My foal has been diagnosed with a gastric ulcer.
Ulcers are defects in the gastrointestinal mucosa that penetrate the muscularis mucosa.
This distinguishes them from superficial erosions that do not extend through the muscularis mucosa. In humans, the term peptic ulcer indicates ulcers which occur in the stomach, pylorus, or duodenal bulb but also can develop in the esophagus and the postbulbar duodenum. Diagnosis is based on clinical findings, contrast radiography, fiber-optic gastroscopy, and most recently determination of serum pepsinogen levels. Many factors predisposing to GDU in foals have been incriminated but few have been proven. Dietary factors are also believed to play a role.