Thank you all for your comments and concern about Paj's ulcers. I really appreciate it. Paj is feeling much better already, now that he's on his $$$$$$$ ulcer medicine. Flartus and Dreaming both asked what causes ulcers in horses, and now that we're out of crisis mode, I'm giving that a lot of thought. The usual answer is stress. Although Paj is a worrier, he has a pretty low-key life, so I'm not convinced that's it. I started thinking about what's changed, and I think that Flartus got it right. She asked if it could be his allergies, and I think that indirectly, yes. I think the cause is his little blue allergy pills, dexamethasone. I'm consulting with Dr. Gary on Monday, and it's bad to jump to conclusions, and my Dad used to tell me "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" and blah blah blah, but when I searched on "dexamethasone ulcers" up popped a bunch of articles like this -
Why now? Because I've had to use his little blue pills. You might remember that we inadvertently got a load of brome hay under the cloak of darkness, instead of the timothy we ordered. Paj is allergic to brome. And even though we didn't feed Paj the brome, and even though we don't store hay in the barn, there were enough seed heads floating around to block his tear duct several times. I had to flush his tear ducts, and I had to give him the dexamethasone to prevent it. The brome is gone now. Like I said, I need Dr. Gary's expert opinion, but my money's on the dexamethasone as the cause of the ulcers in my delicate tropical flower.
13 comments:
It sure sounds like it may be the allergy pills! Poor Paj. I hope the doctor can give him some comfort Terry.
So, is there something you can use for his allergies that isn't so drastic? Poor Paj, what if he comes across another allergen? I hope you and your vet can come up with some answers!
Hope Paj is feeling himself again soon.
I just thought I'd mention something else that latest research has found that gives horses stomach ulcers. Horses are designed to get grass most of the day and night so they have a continual stream of food going through there stomach but when a horse has an empty stomach acid drips down into the stomach and causes ulcers. This is mainly found in competition horses or horses kept in stalls. (I'm not saying this is whats wrong with Paj I just thought you might be interested. )
That would certainly explain it. Here's hoping it's a quick road to recovery.
Thanks for the info, Ruffles. We feed hay 4x a day (7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm), and our boys go out to pasture, so I don't think it's the empty stomach problem in his case.
Glad to hear Paj is doing better!
and on your comment of me swimming, I agree that would probably be great for it once I can get it moving ... well except sighhh girly I never learned how to swim! Can you believe that. I can run 13.5 miles at a go but I can't swim across a pool rofl...DH swims like a fish and always says he could teach me :O). If we had a pool I would let him!
Oh poor Paj! I am glad he’s doing better. So scary. Interesting the change in hay had such a big impact. Glad you figured that out.
Glad Paj is feeling a little better!
Quick question, Paj is a Hanoverian, right?! Is he a sabino? I don't think I've ever heard of a sabino Hanoverian???!!!
Hah! I bet you're right! They're such delicate creatures, for all their size, aren't they? I hope you gave that hay delivery guy what for!
That sounds like some good sleuthing, to me. I'm glad Paj is on the mend, and hope this info helps you help him.
Thanks for sharing all that info; I learn a surprising amount from my fellow bloggers! It's like a continuing ed. course at Blogger U. :)
He truly IS a delicate flower!! I'm sorry the poor boy has ulcers, but at least he's on the mend and you have an idea as to the cause.
How long until the ulcers are cleared up?
Becca, he's on GastroGard for 14 days, and then we'll see where he is. He is doing so much better already.
Ruffles has a point there ...why..'cause humans have the same kind of problem too.
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