# Ranitidine for ulcers?



## lcharles (22 October 2012)

After my previous post and further research, has anyone used Ranitidine for ulcers in horses? 

If so, did your horse improve on them, how many did you give them and would you use them again? 

I think Ranitidine is also in Zantac?


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## YasandCrystal (22 October 2012)

I used it very short term to try it out and show if the horse had ulcers. It did help - I gave 7 tablets twice daily, but I think if you were looking to heal ulcers with it you should be looking at 4 tablets every 4 or so hours with adlib forage available. Rantacidine does suppress acid production but with much shorther effect than GG.

I bought Rantachidine in quantity via ebay from Poland I think it came. You could also research Sucralfate (or Antepsin) as my vet prescribed this alongside GG for my horse, due to it's soothing effect and good results. Good luck.


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## lcharles (22 October 2012)

Thanks YasandCrystal, It is to see if he has them. If he does there will be very mild and only the beginning i'd imagine as he's only just started to get grumpy and not sure if its down to change in routine and feed causing ulcers or if he just hates being in! Just want to rule them out without spending a fortune on scoping when he's only a little grumpy! 

Do you know what mg the tablets you had were? The ones from Tesco are only 75mg and looking on other sites it says a 1200lb horse should have 3600 mg every 8 hours which would work out 48 tablets every 8 hours?!  Seems alot!?! x


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## YasandCrystal (22 October 2012)

lcharles said:



			Thanks YasandCrystal, It is to see if he has them. If he does there will be very mild and only the beginning i'd imagine as he's only just started to get grumpy and not sure if its down to change in routine and feed causing ulcers or if he just hates being in! Just want to rule them out without spending a fortune on scoping when he's only a little grumpy! 

Do you know what mg the tablets you had were? The ones from Tesco are only 75mg and looking on other sites it says a 1200lb horse should have 3600 mg every 8 hours which would work out 48 tablets every 8 hours?!  Seems alot!?! x
		
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Mine are 150mg - I gave 7 tablets in a feed - you could probably do 10. You can also use limestone flour - a cupful and also ensure you give a fibre feed before you ride.
If you pm me your address I am happy to send you 30 tablets so you can try.

When my horse got grumpy again - I suspect it was 1 of a few things a) he was eating acorns which are high in protein and could have sent his head haywire, b) a friend  gave him a lot of apples - (several a day albeit small ones) and I think he is sugar intolerant and lastly I think the change in diet - ie. loss of calcium from the grass in the autumn/winter can have an impact on temperament. It could also have been that his hind gut needed a rebalance. Something a hiolistic vet advised after treatment with GG because the hindgut fauna die off. I treated him for 6 weeks with green clay and chlorella to restore his hindgut fauna and I thought the acorns could have upset it again and he went onto 'high alert' which is how he was before - so I gave the treatment again. Happy to share with you if your horse horse goes onto having GG.
This website is interesting - I am adding salt to feeds this winter.

http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/adopt.html


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## EquestrianFairy (22 October 2012)

Would it not be easier to just get him scoped and work on what he has rather than an 'if'? 

Least you know 100% then.


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## cptrayes (22 October 2012)

EF it costs a fortune to scope and treat a horse with the accepted drug omeprazole/ Gastroguard.

Ranitidine is cheap, works, has few side effects and is an accepted drug for ulcer treatment in horses. The drawback is how often you need to give it, and how many tablets, to make it work.


OP 12 a day will usually work to test if he has them. Split between 2 feeds.


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## Venevidivici (22 October 2012)

I did try this,as per Cptrayes (very helpful&informative post) but just to let u know,it made no difference to my boy(gave him 12x75m tabs per day (tesco ones)). I've subsequently had him scoped and he had a few grade 1's and a couple of healing grade 2's,so nothing too hideous. Had a v short course of GG but it made no diff(his only symptom is grumpy girthiness,nothing else & nothing when ridden). I will have him rescoped,as the insurance claim is running but I suspect he'll always be the same. He's in good shape & performs well,so can't complain&i think he's happy.


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## maggiesmum (22 October 2012)

I've successfully treated with ranitidine, he was scoped clear but as he showed the symptoms he was diagnosed with hindgut ulcers, we did try gastrogard but it didn't do much so we tried cimetidine and antepsin (sucralfate) which gave some success but after months of treatment some of the symptoms were still rumbling on. 
After a weekend clinic with Dr Kerry Ridgeway and a chat with the vet we gave ranitidine a try, we gave 10x 300 mg tablets twice a day for 2 weeks then 10 tablets a day for 6 weeks, I'm pleased to say the symptoms are all gone and he palpates (Kerry ridgeways acupressure test) clear. 

Whilst the insurance have paid for my treatment, I did ask the vets how much the ranitidine was (typically I can't remember now) but it wasn't expensive.


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## Holidays_are_coming (22 October 2012)

If you are using Rantidine and have a 500kg horse and using 150mg tablets you need to give 24 3 times a day to get an effective dose. 

I really would get the horse scoped at least you know what you are dealing with, or import some omeprazole from abroad its very cost effective, I treat my mare for £1 a day.


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## maggiesmum (22 October 2012)

Venevidivici - I'd consider hindgut ulcers, GG doesn't treat them which would explain why you got no response to it. My TB had them but always had a glossy coat and never struggled with his weight, his biggest symptom was his behavior.


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## Venevidivici (22 October 2012)

Maggiesmum,yep,thought hind gut was where the conversation would be heading at the re-scope and I gather(have read on here too,I think) that there's a different drug to treat hind gut ulcers? Vet wondered if they were pyloric,as horse has slow gut transit and that can be a symptom of pyloric irritation. Thanku tho And other posters,now I think of it,maybe we gave him 24 x 75mg ranitidine  tabs per day? (Was a while ago but I dosed in accordance with Cptrayes post on the ranitidine 'trial' before scoping etc.)


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## lcharles (23 October 2012)

Thing is, he is only very, very slightly grumpy - occasionally. Probably due to being in more and having being worked slightly less, so I am not going to pay for a scoping which only covers 60% (i believe) as they can't see the very hind gut, so even if it came back clear.....i wouldnt know 100% that he didnt have them and if he does they aren't affecting him massively so I can't really see howe scoping would work for us. If he was majorly different, i would have blood tests done over anything else. Just thought i'd use ranitidine to see if it makes any difference, if it does then he can have it for a few weeks and then see what happens when he comes off them. I would then look at reducing acid in his stomach through his intake and reviewing this. Most people would properly just leave him as he is as the difference in him is minimal but I would rather treat a possible ulcer, rather than do nothing and then he gets worse and its harder to treat, leaving him in pain. If it makes no difference, then i'll see if he stays as he is or gets worse, which i will then decide the next route, which would be blood tests if he's particualrly worse.

Thanks for all advise, I think the thing thats hardest to work out us how many to give him as everyones seem to vary! I'd probably go with 15 75mg in each feed twice a day and see how it goes, I doubt he'd need a massive amount as he isnt too bad like i said but want it to be enough to make a difference?


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## fburton (23 October 2012)

lcharles said:



			Thanks for all advise, I think the thing thats hardest to work out us how many to give him as everyones seem to vary!
		
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Presumably everyone's vets will have advised on appropriate dosage?


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## maggiesmum (23 October 2012)

Correct dosage for treatment is 6.6 mg per kg


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## lcharles (23 October 2012)

maggiesmum said:



			Correct dosage for treatment is 6.6 mg per kg
		
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Per day? Per meal? x How do you know this? x Thanks, if he's 600kg though, he'd need 52 75mg tablets in a day? x


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## fburton (23 October 2012)

And if an owner misdoses or gives a drug inappropriately and something bad happens, is everyone else entitled to scream bl**dy murder? I would think so.


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## maggiesmum (23 October 2012)

lcharles said:



			Per day? Per meal? x How do you know this? x Thanks, if he's 600kg though, he'd need 52 75mg tablets in a day? x
		
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Sorry, its 6.6mg per kg 3 times per day. I know it from the huge amount of research i've read on the subject - type it into google. 

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...lYDQAw&usg=AFQjCNFu07MgxaAw_GnbkGHkZBzG3yQ5HQ


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## maggiesmum (23 October 2012)

fburton said:



			And if an owner misdoses or gives a drug inappropriately and something bad happens, is everyone else entitled to scream bl**dy murder? I would think so.
		
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It would always be advisable to consult a vet before giving horses drugs of any kind, however having recently heard of a vet who insisted that there was no such thing as hind gut ulcers it can be difficult at times.

The correct dosage for ranitidine is on dozens of websites all over the internet so maybe you could write to them all and scream bl**dy murder* to them to?


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## Holidays_are_coming (23 October 2012)

It's a stupid amount of tablets! Have you changed your management high fibre diet only as much turn out as possible and could he just be a little grumpy occasionally (as we all can be), if he is showing no other signs, mine kept mild colicing nearly every day (you really couldn't ignore it)!


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## fburton (23 October 2012)

maggiesmum said:



			The correct dosage for ranitidine is on dozens of websites all over the internet so maybe you could write to them all and scream bl**dy murder* to them to?
		
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Side-effects? Adverse reactions? Contraindications?

Can you be sure these are the same for horses as for humans?


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## maggiesmum (23 October 2012)

As i said before I got my tablets for my horse through my vet who was perfectly happy to use them and had used them extensively to treat horses in another country. 
As I also said before its always advisable to consult a vet when giving drugs to horses, I only pointed out a dosage that is available all over the Internet, what someone chooses to do with that information is not something I can control.


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## fburton (23 October 2012)

maggiesmum said:



			As I also said before its always advisable to consult a vet when giving drugs to horses,
		
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Quite! I hope _everyone_ can see the sense in doing that.




			I only pointed out a dosage that is available all over the Internet, what someone chooses to do with that information is not something I can control.
		
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Fair enough - and my point is simply that people shouldn't assume that just because lots of info is available on the Internet about a drug that it must be safe to use in all situations and they don't need to get their vet's input.


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