Update: GiGi 2 month old filly dealing with a loss

[Dsims]

GiGi is my 2 month old filly that lost her Mom on the 25th of July due to a fatty tumor that wrap around her large intestine. GiGi was only 5 weeks old at the time I brought her home home from the vet clinic with out her mom. The first week went OK with her new barn buddy, the second week I noticed her not having much energy and by day 4 of the second week I had my vet out to do a complete blood draw and evaluation on her. She also agreed that she was not acting like a normal two month old. Her Blood work came with an elevated Fibrinogen of 1200 ( normal is 100 to 400 ). We did take her another vet clinic for a more intense evaluation. The second vet also agreed that she was a prime canidiate for Ulcers. He did put her on antibotic's, Ulcer Meds and Probios. Since than, She has been responding well to the Med's. However, Yesterday she become very painful and showed evey sign of colic.... She went back the vet clinic. Gosh, what a roller coaster this has been ........ She is home and is doing much better. Her pain was able to be managed with 3/4 of CC of Banamine.

GiGi is being treated with Carafate, 1/2 gram 3x daily, Cimetidine, 300 mg 3 x daily ( one hour apart from each other ). Probios A.M. and P.M. She has also been on 1/2 of Tribrissen 1 x daily for 10 days.

I have a few questions that I hoping that you guys can shed some light on the subject for me.

One is ..... Has anyone else had blood drawn on thier foal that has been dealing with an Ulcer. If so, what was the Fibrinogen level ? I also would like to know if the Potassium level was also elevated. What other Medication's have you had success with treating Ulcers ? How long were they on the Ulcers Med's ? Has any one used Niegh-Lox from KER ?

Thanks in advance,

Debby

 

[smlotsocats]

You need to put this foal on Gastro Guard immediately. Cimetidine will work but it has to be given for a really long time. Gastro Guard will heal those ulcers rather quickly and is a much better medication. The same company also makes another product called Ulcer Guard (I think that's the name) anyway, it has a lower dose of the main ingredient and is supposed to be used in times of stress as a preventative when a horse may start getting ulcers. You really need to talk to your vet about getting the Gastro Guard though. It's in a tube and is a little expensive ($45 a tube) but it is dosed by the horses weight so you will only go through a couple tubes for effective treatment. A normal sized horse needs 1 tube a day sometimes for a couple weeks to a month in bad cases! You will see dramatic results with this medication. Good luck!