Success Story: Abprazole 700 for Equine Gastric Ulcer Treatment
Miniature Horse Chubby Checkers
Tanglewood -Farms Chubby Checkers. Chubbs for short is a active playful little stallion. He is 4 years old, stands 29 inches (74.5cm) tall and weighs about 160 pounds(72.5kg).
Chubby Checkers has never been prone to Colic or other Equine health problems and so we were greatly concerned when he quit playing with his big exercise ball which he loves. Chubbs then began eating less and less and showed some mild Colic symptoms.
Our vet was called and he was oiled and given banamine. Over the next few days he quit eating completely and acted very depressed.
We began tube feeding him in order to keep his strength up and this went on for about a 10 days. Blood work did not show any problem. Our Vet suspected Equine ulcers and that’s when we contacted Abler.
We started him on 1/2 packet Abler Abprazole 700 mg Omeprazole and continued this treatment together with tube feeding for the next few days and then put him on pasture to encourage him to eat.
After about 5 days he did start to eat and has been improving ever since thanks to the treatment with Abprazole.
Chubbs is an active little carriage horse (we made him a special little roadster) and does dressage and obstacle work. He loves to go on the Saturday drives with Tanglewood -Farms customers. We are not sure what started the Ulcers but are so thankful to Abler for their help in saving Chubbs. Seeing him active and playing with his ball again and I have to tell you I was sure excited.
Minatures are no different to other Horses and are susceptible to Ulcers.equine gastric ulcer treatment is necessary to prevent death from ulcers – the number one cause of preventable death of miniature horses.
A severe and painful digestive system irritation can kill a Mini horse if not treated promptly.
Chubby Checkers and other Tanglewood Farm Minature Carriage Horses may be viewed www.tanglewood-farms.com – Lois.
In horses, stress, illness, and antibiotics can kill the “good bugs” in a horse’s gut.
Probiotics Definition and Examples
- Probiotics are live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.
- To be considered a Probiotic the bacteria must be alive when administered to the horse
- Must contain a taxonomically defined microbe(s), including genus, species, and strain and be safe for the intended use.
- Typical Equine Probiotics include Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species of bacteria in addition to the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii.
How AbActive Probiotics Benefit Horses?
In humans, Probiotics are used for various reasons, including treatment/management of infectious diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease (e.g., ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease), irritable bowel syndrome, Helicobacter pylori infection (which causes ulcers in humans), gastric ulceration, tooth decay/periodontal disease, vaginal infections, skin infections, and even in the treatment of certain cancers. MOS can also bind pathogens.
In the Equine industry, Probiotics such as Abactive are primarily administered for GI-related concerns (such as diarrhea), to encourage the growth of the good microbes, and to minimize the invasion and growth of disease-causing bacteria.
Antibiotic administration, stress, transport, abrupt changes in feeding, and infection with Clostridium spp. or Salmonella spp. can potentially alter the populations of the normal microbes in a horse’s large intestine.
Horse owners administer probiotics to horses that are being treated with systemic antibiotics, have developed diarrhea, are off feed, and prior to transporting and other stressful events. AbActive probiotics will assist in improving Horses Performance and general well being.
AbActive Probiotics by Abler are inexpensive, easy to administer, and potentially have a profound beneficial impact.
Scientific evidence supporting the use of these supplements remains scant. Nonetheless, there is some data to support the use of these products in horses. A study published in 2005 supports the use of orally administered S. boulardii to hospitalized horses with acute enterocolitis (diarrhea). Treated horses experienced a significant decrease in both the severity and duration of disease compared to horses that received only a placebo.
A separate study on the administration of short-chain fructooligosaccharides in horses (published in 2008) concluded that Probiotic was effective in reducing disruptions in the microbial populations colonizing the Equine hindgut under stressful situations (e.g., acute starch overloads).
Pasture Horses are most at Risk with Parasites
The ever-present deadly threat to horses health – Hard to detect and hard to get rid of!
Make no mistake about it; they are the most toxic agents in the horses’ body.
Horses are prone to internal parasites, no matter what their breed, where they live or what they’re fed.
Parasites are small gastro-intestinal organisms living a portion of their life cycle inside the horses’ body that lead to colic, gastric ulcerations, respiratory, and digestive problems as well as lung damage and eventually death if not treated with equine medication.
These horse parasites live, breed, sucks blood, sucks nutrients and colonizes in internal organs, body cavities, and tissues and feed on the horse as their host in order to survive and continue its life cycle.
Parasites can survive both in winter season or hot summer conditions either as adult, inhibited larvae or infective larvae in the environment, mostly in the pasture.
In the winter, horse parasites survive freezing. They don’t have to generate heat to stay warm, so the colder it is, the longer they live. In fact, under most winter conditions, the larvae that are present in October almost all survive until April. They don’t disappear in the colder months.
So when trying to think in terms of breaking the life cycle or pattern of infection, the depth of summer is your friend and the rest of the year is your enemy.
The manure/dung piles are the protective environment for these infective, deadly parasites/worms. Cleaning up the manure or horse dung daily is necessary in keeping these deadly, harmful and infective parasites away. These horse parasites can survive in the manure for some period of time. But once this is broken up, the heat and drying can more readily kill them and help decrease the risk for transmission.
Once a pasture during autumn is parasite infected, there is literally nothing you can do in the environment that will help decrease the worms until there is an increase in environmental temperatures again. Any pasture cannot clean itself up until about June the next year if pasture is left dirty in autumn and winter.
The horse parasites during the migratory part of their life cycle get inside it’s host, the horse, damage the intestines, as they attach to the inside of the gut, suck blood and burrow through the body of the host.
How the Horse Gets the Ever-Deadly Parasites
The sole source of parasite infection is pasture grazing as shown above. Some parasites do not transmit in stalls or drylots, or on mud. The ideal parasite transmission conditions are strictly green grass and sunshine. Thus, the pasture horses are most at risk. Pasture that is overgrazed and short-cropped will be more infective than tall grasses. The pasture can be infected vertically when grass is shorter due to the larvae are more concentrated at the thatch layer and can as well be infected horizontally if grass is really short and up grazing closer to fecal piles especially when stressed nutritionally.
If these parasites are allowed to infest the horse and remain untreated they could cause damage to vital organs such as the intestines, lungs, stomach and liver and eventually leads to death. Having an effective worming program will help give your horse a better life of quality.
Most Common Deadly Parasites Life Cycle:
1. Strongyles, the red worms, are readily seen and visible in an infested horses droppings which can either be large or small, which is the most common.
Life Cycle
Adults lay eggs in horses large intestine – passed out in feces – eggs hatch/develop 3 stages (3rd stage infective) – horse eats infected worms – worms migrate to large intestine – larvae (worms) burrow into the lining of large intestine (they can lie dormant for quite some time) – adults lay several thousand eggs in large intestine and the cycle starts again.
2. Ascarid (horse roundworm) is a very large yellowish white parasite that may pass out in the droppings & primarily infect horses below 2 years of age.
Life Cycle
Horse consumes water/feed/pasture containing infective eggs – eggs hatch – larvae burrow into small intestine – migrate through veins to the liver, the heart, then lungs – migrate around in air spaces in lung – coughed up then swallowed – mature in large intestine – lay eggs and cycle (3 months) is complete.
3. Strongyloides (threadworm) is a horse parasite that infects foals as early as 4 days of age.
Life Cycle
The life cycle of the threadworm can be completed in less than 2 weeks, which can result in severe infestation.
4. Stomach Bots are not really worms but instead are the larvae of the botfly. Female botflies lay their eggs by attaching them to the horse’s hair, that don’t come of when you brush your horse. Different species lay their eggs on different parts of the horse. Legs, haw, lips, etc.
Life Cycle
Larvae attach/burrow into the tongue and gums – incubate there for 3 weeks – are swallowed and attached to the lining of the stomach (approximately 9 months) – pass out with manure – larvae pupate into adult flies – cycle starts over.
Historically, it is the large strongyles (bloodworms) were the most serious threat and the rest of the parasites described above but those have become scarce today with the advent of Ablerquant 140 equine medication, an Ivermectin based and Praziquantrel dewormer.
There are other species of horse parasites that can also cause some trouble.
1. Lungworms – the pinworms and the tapeworms (which often cause tail rubbing) are found primarily in colon & rectum.
Life Cycle
Adults lay eggs around anus – Eggs drop off & contaminate pastures, bedding, water, feeding areas – Horse eats eggs in food or water & life cycle renews at eggs hatch in colon & rectum
2. Tapeworms require intermediate host and affects all age groups. This has been shown to cause certain types of colic in horses.
Life Cycle
Oribatid mites exist as free living mites in pastures – the mites eat tapeworm eggs & once the egg is eaten by the mite, it develops into an intermediate infective stage – horse ingests the infected mite – about 2-4 months after ingestion the tapeworm reaches maturity and cause ulcerations of large intestine & cecum, colic, & severe intestinal blockage.
Most of these species of horse parasites don’t seem to create as serious of a health threat due to the lower incidence of infestation or there lifecycle is not as harmful. And both of them, the tapeworms and the pinworms are killed by Ablerquant.
Anthelmintics
Ablerquant 140 by Abler is an Ivermectin broadspectrum dewormer equine medication, which means this chemical dewormer can completely eradicate the internal horse parasites, worm infestation and most especially when combined with Praziquantrel. The administration of the Invermectin-Praziquantel paste dewormer appears to be very safe in pregnant mares and their foals. For gastric ulcers, this can be treated with medication such as Abprazole.
