Gastric Ulcers and Liver Infection

[Deleted]

Hi, I haven't posted in a long while. I have a Dales X, Beauty a 14 year old mare.

She has been ill recently, it all started with re-occurring spasmodic colic so she was referred to Leahurst Nr. Liverpool to investigate further.

They did (a long with a number of other tests) a liver biopsy, as a blood test my vet had done had indicated she may have a problem with her Liver.

From the biopsy they found she had a liver infection but can't give me any idea of how she could have got this - has anyone else ever experienced this? She was very fit and healthy before.

They also found she had gastric ulcers, a grade 3 and grade 1.

She was put on a four week cause of gastroguard for the ulcers and four week cause of anti-biotics for the infection.

I'm happy to say that she had a blood test to check her liver a couple of weeks ago and was given the all clear and she certainly seems back to her normal self.

She isn't a typical case for gastric ulcers, she doesn't have concentrates feeds, she Lives out, is never left without food (although she is on restricted grazing through the spring) and isn't stressed. The vets think that the problem with the liver may have caused them.

Just wondered if anyone else had experienced a native with gastric ulcers.

Sorry its long and thanks for reading :-)

[Deleted]

your poor girl i'm glad she's feeling better.
I haven't had any probs with ulcers, but quite a few horses around do.

[Debbie]

Galahad's not native, but he's not exactly what you'd ever expect to fit the profile for gastric ulcers. He's a retired grade quarter horse from a Girl Scout Camp. His life consisted of a very regular routine, and a very low impact, but steady riding regimen mostly in walk packing novices about and teaching them how to ride.

I'd actually suspected the first year we worked together at camp that he might have stomach ulcers as one of the signs is girthiness. As I didn't know what sort of training he'd had prior to arriving at Camp, he could have easily been cinched very badly by someone during his training as well. He always showed displeasure over being cinched up, but also always had his face well away from the person doing the cinching.

When he arrived at my place Galahad was very run down and poorly. One of the first things I did was contact a vet in Australia who sent us a concoction to help detox Galahad's blood and liver. When I mentioned possible stomach ulcers, he instantly told me to put a tablespoon of slippery elm in Galahad's bucket morning and night (Soaked buckets, so two tablespoons daily) for three whole months and that would completely mend the stomach ulcers. So we did, and Galahad massively improved.

I don't have the normal vet stats of bloods, liver counts, etc because we simply didn't bother. With Galahad being so much older and run down, I sorta figured he simply needed a decent cleansing and support routine to gradually return him to health. I've actually used the slippery elm myself for stomach ulcers and the vet was right. Its very very soothing and does mend the stomach ulcers

[Deleted]

Thanks for the tip about Slippery elm, I'll certainly look into that. I think one of my biggest concerns are if she develops the ulcers again.

She seemed in very good health before she had a bout of colic and then was ill for a week whilst vets were trying to find out what was wrong with her and she lost a lot of weight very quickly, she is enjoying outting it back on now!

Its surprising how quicly they can loose condition when they are ill.

But thankfully she is fighting fit again now!

Thanks :-)

[harveydales]

I'm really pleased to hear Beauty is feeling much better again. It is very upsetting and worrying to see them lose so much weight so quickly when they are not well. I'm sure she will be enjoying building her weight back up again though.

I've also heard of the benefits of Slipery Elm - def worth trying.

I think there've been a couple of ponies on here with Gastric ulcers over the years so hopefully the owners will spot this thread and be able to offer advice. Greydales's Saturn suffered with a liver infection a few years ago so maybe PM her if she doesn't see this thread. I wonder if there is a connection between liver infections and gastric ulcers? Interesting..........

[Debbie]

Well, if she does develop the ulcers again, I'd be asking the vet once more to check her liver. Underlying infections are certainly something you'll want to ferret out.

The slippery elm does work beautifully, and I've used it for recurrent stomach ulcers in myself and Galahad. Galahad's only needed it twice. I tend to get them if I've had too many Excedrines combined with coffee

It can be alarming how fast they drop weight I've had the same happen with Galahad and its like overnight they just drop Its scary!!!

[cutemangurdi1]

I had a QH with gastric ulcers. I never fed concentrates and access to turnout was excellent. I've no idea what caused the flare up and I tried slippery elm, pure coconut oil etc. All to no avail. Gastroguard was the only thing that worked, but I needed a 2mth dose and then it was followed up with 2mths of the maintenance treatment prescribed by the vet.

Good luck with the treatment. I hope she makes a full recovery.

I did hear subsequently that in some horses/ponies, haylege can cause acid disturbance and that can lead to ulcers.

[Deleted]

Thanks for your replies. She seems to be doing well now. She has a four week cause of gastroguard and the vet doesn't think they will need to re-scope her unless she starts showing signs of discomfort or grinding her teeth (something she was doing) - she is not a wimp and doesn't show the signs of pain the vet would expect after finding such a bad ulcer. If only they could talk!!

She has also had another blood test and all signs show her liver is fine.

I do wonder if there is a connection between the ulcers and the infection, maybe something to ask the vet.

I have heard that haylege contains more acid too, so she'll be having none of that. Also interestingly I have heard that Straw contains more acid, so all low calorie type chaffs that have a mix of straw could be more acidic? Sometime I'm not sure that google is a good thing, you can scare yourself with too much internet reading.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on her progress xx

[Debbie]

You certainly can scare yourself silly with Google sometimes

Yeahhhhh for the good signs! Fingers crossed she continues to mend and stay happy