Digestive ulcers are highly prevalent among horses and can have a significant impact on the animals’ performance and overall condition. This condition can be caused by various factors including changes in feeding practices and high intensity training, to name a few. The treatment for ulcers in horses is aimed at stabilizing the acid levels in the stomach, since ulcers are caused by too much gastric acid. Reducing levels of acidity can help ulcer lesions heal.

Among the many horse ulcer treatments, only omeprazole has been proven to be safe and effective for use in horses. Omeprazole can decrease acid secretion from the stomach by inhibiting the function of acid pumps. Equine omeprazole is a potent gastric acid inhibitor and should be the best drug to promote an environment in the horse’s stomach, which is conducive for ulcer healing. This drug can be available as both granulated or paste (in a syringe form).

Abler provides you excellent products aimed at treating ulcers in horses. AbGard™ and AbPrazole Plus™ are both great treatment options for equine ulcers, with AbPrazole Plus™ incorporated with equine probiotics to promote faster healing of ulcers. However, in the fight against equine ulcers, which dosage form is more convenient to use? Does the paste formulation offer more convenience than the granulated forms? Let’s take a look at the different advantages and disadvantages of both dosage forms and try to derive which form will be easier to use.

AbGard™: Equine Omeprazole Paste in Syringe

AbGard™ is equine omeprazole paste in syringe, a product from Abler. It is used as treatment and prevention of equine ulcers. Most horse owners would like to use a syringe in delivering the drug because it is the conventional method and many have already familiarized with its proper usage.

Advantages:

  • One syringe of AbGard™ paste can treat and prevent ulcers in horses that weigh up to 600kg (1302lb).
  • Can exert the effect in 24 hours with a single dose
  • Exact dosage based on the weight of the horse, can be given since syringe is calibrated for dosage adjustments
  • Paste formulations may be hard to spit out since they have sticky consistency

Disadvantages:

  • Some horses know it when the syringe is coming so they tend to avoid it by jerking their head away during administration
  • Horses may not like paste formulations and may also be the reason why they don’t want to take the drug.
  • You need to securely tie your horse up to prevent him from resisting
  • Some owners are not have not mastered how to properly use syringes and may result to inaccurate drug dosing.

 

AbPrazole Plus™: Equine Omeprazole Granules

AbPrazole Plus™ is a granulated form of omeprazole added with probiotics to facilitate faster ulcer healing. Each sachet of AbPrazole Plus™ contains 700mg omeprazole. This granulated form is also preferred by many horse owners because of the ease of administration.

Advantages:

  • The most important advantage of using granules is the ease of administration; granules can simply be added to the horse’s feed without having the animal notice it.
  • Colored granules make it easier for owners to spot if there are any leftovers; this minimizes wastage.
  • Granulated forms can serve as an alternative when giving via syringe is difficult.
  • The taste is palatable to horses.

Disadvantages:

  • There is a need to add other ingredients like molasses, or corn syrup, so granules can stick to the feed, consequently ensuring all of the drug will be consumed.
  • Sometimes, horses can notice that a foreign substance has been added to their food. This will make them not eat their food as a result.

You may start to ask now, which dosage form is better to use? The answer lies in you, the horse owner. If you find that your horse accepts the paste willingly, then stick to that option; if you don’t have any luck delivering the drug properly with the use of a syringe, then switch to the granulated form. Either way, both Abler products offer effective, safe, and affordable equine omeprazole to treat ulcers in your horses.