GastroGard vs UlcerGard
I’ve been getting this question a lot lately from people I know offline, and I have been seeing it brought up incorrectly in several posts on my dash, so I thought I would reiterate the information here even though I think I’ve discussed it before.
GastroGard is the TREATMENT dose for horses who have established ulcers and typically requires a prescription.
UlcerGard is the PREVENTION dose and intended to be given as a means to keep a horse from developing ulcers during stressful events such as showing and is available over the counter.
From Irongate Equine Clinic:
GastroGard is the FDA approved omeprazole product manufactured by Merial for the treatment of gastric ulcer syndrome in horses. The drug is stable in the paste form and guaranteed to deliver the labeled strength of drug if handled properly until the expiration date is reached. It is packaged as a paste in a tube that is dosed at 1.8 milligram per pound (4mg/kg) of body weight so 1 tube will treat 1250 lbs of body weight at the treatment dosage of the drug. GastroGard is a prescription drug.
UlcerGard is the FDA approved omeprazole product manufactured by Merial for the prevention of gastric ulcer formation in horses. It is also packaged as a paste in a tube for oral administration. It is dosed at 0.45 milligrams/lb or 1 mg/kg of body weight (a quarter of the per pound treatment dose for Gastrogard). The tube is marked to deliver 4 preventative doses per tube for a 1000lb horse. Ulcergard is a non-prescription drug and is available over the counter.
The concentration and amount of omeprazole is exactly the same in Gastrogard as it is in Ulcergard. The difference is how those tubes of omeprazole are dosed.
So, what this means to the horse owner is, if your horse is being treated for a stomach ulcer, your veterinarian will prescribe GastroGard. If your horse has been treated for an ulcer and recovered, or if we are concerned about your horse developing an ulcer as the result of a change in stress level, we would recommend using UlcerGard starting 2-3 days prior to the anticipated stressful event, throughout the event and possibly for a few days afterward to prevent the development of an ulcer.
While, yes, you can buy UlcerGard to treat ulcers, it would be most effective to dose it the same way as you would GastroGard--administering a whole tube. Unfortunately, that means your cost savings by choosing UlcerGard over GastroGard is fairly minimal.
Remember, before you start treating your horse for stomach ulcers, be sure to talk to your veterinarian!
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