----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2002 2:25 PM
Subject: [RC] ulcers
I found this article on the internet that talks
about gastric ulcers in horses...and most interesting...talks about the
benefits of antacids in their prevention..and why most humane antacids are bad
for horses...talks about one developed just for horses...
Here is just part of the article:
For
an antacid to work well in horses it must possess several properties. First,
administering
it should be easy, preferably by adding to the horse's feed. A small dose
should neutralize
a
large amount of acid and it should coat and protect the mucosa from gastric
acid irritation.
In
addition, antacids should be able to adsorb pepsin and other substances that
can damage
the
mucosa. Finally, it should not affect fecal consistency and should create no
harmful
side
effects.
Over the last three years, Kentucky Equine Research has worked to develop an
equine
antacid that would satisfy the above criteria. The first attempt at an equine
antacid
used
ingredients that are common in human preparations. Unfortunately, when this
type
of
preparation was fed at high doses to horses, they became ataxic and displayed
signs
that
were similar to tying-up. Apparently, the horses were sensitive to magnesium
hydroxide,
one
of the common antacids used for humans. Therefore, magnesium hydroxide was
removed
from the formula.
Another class of antacids contains aluminum. A concern with these is that the
aluminum
will
interfere with phosphorus absorption. Although we found no detrimental effect
of
aluminum
intake on phosphorus absorption in digestibility experiments (Pagan,
unpublished,
1996),
supplemental phosphorus (balanced with calcium) was added to the formula.
Schryver et
al
(1986) also showed that only small amounts of aluminum are absorbed by the
horse
and
aluminum retention was not affected by level of aluminum intake. Therefore, it
appears
that
aluminum-containing antacids can be safely fed to horses.
After a few more modifications, a commercial product was developed and
patented.
This
equine antacid (Neigh-Lox) is in a palatable pelleted form that can be fed
alone or mixed
in
feed. It contains a very fast acting antacid with 240 mequ/dose of acid
neutralizing
capacity.
A four ounce (120 g) dose will neutralize about 6 hours of basal acid
production.
The
recommended dosage for adult performance horses is 4 ounces per meal with a
maximum
daily intake of 16 ounces. Neigh-Lox also contains a compound that serves as a
coating
agent to protect the gastric mucosa. This ingredient has an astringent and
anti-inflammatory
action and pepsin binding capacity.
Since its development, Neigh-Lox has been field tested in hundreds of horses.
Many
horses
that displayed signs of gastric irritation such as poor appetite, chronic
colic, and
sour
disposition have shown immediate improvement after receiving only a few doses
of
Neigh-Lox. Since there are no studies to show that Neigh-Lox heals ulcers, it
is
recommended only as adjunctive therapy to acid suppressive drugs in horses
that have
been
positively diagnosed with gastric ulcers. Neigh-Lox's most important role,
however, may
be
in preventing ulcers from occurring in the first place. Antacid therapy along
with a
dietary
program that emphasizes continual forage consumption may greatly reduce the
incidence
of
gastric ulcers in performance horses and foals.
