After fasting Smitty for 12 hours before his scoping appointment this morning, I found Kujo in his stall instead of a baby warmblood. Mr. Crankypants was hangry in the extreme, and taking it out on his poor jolly ball with much angst.
A little juice soon helped him forget how hungry he was, and we quickly got to running the scope down his nose and into his stomach. My vet joked that I could probably scope him myself at this rate, and honestly, she could be right.
Right away it was obvious that his stomach was a happier place, as the red blotchiness of before was replaced with a shiny pink lining with only minimal discoloration. The pyloric ulceration we had found before was gone, and we were well on our way to a completely healthy stomach.
Smitty’s treatment so far has been thus:
- 3 weeks of Ulcergard (gastrogard) @ 1 tube/day
- 3.5 weeks of Abgard @ 1 tube/day
- Introduction of Alfalfa mash 2x/day
- Succeed GI Conditioning program, starting with 1 week loading dose
At that rate, it’s obvious that the Abgard has worked as a good substitute for the Merial products, which is amazing since it’s 1/3 of the price, and well worth the wait for international shipping.
The plan is to keep him on 1/2 tube of the Abgard until I run out, so approximately 2 weeks worth. At that rate we should be in the clear, and I will continue with the Succeed supplement indefinitely for its hind gut benefits. Whether we keep him on alfalfa will be a later decision, as I’m also hoping it helps him gain some weight through the winter.
All in all, the scope was a success and ideally we’re on the path to a happier, less hangry Smitty.
Hooray for a good Smitty ulcer update! Good to know the Abgard works so well.
Yay! Also, as Leah said, good to know about the Abgard.
That’s a good update!
Good to know about the ab guard. Best of luck going forward!
Yay that is great news!
Woohoo Smitty! And so very good to know about the Abprazole products – we use the pop rocks a lot at my barn.
Glad that it worked!
Yay! Happy news!
Glad to hear he’s on the mend!
Yay Smitty!! Glad the food made his Cujo behavior go away too haha. I maybe dropped a hint to my barn workers that if they were afraid of getting bitten by my horse, maybe they should consider throwing more hay at him lol. These guys apparently get hangry!!
Yay good updates! Ulcer guard is a miracle worker
Yay! Good news!
Yay for an ulcer update!! And the memes 😂