Were are a lot alike. We both over think stuff, we both have beautiful show pony hair and we both have to deal with ulcers. I know how it feels so when Jez came up ouchy (not to mention the behavioral issues) for ulcers again, my heart sank. I didn’t have enough omeprazole for treatment and would have to get more. Only it takes many weeks when you order it from overseas. I ordered it anyways and counted out how many days i had on hand. Not enough, so i started looking for a way to get my hands on some that A. wouldn’t require an RX (another vet bill in my life was not needed) B. wouldn’t break the bank. I found some UlcerGard on sale 26 bucks a tube (one tube a day). Yeah thats a good deal but not when Abler (from overseas) cost is 6.00 a day. I bought it anyways because my pony needs it. I choked back the tears as my credit card was processed. Of course after I bought it i found a little known racehorse website where I can get it for about 8 bucks a tube. Ugh.
Some facts about omeprazole. Its the only FDA approved treatment for gastric ulcers. UlcerGard and GastroGard are the same thing from the same company. One is marketed as a preventative the other as a treatment. Same stuff, same dosage in a tube. Abrazole (from Abler) is omeprazole in granular form (Google blue pop rocks) Ranitidine which is Zantac will achieve the same results as omeprazole though comes at the issue in a different way. You need a RX for Raniditine in the 300mg pill form but not the 150 mg. Horses love Tums and people swear by them for before riding. 10,000 mg a dose.
Average prices:
UlcerGard: 29.00 a tube
GastroGard: 32.00 a tube
Abprazole: 6.00 (for 3 packets)
Ranitidine: 90 bucks (at Costco rx) for 2 weeks
Tums: Costco again for 9.99 for two giant containers of it
The amount of treatment times varies from source to source. When Jez was in crisis and had gastric and hind gut ulcers i treated her for both. 6 weeks for the hind gut and 28 days for the gastric. Some vets says 10 days is enough others say some horses need months. Since this is a flare up i’m going to go with 15 days, give or take based on how she palpates for ulcers and her tude. I’m also going to have to put her on a maintenance program. So i think that is going to cost me about 700 bucks a year. I will pay whatever it costs to get her feeling better. She was doing so great until this last flare up and was showing amazing promise as a Jumper. Good thing too because at jumper shows you can earn money and Miss Jez is going to have to pitch in for her special needs care. Jumper shows… here we come!
Resources:
http://www.abler.com
http://www.drkerryridgway.com/articles/article-ulcers.php
I’ve been really lucky (knock on wood) that, up to this point, I haven’t had to deal with ulcers. Of course, I just jinxed myself, so I’ll be hitting you up in the next month or so to pick your brain.
My vet is pretty good about trying to find cheaper alternatives (like telling me to get Surpass from my husband), but even still, there’s only so much. Thought about getting a part-time job at a vet’s office, so you can order meds at cost? 🙂
I think about getting a job w/ the vet ALL the time! I’m a wealth of horse ulcer info now. Not exactly what i want to know a lot about but i do. I hope you never need to hit me up for any info cuz … ulcers = suckage.