The Problem

The incidence of gastrointestinal ulceration in horses has reached epidemic proportions with studies showing as much as 87% of performance horses are suffering from gastric ulcers, and 63% with colonic ulcers and 97% of performance horses overall showing some type of ulcer formation. Although symptoms of severe ulcers can include poor appetite, difficulty maintaining weight, rough hair coat, grinding teeth, colic or intermittent subtle colicky behavior, depressed immune system, soft stool or diarrhea, irritability, and poor performance, unfortunately most horses with ulcers show very few outward signs so ulceration is often a hidden pathology.

Causes of ulcers can be stress on the system from NSAID use, pain, lameness issues, loss of a friend, poor quality feed, (lack of nutrition), high amounts of grain, intense work schedule, trailering, showing, illness or injury or even moving to a new barn or starting a different training regime.

Even foals have shown a surprising rate of ulcers with up to 50% of foals less than 6 months of age being affected and neonates (foals under 30 days of age) were also showing a surprisingly high incidence of ulcers. Aggressive factors—including gastric acid, bile salts, pepsin acid and other various degradative enzymes—can injure the mucosa or indirectly cause damage by increasing the secretion of other more noxious agents. Signs of ulcers in foals can be depression, anorexia, poor weight gain, pot-belly appearance, rough hair coat, grinding teeth, salivation, rolling and colic.

For maintaining healthy mucosa, it is necessary for adequate blood flow to supply the epithelium with nutrients and oxygen while also providing a route for sufficient blood flow to complete the necessary route for disposal of hydrogen ions and agents that can be injurious to the mucosa. The nitric oxide molecule is a key component in this cycle, by increasing blood flow through vasodilation of enteric blood vessels as well as neurotransmission, important for normal peristalsis.

 

Many horse owners have tried the ulcer medications currently on the market.  These drugs only work on gastric ulcers, which presents three problems; first if the horse has gastric ulcers they usually have colonic ulcers too, which these drugs do not heal. Second, these drugs work by decreasing the amount of acid the stomach produces.  These natural acids are needed to digest food, and without them digestion and nutrition are compromised. Third, you are introducing a drug into your horses’ body.  True health comes from a natural balanced state, not a stress induced drug state.

GastroPLUS not only stimulates nitric oxide production for the increase in blood flow, increases mucus formation to coat and soothe the entire GI tract, aids in proper absorption of food and elimination of waste.
GastroPLUS is an all natural product and does not use any drugs.

For gastric ulcers, we give a single dose of GastroPLUS 2x daily for 10 days then 1x daily for 30 more days.

For suspected colonic ulcers, we give a double dose of GastroPLUS twice daily for 10 days, then double dose once daily for 30 more days. Total dosing 40 days.

Please work closely with your veterinarian if any infection is present.

 

Most horses eat normally within hours, and show a significant difference in attitude, eating habits, and behavior within 2-3 days. Some will take longer, but if a change is not seen within a week, consider the possibility of more severe ulcers—possibly colonic—and the necessity of increasing the dosage given. Please note that while the horse will show a significant positive response quickly, our studies have shown that most horses must be dosed for a minimum of 6 weeks to nutritionally resolve the ulcers.