Ulcers Everywhere!

 It’s funny how my trainer and I were just talking about how wonderfully Mae is doing since she’s been with us, how she’s matured and is sane to ride at any time, how her topline has muscled out, and how nice her hooves look.  She’s eight now and settled down quite a bit since we got her.

So of course, this summer she started giving us colic scares, starting in May with what we thought was a gas colic.  It’d always happen after dinner in the evenings on particularly hot days.  After her last meal, she would start acting restless in her stall, trying to get down and roll.  Initially, we thought maybe she was getting overheated or ate her grain too fast.  We would hose her down, dry her off, give her a shot of banamine and she would perk up immediately.  Once back in her stall, she’d try to hoover any remaining scrap of hay that was left after we removed all food and poop / pee regularly.

Not feeling so good, mom

It got to be so that this was happening regularly, every three weeks or so.  After her last bout in July, my trainer and vet suspected ulcers so I ordered two weeks worth of omeprazole (in case that wasn’t what it was, we didn’t over-order medication).  Since she’s been on the paste, she started eating a lot more and pooping a lot more frequently.  I ordered the second shipment of medication after she had been on it a week, but due to the shipping delays at the USPS, her medication didn’t arrive until she was off of it for four days.  During that four day period, she had another fit and after yet another injection of banamine, she looked right as rain.  Unfortunately, instead of bouncing back the next day, she was back to not eating and laying down in her stall.  At one point, she lay down right outside of her turnout and had all of the kids at the barn in a tizzy - afraid that she was on her deathbed.  I know I shouldn’t laugh but this is almost the exact same thing that happened four years ago when we first got her off the track.

Luckily at this point, Mae was finally back on medication.  We took her off grain feed completely and put her on soaked alfalfa.  She also gets different hay now as well.  Five days later, she’s back to normal.  We have three more weeks of omeprazole paste and then we’ll put her on a daily powder.  As I mentioned before (and if you've been following along for that long), this is her second time with ulcer flare ups.  The first was when she first came to Texas from Michigan (read here) in 2017.

Every time we’re learning something about her and the ideal diet for her to be on.  Thoroughbreds and their highly sensitive stomachs, amirite?  Eventually, I’d like her to be on pasture but that’s not feasible right now with where we live and where my trainer is.  I'm also not even sure if that'd help her stomach issues.  Do any of y’all have ulcer issues with your ponies?  Do you have to switch up diet / supplements to stay on top of ulcers or have you found something that works?


Comments

  1. So my thoroughbred Nay Nay had horrible ulcers this spring (he probably had them when I got him in December, but they got bad in March). After every meal, he had a little mini colic. In his case, the colics resolved without medication, but he would stand for 60-90 minutes and just mope, stretch, and just be uncomfortable. We treated with ulcergard for 60+ days and he scoped clean after that (just scarring from the ulcers). That said, around the same time, he also started reacting really badly to soy and this mimicked all the ulcer symptoms. So, when I first put him on ulcergard? He felt great for a week and then went down hill almost immediately. When after almost 2 months (right before we scoped), my vet finally had me pull him off all grain and that was when he improved immediately. He now lives on alfalfa pellets and rice bran plus platinum performance and some other supplements (purina outlast and redmonds daily gold), free choice hay and alfalfa and is fat and happy. It's funny, he was hard to get weight on, but now that his gut feels good? His weight is great and he's eating well. Grass hay has been the hardest (that was what he was eating when he started feeling cruddy so there's some correlation to foods that made him feel bad), but he's even eating that now (though he gets a nice orchard alfalfa and straight alfalfa at night in his stall). I do give him ulcergard before we ride as I haul out for all our rides.

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    1. Good to know about the rice bran! I'm glad he's eating well and is getting chunky. It is really hard to put weight on Mae but I think the new diet is working. She's getting alfalfa forage blend from Triple Crown and soaked alfalfa cubes. Keep me posted re Nay Nay (cutest name ever) - I hope he continues to do well!

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  2. Ughhhhhh ulcers are the worst! I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this again with Mae :( I had a mare a few years ago who developed ulcers after being extensively stalled/buted for a lameness. I was luck that they mostly resolved (or seemed to) with OTC supplements on top of free choice hay, and I didn't have to go down the very expensive medication route. I did notice after a while the original supplement (U7 Gastric Aid) seemed to be helping less, so I switched her to Ulc-R-Aid by Animed and she was on that until I sold her (and I sent a bucket with the new owner!). It was so inexpensive I kept Ruby and Cinna on it for a while, but last year during construction I stopped feeding everyone supplements (mostly because I didn't have the mental or physical energy to deal with remembering to order/making little homemade SmartPaks lol) and I never picked it back up because everyone has been fine :)

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    1. Good idea in switching up the supplements! She's on TractGard, SmartFlex Ultra, and Farriers Formula ($$$$). I'll take a look at Ulc-R-Aid - it may be time to switch it up

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  3. Bummer about the ulcers, while my OTTB never had them it seems like a lot of them do.

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    1. Our other horses at the barn have gotten them as well... our barn is stressful to say the least

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  4. My friend at my barn had the same thing happening this summer with her OTTB mare. She treated her for ulcers and now her mare is on no grain at all and gets hay and alfalfa pellets. She has been fine ever since. She is turned out overnite for a bit but not huge lot to graze on but still seems to have helped her! Good luck with your special sunflower ;) Glad you got her feeling better!

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    1. Thanks - she's putting on weight now and back to her old normal self thank goodness!

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  5. DOn't know much about ponies, but man....ulcers are not fun, for both ponies and humans:( But it sounds like you guys are on top of it:) Yay:)

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  6. I spent my summer working on a goat farm and I learnt so much about farm animals - but nothing about horses. I'd love to work closer with them in the future, but judging by your posts, there's a helluva lot to learn! You're doing great :D

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