Saturday, January 4, 2014

Wanted: Opinions & Reviews

Due to his attitude and picky eating, Alex has been getting another gastric ulcer treatment with Omeprazole for the last month.  Although his eating and attitude have improved, he's still not quite happy.  The feed tub is never licked clean, he always manages to leave just a little feed behind, and I know this isn't just because of the supplements, be cause when he's really eating well, he licks the pan.  He's also still just a little bit grouchy, not like aggressive grouchy, which is how he gets when he's really ulcery, but just not totally content.  Alex is a mouthy horse, in no way do I really ever expect that to change, but this is different. 

I've been wondering if he might have hindgut issues, which is something that Omeprazole doesn't treat.  His current diet includes a low starch pelleted feed and rice bran pellets.  Our supplement regimen is foot, joint and probiotic along with U-7 Gastric Aid for ulcer prevention/maintenance. 

Since Alex still seems a little off, I've been looking at other options.  Basically, I've narrowed it down to three things... Succeed, EquiShure (hindgut buffer) and RiteTrac (this is both a foregut and hindgut buffer) both made by KER.

Although I am warming up to Succeed, with every great review I read, I still feel hesitation.  The KER products are also tempting, but expensive and since they are a LOT of powder, I don't even know if I can get Alex to eat them!  At least the Succeed comes in tubes I can give him orally at first.
 
I've talked to my vet about this and he said that if I don't feel like it's all gastric since I've treated with Omeprazole, he had heard good things about Succeed.  Other than that, he's kinda non-committal, because otherwise, Alex is in great shape and being fed like a king.

So, in an effort to gather even more information/opinions (my brain is on overload, I've been researching this to death) I thought I'd reach out to my fellow bloggers for any opinions/advice/cautions you might have.

So let me have it, don't be shy :-)

5 comments:

  1. My first thought was teeth too. When was his last float? Otherwise im no help with ulcer treatments beyond ulcer guard. Good luck.

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  2. Alex has his teeth floated every 6 months, because he is parrot mouthed and has some hooks in back that grow especially fast.

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  3. A friend with a very difficult horse used Equishure for hindgut issues. I remember it being quite expensive and when I left the barn, she hadn't decided if she was keeping him on it.

    So I guess that's no help at all. Good luck.

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  4. Hmmm have you talked to your vet? I know as the parents of our horses we are super tuned into what isn't quite right... so your gut feeling it probably the best bet but maybe a vet might have an idea?

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