# Giving bute to a horse with suspected ulcers



## Christmas Crumpet (26 October 2014)

Can you give bute to a horse with ulcers or suspected ulcers? Vet has told me to give horse some but then I read the side of the packet which says don't give to horses with gastric ulcers. 

So what do you give them instead?


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## Darkwater (26 October 2014)

Please don't give your horse bute if he has suspected ulcers. We nearly lost our pony last year when we put her on bute for her arthritis but at the time we had no idea she had ulcers. As soon as this was discovered to be the problem, we were told to never give her bute/danillion etc for her arthritis and if she did ever need them for an injury or similar, there is something which can be given along side the bute to prevent it causing gastric problems (although I can't remember what it is called sorry as we never actually used it, we just took her off the bute and luckily she recovered quickly). She could also be injected with bute if necessary. Why has your horse been prescribed bute? Is it for an injury or for a long term problem?


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## Elf On A Shelf (26 October 2014)

Danilon is kinder on the stomach than any other kind of bute so we use it on the racehorses but ours are never on it for more than 7 days at the very most. If you need it long term then I would try to find an alternative pain relief.


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## Nari (26 October 2014)

Don't! And ime Danilon is no better. Also beware of Devil's Claw if you're looking at herbal products.

Metacam is meant to be safer, but when I gave it to mine it still caused terrible problems despite putting him on GastroGuard at the same time. It seems he can tolerate low doses of codeine phosphate, but for some horses that can cause other problems.


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## charlie76 (27 October 2014)

Our vet gave a horse in our yard but, the horse had been scoped and had mild ulcers and had been treated with gastroguard in the past, I have to sy, it never crossed my mind that it would be an issue, three days into having bute the horse was on the floor with terrible colic.


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## Christmas Crumpet (27 October 2014)

So what on earth are you able to give them for inflammation and pain?

She has a mild case of a slipping stifle on her off hind which had pretty much gone but then she was being an idiot in the field and has obviously tweaked something because the stifle is slipping again. Vet said that despite it being a mechanical issue, she could be sore with some inflammation so give her some bute. We didn't talk about the ulcer situation till much later in the conversation and I didn't think to ask about the bute then.


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## Nari (27 October 2014)

Unfortunately, in my case, very little 

As I said before he seems to tolerate codeine phosphate & get some benefit from that, though it doesn't act as an anti-inflammatory as far as I know, just pain relief. Boswellia is meant to be a herbal anti-inflammatory & it doesn't seem to upset his gut, but he won't always eat it - interestingly if he's stiff he will usually eat a decent dose of it but as soon as he improves I can't sneak any past him.

I'd speak to your vet, but read up carefully on anything they give you before you give it to your horse. Some NSAIDs are safer than others & tolerance varies too. Sometimes you just have to suck it & see, but I now know my lad doesn't cope. Do you know for certain that this horse has a history of ulcers, or is it just that you suspect?


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## Christmas Crumpet (28 October 2014)

Suspected ulcers - symptoms being: girthy, snappy at rugs being done up, stressy and nervous at times, had very dodgy poo for a long time, left home where she'd lived for 13 years to come to us etc, fussy eater and so on.

However, vet has given us a free 10 day trial of an ulcer supplement which she has been on for 4 days so far - her poo is totally normal, she ate all her hay last night (she would normally leave half of it), ate a scoop of unmolassed chaff this morning before riding (which she wouldn't dream of doing before), is eating all her supper/breakfast, wasn't girthy this morning and was pretty calm out exercising. Fingers crossed it lasts. Anyway vet coming out to see her today so will talk to her about bute etc.


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## Scatterbrain (28 October 2014)

Interested to hear the name of the ulcer supplement your vet has given you to trial please?


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## Darkwater (28 October 2014)

Nari said:



			Don't! And ime Danilon is no better. Also beware of Devil's Claw if you're looking at herbal products.

Metacam is meant to be safer, but when I gave it to mine it still caused terrible problems
		
Click to expand...

I agree with all this - Avoid devils claw if you're going down the 'natural' route although from my experience non of these supplements work anyway. And danillion and metacam are not really any better than bute, metacam has also caused real problems for my pony.

If you really need to give your horse an anti inflammatory then speak to your vet - Like I said before, there are things that can be given along side bute to prevent gastric problems, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of what my vet suggested - something similar to ranitidine which is given to humans but I think it had a different name. It was an expensive option though but one that I will be using in the future if necessary.


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## ceylon (29 October 2014)

Totally agree I was always led to believe that bute does not help the situation.  I have a horse with suspected gastric ulcers and I put him on Gastroplus (Equine Science).  I have to say we are now coming towards the end of our 4th week and the difference in him now from the girthy I'm going to bite you every time you tack up to the ok get on with it I can't be bothered to take a large chunk out of you was something that changed in the first week.  I personally am so happy with my boy now - give it a try.  I also like the fact that it is all natural raw ingredients so I'm not adding doing him any harm.


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