References
Nutritional management of equine gastric ulcers
Abstract
Over the last 10 years there has been increasing awareness and subsequently recorded cases of equine gastric ulcer syndrome and with this comes an increased interest in appropriate nutrition and feed management. This review presents a systematic approach to assessing the ration of a horse at risk or diagnosed with equine gastric ulcer syndrome and demonstrates the ample evidence upon which to base nutritional recommendations for horses with equine squamous gastric disease, and to a lesser extent, equine glandular gastric disease, with an emphasis on forage. Careful selection and management of the forage ration should be the first step in designing a suitable ration, followed by selection of an appropriately low starch and sugar (less than 2g per kg body weight per day and 1g per kg body weight per meal) complementary feed. There is still more to learn about the role of supplements in the prevention and treatment of equine gastric ulcer syndrome, thus these should currently be viewed as an adjunct to an appropriate base diet and not as an isolated solution.
For over 30 years, equine gastric ulcer syndrome has been recognised as a common issue afflicting the horse (Hewetson and Tallon, 2021), describing ulcerative diseases of the stomach (Andrews et al, 1999). It has become clear that the pathophysiology differs depending on the anatomical region affected, and the terminology has been refined to describe more specific conditions including equine squamous gastric disease, pertaining to ulcers primarily affecting the non-glandular ‘unprotected’ (top) region of the stomach, and equine glandular gastric disease which describes ulcers primarily affecting the glandular region (bottom) of the stomach (Sykes and Jokisalo, 2014; 2015a; 2015b; Sykes et al, 2015; Banse and Andrews, 2019; Hewetson and Tallon, 2021).
While both forms of equine gastric ulcer syndrome can be influenced by diet and feed management, the mechanisms behind this seem to vary. This differentiation, along with ongoing advancements in our understanding of the syndrome, improves nutritional management, identification of risk factors and the ability to consider variations of these across the two conditions. The categorisation of ulcers may not only serve to enable superior management and treatment, but may also be instrumental in prevention strategies. This review collates the key advances of the past 10 years, culminating in nutrition and feeding recommendations.
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