I'm not a girl who's big on trends; I haven't seen any of the Twilight movies, I don't watch Gossip Girl or Glee or whatever the kids are watching these days, and I don't own a pair of skinny jeans. But I know a good deal when I see one, and when the COTH forum lit up about generic equine omeprazole (affectionately nicknamed "Blue Pop Rocks from Vanuatu" for reasons which will soon be apparent), I knew it was time to jump on the trend-train.
First off -- why do I feel they're necessary? Well, I first suspected Salem had ulcers when I saw this video (which was taken some time last winter, when he was in Illinois):
I have never seen Salem standing in his stall with pinned ears, and I have never seen him chewing wood. Since those are both potential signs of ulcers, I decided to treat him with omeprazole.
Before he was shipped down here, Salem got a tube of GastroGard, and once here he had a few days of UlcerGard. But I was in a bit of a dilemma -- both GG & UG are astronomically expensive and I'm no Rockefeller. A 28-day course of either costs around $1,000.*gulp*
Thank goodness for COTH, because so many people started posting about this generic enteric-coated omeprazole that's made in India. Depending on the size of your horse and whether s/he needs a treatment or prevention dose, the pop rocks are between 1/5 and 1/10 the cost of GastroGard. They will even send you a free trial of 20 packs so you can try it and see if your horse will eat it.
Now, I know some people are wary of buying foreign drugs, but since I myself have taken generic prescriptions drugs from India (who has a very well-run pharmaceutical industry), I was fine with giving Salem a bit of Indian omeprazole.
Anyone know how to flip a picture???
Blue Pop Rocks! This is one of the four packets that Salem gets each day
Again, sorry for the upside-down pic! I just wanted to show that each packet does indeed have a batch number, expiration date, etc.
Best of all, they must taste decent because I just plop them in a bucket
with TC Senior and Salem snarfs them up
While I never had Salem scoped to see if he indeed has ulcers, giving him omeprazole certainly won't hurt him if he doesn't. So, worst case scenario -- nothing. I shall report back in a month and let you know if I see any difference!
7 comments:
Finally! That is awesome. I was a pharmacy tech for 3 years. There is nothing in the world wrong with generic drugs, and those that say there is are normally funded by the brand companies.
Oh, a note on the fly spray- my holistic vet uses Shaklee to worm his horses. He just mixes it in their water and they play with the bubbles. He said it changes the pH of the gut and kills the worms. I am scared of changing the pH personally, anyone else that uses Shaklee hear of this?
Ulcers are WICKED! I'm all about generic when I can. I've never heard of the blue pop rocks version but hey, seems worth a try! I hope it works...he does seem 'ouchy' in his video.
Yes about the Shaklee wormer too, I've read about it. Never done it.
You are supposed to put a small amount in their water tanks -google it, there is tons of info but of course that can be random info too.
Putting the spray to the test today!
I should have mentioned that Merial's patent runs out in the next few years, so we'll be able to get generic enteric-coated omeprazole paste right here in the US after that. Yay!
Hhhhhmmmm, I will have to look into this Shaklee stuff, I've never heard of it. Thanks, guys!
Oh, and if anyone wants to look into the pop rocks, the website is www.omeprazoledirect.com
That medicine sure looks pretty! And fun! But isn't it the worst to see your animal who you know so well not quite himself? Makes my heart hurt just thinking about it.
Yes, bay, you are quite right! :-( I'm just glad that now the head over the stall door has pricked ears and is nickering a friendly greeting. Much better!
this is so nice
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