Merial Addresses Equine Stomach Ulcers

Merial Addresses Equine Stomach Ulcers

For the entire equestrian sport community, stomach ulcers in horses are a very big veterinary health concern. Merial Veterinary Services Manager Dr. Andy Bennett says addressing current ulcers and trying to prevent horses from getting them is very important because a majority of horse have ulcers now or will one day have them.

Bennett: "Because most horse owners are starting to learn more about them. If you look at Thoroughbreds and eventing horses, the instance of ulcers can be as high as 90 percent or so, more cutting and reining horses they may be down at that 30 to 40 percent range but if you look at all breeds overall it is approximately 66 percent of all horses. So two out of three horses have some degree of gastric ulceration. Where we commonly come in is when horses already have ulcers. We have a product called Gastogard that will help to treat ulcers and then we use another formulation of that called Ulcergard which is more of a preventative therapy. You can give that Ulcergard a couple of days before an event, while you are at the event and then for a short period of time after to help delay any ulcer development. We have had several studies stimulating a show setting — where a horse would go away for a few days and then come back — we have shown that ulcers can develop very rapidly within a two to three day period."

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