# Omeprazole



## ChieTheRider (May 3, 2017)

I noticed omeprazole is sold for humans as an acid reducer. Could you use the same stuff as an ulcer prevention or treatment? It's the same active ingredient that's in Ulcerguard. The dosage is .45 mg/lb i think. The cost would end up being about the same, but the brand at walmart is easily accessible and slightly cheaper. 

I don't have a horse with ulcers or anything, I'm just wondering.


----------



## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Lots of people will use human brand ulcer medications for their horses. Nexum is one, and there's another one that starts with a S.


----------



## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Prilosec is another human med. But the catch is to make sure the horse doesn't chew the tablets and break the coating. Nor are they supposed to be ground or wetted to get it to stick to feed to ensure it is ingested, from what I understand for it to be effective.

Abler makes the coated granules to make feeding easier.


----------



## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Also, it all depends on the type of ulcer and severity - if you don’t get the dosage right, the human products won’t work, anyway

My IR horse has had so much stress in the last seven years, even prescription equine omeprazole stopped working on him.

I discovered something else that is OTC for horses and so far it has done its job — but it costs $120 for the first 21 day phase and $99 for the second 21 day phase, which I kept him on the second phase 42 days.

If horse has serious ulcer issues, gastric or hind gut, nothing cheap is going to heal them


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Yes, you can use the human stuff. No I would not use it as a 'preventative'. It works by inhibiting stomach acid, which is needed for beginning digestion in the stomach. When stomach ulcers are present, inhibiting acid can be helpful enough to allow healing & outweigh the negative effects. But doing so long term or when not necessary is not great. It will also not help healing or susceptibility to 'hind gut' ulcers. 

I have seen no studies on this specific, but I wonder, depending on diet, whether inhibiting acid & therefore digestion in the stomach could make hind gut issues more likely.


----------



## Susan Z (Jan 21, 2019)

I highly suggest checking out the Canadian company abler equine for actual omeprazole and sucralfate for stomach and hindgut ulcers. The dosing and medication itself is meant for horses. And it is actually cheap compared to $40 a day using the omeprazole in a tube. I’m currently using both medications on my horse with success. She will go on a preventative dose after we clear hindgut ulcers. Good luck.


----------



## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Susan Z said:


> I highly suggest checking out the Canadian company abler equine for actual omeprazole and sucralfate for stomach and hindgut ulcers.



Abler isn't Canadian unless that changed recently. I tried to order some stuff from there a year or so ago and couldn't because I was in Canada. They ship out of a small country in the SE Pacific.


----------



## ChieTheRider (May 3, 2017)

Thanks for the replies all! It's useful to know. I don't have a horse with ulcers or who are prone to them. My mare is cinchy but I believe it's more linked to habit and her just being mareish. Besides that there's no other symptoms and nothing I can think of that would have caused her to get ulcers. We don't trailer much, she's on pasture half of the day and has hay for the other half. 

It still got me looking around. I did run my old guy through a "just in case" treatment of Ulcerguard a while ago because he was underweight and I couldn't get weight on him at all. It didn't seem to make much of a difference.


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

ChieTheRider said:


> My mare is cinchy but I believe it's more linked to habit and her just being mareish. Besides that there's no other symptoms and nothing I can think of that would have caused her to get ulcers. We don't trailer much, she's on pasture half of the day and has hay for the other half.
> 
> It still got me looking around. I did run my old guy through a "just in case" treatment of Ulcerguard a while ago because he was underweight and I couldn't get weight on him at all. It didn't seem to make much of a difference.


If your horse is 'cynchy' it is either due to current discomfort/pain, or previous associated attitude/behaviour - something was bugging her in the past, now girthing may not be causing those physical issues, but has become associated with the discomfort/reaction('habit'). It may well be nothing to do with ulcers - could be saddle fit or even someone just being rough & ready with doing it up. Or, due to behaviour of handlers, she has simply learned to say 'bug off', learned that works, so keeps trying. It is not because she is a she. Though it does seem that many geldings do just 'put up & shut up' more of the time than mares, with stuff they shouldn't have to...

Re the omep. not helping your gelding, it could be that he had hind gut ulcers, which omep. won't help. Could be the feed/feeding was the prob. Or it could have been that he had an unrelated problem


----------



## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

loosie said:


> I have seen no studies on this specific, but I wonder, depending on diet, whether inhibiting acid & therefore digestion in the stomach could make hind gut issues more likely.


That’s a good question.

Something else I’ve thought about ad nauseum is hind gut ulcers as they *might be associated*with hanging (Aka strangulating) lipomas - especially in geldings.

I lost Duke to strangulating lipomas, which he had been diagnosed with. I treated him specifically for hind gut ulcers, which helped him for 2-1/2 years, in that his colics stopped and he had quality of life two years longer than the vet thought he would.

@ChieTheRider, don’t ever discount ulcers because you don’t think there’s been a reason for them. It is documented that foals can develop ulcers during the weaning process. 

Horses have the worst digestive system of domestic animals on the planet. It doesn’t take much for some of them to develop ulcers, especially if they don’t have access to grass pasture.

https://www.paulickreport.com/horse...st-majority-of-foals-have-ulcers-upon-weaning.


----------



## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Preventive in terms of ulcers usually means giving a smaller preventive dose a couple days before or during a stressful time that may cause an ulcer flare up. Injury, showing, trailering, etc. 
As loosie said, not really meant to dose everyday just because. I read somewhere long ago when I went through ulcers with Hooey and researching, long term use of omeprazole causes issues in the hind gut which is treated differently.

If you suspect ulcers, the Nexium, Prilosec, Abler "pop rocks" are an affordable way to feel out if it's an issue by doing a treatment dose for the 4 weeks and taper off for two weeks like you would use the GastroGard from the vet.

I went through the full treatment of GastroGard with success on Hooey(along with a diet change) then kept OTC UlcerGard and Abler on hand to use at the preventive doses for when I hauled or he was getting worked hard during our busy times of year.


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

walkinthewalk said:


> @ChieTheRider, don’t ever discount ulcers because you don’t think there’s been a reason for them. It is documented that foals can develop ulcers during the weaning process.


Meant to comment on that bit. I didnt think ulcers were possible in my horse, as he's always had enough pasture, never fed grain or such. We think he developed them from either too rich grass(mostly rye where I used to live) &/or capeweed. I've heard people (even horse health & nutritional professionals) say its not a problem because horses won't touch capeweed unless there's nothing else to eat. None of mine, or many others I've met have read that book though & they all love it & seek it out!


----------



## ChieTheRider (May 3, 2017)

I may treat my mare just in case when I get paid for house sitting for someone in a week. I don't have the $$ right now... It can't hurt, right?


----------



## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

odie will get ulcers and when he does he drops weight and wont eat. i use off brand omny on him and he is fine within a week.


----------

