Equine Stomach Ulcers, Diagnosis Continued

So, I lied. Well, I didn't lie, I was just incorrect in my outline. I was supposed to talk about whether or not to scope in the last post and then I forgot. Apologies. There are two ways that you can diagnose ulcers clinically. First, you can have the horse "scoped", which is a procedure in which the vet runs a 3 meter long endoscope through the nose, and then into the stomach, and examines the lining of the stomach. Second, you can treat the horse for ulcers for a short amount of time, and if you note improvement in the behavior, then assume there are ulcers and continue treatment.

Personally, I think the scope is a valuable tool, in certain circumstances. If the horse is colicing on a regular basis and waiting it out isn't wise, if the behavior is genuinely dangerous, or if there is another situation where you absolutely need to know. Also, if your horse is insured and you plan to file a claim, and thus money is somewhat less of a concern, it's great to be able to re-scope after treatment so that you can see if they have been cleared up or not. (Note: if you do choose to file a claim, remember that the insurance company will then put an exclusion on the stomach, so colic surgery will not be covered until you can get the exclusion off the policy) If the horse's health is at stake, if YOUR health is at stake, if you just really need to know, the scope is the way to go. However, if you are considering that your horse has ulcers because of behavioral issues that are more minor, you might consider treating the horse for a few days to see if there is a response. I have found that within 3 days of full-dose gastrogard, I can see a significant improvement, but some horses take longer. Of course, you can take the combination approach and treat the horse for a few days, and then decide based on the improvement or lack thereof if you want to scope.

If you do choose to scope, the procedure is as follows: the horse will have to fast prior to the procedure, generally about 12 hours, but different vets like different amounts of time. Be sure to follow your vet's recommendation on this. You can either sweep all the shavings out of the stall or leave the bedding in and put a muzzle on. I favor the muzzle approach not only because it means less sweeping and shoveling for me, but also because after that amount of time with food, most horses are grumpy and the muzzle means they can't bite. I have the bucket-style muzzle, I think most of them will work. You will also have to withold water from the horse starting 4 hours prior to the scope. The fasting, I think, is the major downside to doing this- having an empty stomach is very stressful to the horse and will exacerbate any ulcers that are there. There's certainly that trade off to consider.