Gastric Ulcers

Question:  Question: I bought my Paint gelding three years ago, he was in very bad condition, thin, long hair, etc. I noticed after he got home that he cribbed. I called the old owners and they didn't think he did that when they owned him, but he was within an electric fence enclosure so they didn't know for sure. I called my veterinarian who later examined him and said that this horse had been cribbing a long time and thinks he cribs ONLY after eating grain since he had gastric ulcers. After switching his grain to what the vet recommended, he still continues to crib ONLY after eating grain or horse cookies. He is ridden lightly 4-6 times a week, on 24-hour turnout, a few pasture buddies. He does receive grain (pelleted)since he is such a hard keeper. He is 8-years-old. Any suggestions?

Answer: It may be that he cribs when he is in pain, or when his blood sugar goes up, or it may just be behavioral - it is very hard to say why there seems to be an association in him between grain and treat feeding and the cribbing. Whether that is a behavior associated with gastric ulcers is unclear but not impossible. The most important thing I think you can do is determine whether he truly has gastric ulcers or not. If he has them, then treat him and see if the behavior goes away. The only way to be sure he has them is to have a veterinarian perform gastroscopy on him. A vet will need to have a 3 meter scope to do this. Keep his diet as low in carbohydrate as possible and supplement with oil to aid in keeping his weight up. If he either does not have ulcers, or treatment of the ulcers does not have any effect on the cribbing, then management changes aimed at reducing cribbing are in order. The other thing to keep in mind is that cribbing in itself is an annoying habit, but it may not be hurting anything.

Question: My Icelandic horse is undergoing treatment for gastric ulcers, which includes 1/4 syringe Gastrogard/day. He has a history of gastric ulcers and this is the third time he has received treatment. He is not a performance horse and he doesn't live a high-stress life, but is a very easy keeper and is often overweight. Every time I reduce his hay intake I risk him developing new ulcers. I keep hay in front of him as much as possible, but that does make it hard to reduce his weight. My veterinarian said that ulcer preventative supplements on the market have not been proven effective, but I can't afford to give him omeprazole every day for the rest of his life. In addition to giving him a small amount of alfalfa hay several times a day to buffer his stomach acids, is there anything else I can give him to prevent new ulcers? Thanks for any help.

Answer: Firstly, has he been scoped to establish the diagnosis? This is key to knowing what you are treating. Even if the original diagnosis was made this way, a repeated scoping would be helpful. For lack of a better alternative, I would try the ulcer preventative despite the lack of supportive evidence for its use. These supplements are relatively inexpensive and they may help a little. Consider weaning him off the gastrogard and putting him on one of these. If he shows signs of a problem, you will need to reassess. I have recommended feeding corn oil (in your case in very small amounts - 2 oz per day). There is thought to be a mild protective effect on the stomach lining from feeding this. You will have to feed a little less hay to account for the additional calories. Consider low dose thyroid supplementation- despite the lack of evidence for hypothyroidism in horses, I use this to help this kind of horse maintain a healthier weight. I hope this helps.

Question: Our first ever horse is a handsome 7-year-old, 16.3 hand, off-the-track Thoroughbred. He is doing well in eventing and seems happy. He is fed three times a day (including ultium, rice bran oil, beet pulp, electrolytes, glucosamine, good hay, 8-hour turnout, works 5-6 days a week) but is having a lot of trouble gaining weight because he stall walks all night. The veterinarian has placed him on one tube of gastroguard/day for a week and then cut it down to 1/4 tube per day for the next 6 months. Will treating/healing the (probable) ulcers result in increased absorbtion of calories and weight gain? Will the ulcers return when we stop giving him the gastroguard? Do probiotics help with ulcers? NOte: The vet says he weighs about 1,000 lbs and should be closer to 1,200lbs. We have been battling the weight issue since we got him 1 1/2 years ago. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Answer: The question is: does he have gastric ulcers now? He should have a gastroscopy to determine that. If he still has gastric ulcers, it may take 28 days of treatment with gastrogard at full dose (versus 7 days) to get those to actually heal, and then some sort of maintenance like the 1/4 dose gastrogard for a variable length of time. In cases in which gastric ulcers are the primary problem, treatment of the ulcers can make a tremendous difference to general health and body condition (in this case, could help weight gain).  In some cases, the ulcers do return. The most important thing is to know whether or not they are gone now after this long course of treatment. I can't emphasize enough the need to learn as much as you can about his condition before speculating about treatment, and a gastroscopy provides important information, along with other diagnostics, which your vet has likely provided. If everything else is ruled out, it may simply be the energy expenditure of his stall vice of walking constantly that is causing him to lose weight. Trying to manage this is key. He is on a low carb, high fat diet, which is important. The fat component should be maxed out and carbs minimized. Some propose the use of various herbals to help calm nervous horses. I have not had much luck with these but do not know that much about them. I do not think that there is evidence for their effectiveness in horses. Trying different management techniques like feeding long stem grass hay at night might reduce the walking. As far as I know, probiotics have not been shown to help gastric ulcers.

Reprinted with permission from AAEP. To view the entire article please visit www.aaep.org/ask_the_vet.php