Hi, Val - There are few things more frustrating than the Equine Food Wars.

One of my crew (the one that normally eats everything, including ham sandwiches if she can steal them) will not eat her minerals if she has ulcers (or is suspected to have ulcers - no scope up here in the boonies).  This has happened twice in the last 7 years or so, always after using NSAIDs for a short period of time.  I used the full treatment of GastroGard (one month full dose, one month half dose), and in between episodes there have been few issues with eating (besides the occasional "Ewww... Tiggers don't like that new thing!)  What I found is that it took about 2 weeks on the GastroGard before she would happily eat her minerals again. 

You can run a short trial with human ant-acids (generic calcium or calcium-magnesium ant-acid, 4 to 6 ounces every 4 to 6 hours for a couple of days).  If Jorah has other signs that might indicate ulcers (girthiness, grinding teeth while eating and so on) those signs should disappear within a couple of days of this trial.  However, he could still have ulcers, and not show any sign beyond being a picky eater.  If the budget allows, running a trial of 3 weeks of the GastroGard would be ideal. Start up again with his minerals in pinch-size amounts after 2 weeks of being on it and see how it goes. If things have improved, then run the full course of the GastroGard.

There is more information here in the files:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Ulcers/

Nowadays, everybody gets a double-handful of hay with their minerals and carrier, so that they can alternate hay and supps if they choose. This seems to work really well -  I am making the assumption that extra forage in with the carrier allows for more saliva production, and hence a little more buffering in the stomach.  I am only guessing, though.  

---In EquineCushings@..., <horseladyinms@...> wrote :

I forgot to mention that he won't eat his timothy cubes or alfalfa cubes if minerals are present. The vet has already checked his mouth and nothing is wrong.

Val D- TX

ECIR 2016

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