Papya pills are also great for helping reduce acid in the stomach. It was recommended by a friend who was on the US equestrian team because the Team vet recommended it. I've tried it myself and it really does work great for hearburn ect!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use the U-Guard pellets, and they work really well. Don't buy the powder! My horses wouldn't touch it! But they love the pellets. I have a couple that are prone to ulcers, and if they start to eat more slowly than usual, or anything different, I add the pellets to their feed for a couple days and they're fine. I also give them to any horse that's under stress, weaning, foaling, etc.

Melba

 

[Jill]

I used to have a horse we gave U-gard to and seemed to do the trick and very economical (especially for a mini!). It's made to sprinkle on the food or dilute in a little water and syringe into mouth. We fed that one in a group of others and they sometimes switch feed buckets, so we just would dilute it and syringe into her mouth before each meal. It is pink and smells sweet (maybe is apple flavored). However, if she was fed alone in a stall, we'd have just sprinkled it on the feed but being able to dilute it in water and syringe worked great for us. This horse did do a short coarse of Ulcer Guard before going on U-Gard (all was per vet's advice).

 

[C G Minis]

My mare suffered with ulcers last summer and after we treated her with ulcer guard my vet told me to throw some alfala pellets in her feed once a day.It coats their tummies and of course they love it so I have been doing it with everyone. So far every one is doing well.

 

[Ashley]

None of them are cures they are all preventatives. That said one of my horses is on U-gaurd on a normal bases. He has had bad bouts with ulcers anytime he is away from home, or his girls. So he stays on it and is a pasture non-show horse.

 

[Margo_C-T]

True; all of the products listed by the OP are to 'aid in prevention'; they are not 'cures'. I now have two that I am giving U-Gard 2X to; it is fairly economical, they eat it readily. I chose it originally because of a recommendation in (Micheal Plumb's) Horse Journal, which evaluates products, and seemed to have a good reputation. I do feed good alfalfa hay(in conjunction with grass hay)regularly-have ALWAYS done so, but only fairly recently have been reading that alfalfa is thought to be a 'help' with a horse that probably has ulcers,also. There is no pasture here, only dry lot feeding--and the second horse is a cribber, so not too surprising that he 'finally', at 12 years of age, developed symptoms of ulcers.

I have also used ranitadine(generic for Zantac)successfully to treat an 'active' case of ulcer symptoms, and it has worked well.

Margo

 

[Boinky]

Riditidine is really cheap to you can buy a bottle of pills for like $5.00. It also works very well in stoping acid production.

 

[minih]

Before the Prilosec came out, we have used Tagamet on a horse until we could get some ulcerguard ordered in. It is also a preventative and helps until you can get something else. Check with your vet, my vet is the one who told me to use it at the time.

 

[whitney]

Yep I've tried just about all of them. Except the Succeed which I am considering.

U-Gard worked the best. I also tried it based on the Horse Journal recommendation. However I found a more economical way of treating with it. U-Gard 2X MAIN ingredient is Kaolin 23.6 grams per 1 ounce dose (an ounce is 28.3 grams). You can buy straight Kaolin from Uckele for 38.00 for a 50lb bag large horses get 1 ounce twice a day minis 1 tablespoon twice a day. If you have a horse go off feed get the liquid kaolin or kaopectalin it seems to work quicker within 30-45 minutes they will be back to eating.

Kaolin is safe to feed long term I've found it as an ingredient in cereal, toothpaste, and dog vitamins.

I also now have all my horses on alfalfa pellets 1 cup for the minis twice a day and 1 pound for the biggies twice a day.

Has anyone tried Slippery Elm?

http://ponymeds.com/ source for 700mg Omeprazole pill 4 pills for a large horse.

Here is another site that helped me. http://www.lunatunesfreestyles.com/ulcers.htm

 

[Sandee]

I want to thank each and every one that replied. I don't mean to step on toes but have to list here what I found online and hope that I'll get more answers to my questions.

I looked up Kaolin and only found it to be used for diarreha which my filly has no problem in that area. So unless someone can tell me more I'll have to rule that out.

The ranitidine sounds good until I found it only in pill form and it stated, just like the prilosec (omepresol pill), that it has to NOT be broken crushed nor chewed to work best.

So far that leaves me with U-gard and Succeed. I have written these companies in hopes of finding out more information of their use on miniatures and the doseage. So far no replies.

Anyone else before I give up?

 

[wildoak]

Just a note on the ranitidine.....the pills are very tiny, and assuming the horse is not off feed I just toss a couple into their dinner. I've never had a horse refuse it, they don't even know it's there LOL. If you have one refusing grain you may have an issue with it.

Jan

 

[Jill]

I no longer have a horse that has issues with ulcers, but for future reference, where do you get ranitidine?

 

[Barbie]

I had a mare who was VERY prone to ulcers. I finally had the opportunity to take her to Brandon Surgicare for a free scoping (done by Dr Porter of Univ of Florida). He found that her stomach was just full of ulcers. When I took her up there she had been on a diet of soaked beet pulp, alfalfa and grass for probably 6 weeks. He told me to put her on 6 weeks of ulcerguard, 4 weeks at full dose, 2 at half dose. He said to give her abosolutely NO sweet feed. I put her on a diet of beet pulp, Nutrena Safe Choice (suggested by my regular vet), alfalfa and grass. After about 5 weeks I put her in a wonderful pet home, along with some ulcerguard, and her Safe Choice. This was back in December. I talked to her new owner a couple of weeks ago and she has had no attacks and is doing absolutely wonderful. She is on no supplements at this time.

Good luck - it can be really frustrating. I sure am glad I was able to see Dr Porter as I know there is one really happy and lucky little mare named Treasure thanks to his advice. Can't leave out our Robin C as she was the one who suggested putting her on strictly beet pulp - no grain of any kind.

Barbie

 

[Boinky]

you can get ridatidine anyplace you can buy OTC Zantac, prilosec, ect ect. I have a prescrpition for it myself but once i ran out and i was having raging heartburn so went into K-mart to get something and they a decent size bottle for like $3.00 or so if i recall. I know you can order RX through most of the horse supplier catelogues ect.