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  Discussion on Dosages of Cimetidine and Ranitidine
Author Message
New Member:
Cracker

Posted on Monday, Mar 27, 2006 - 9:03 am:

Hello Dr. Oglesby,
I am new to this site and I have a question for you about the dosages for Cimetidine and Ranitidine in your article on Ulcers. You have it at 15 to 20 mg every 8 hours for Cimetidine and the prescription comes in 400 and 800mg tablets and the Ranitidine at 6.6 mg and it comes in 150 mg tablets. Am I looking at the wrong thing or how do I go about finding the right dosage?

Thanks,
Betsy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 27, 2006 - 6:51 pm:

Welcome Elisabeth,
The dosages are per a unit of bodyweight. I just don't think you have read it carefully.
DrO
New Member:
Cracker

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 28, 2006 - 8:55 am:

Thank you, I must not have read to carefully. I have been frantically trying to find out what is wrong with my mare and in my haste must have missed that.
I have a mare that I leased out last year and she came back very underweight and with a stall kicking problem. She got really bad in the last month and my Vet and I have been working on trying to figure out what the problem is. She has been leaning on the wall with her hip and kicking mid air while in the stall. My Vet did an ultrasound and found a 56mm follicle on her right ovary. He gave her a shot to make her ovulate, but she continued to kick getting worse. I gave her banamine and that did not stop her, she was so bad one night I had to give her some Ace to quiet her down. My Vet came back out and did another Ultrasound and found that the follicle was gone, so it could not be that. He drew some blood to do a work up and we discussed the possibility of an ulcer due to her kicking, her dull hair coat and her loss of weight. The blood work came back as her being a little anemic so my Vet said it was possible that it was from an ulcer. I have started her on Maalox and my Vet suggested Cimetidine that is why I was asking about the dosage. I started the Maalox last Thursday and then Friday night she started doing something different. She is no longer kicking the air, but she is backing up to her stall wall and pushing her rear end into the wall and then squatting. I have also noticed a discharge all over her back legs and some coming out of her vulva. It is a whitish/yellowish discharge. I have called my Vet again and he is coming to check her tomorrow.

Is it possible she just has a Uterine infection and that has caused all the problems she is having or could she have an infection and an Ulcer???
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 28, 2006 - 5:13 pm:

Neither Maalox or cimetidine are that effective. Instead use the ranitidine and follow the dosage carefully as it is short acting and needs aggressive dosing.

It sounds very much like she may have an infection, or still is in heat. HCG for ovulation is not 100% or another follicle may have come up. Horses urine can have a milky appearance. Let us know what he finds.
DrO
New Member:
Cracker

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 29, 2006 - 2:17 pm:

My Vet was out today and said he definatly thinks she has an infection. He said he has not ruled out the Ulcer yet and to keep an eye on her and see how she does now that I have taken her off the Maalox. If she starts kicking again then we will have to treat for an ulcer. He took a culture and is going to do both a Cytology and a Culture. He also infused her with Gentamiacin to help till they get the results back. He palpated her and she has another follicle and her cervix is wide open, he thinks that is why she is pushing on the walls again. He said it was a little soon since she just ovulated a little over a week ago, but not to be worried about it. I have never had any problems with heat cycles with this mare, in fact she normally does not even show she is in heat. He said she may be just changing and having stronger heat cycles now that she is getting older.

Have you heard of Painful Mare Soother by Equine Science? It is an all natural supplement for mares with hard heat cycles. Just wondered if this was something I should try or if it was just a waste of money.

Betsy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 29, 2006 - 8:10 pm:

No I haven't Elizabeth, can you tell me the ingredients and dosage rate?
DrO
New Member:
Cracker

Posted on Thursday, Mar 30, 2006 - 11:43 am:

Dr. O,
Here is the ingredients in the Painful Mare Soother. Active Ingredients are: Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Don Quai & Chaste Tree. Inactive Ingredients are: Alfalfa and Cinnamon. It says to give 1 oz twice daily.

They also have another supplement called Cramp-x for cramping during estrus. I was wondering if this is why my mare is pushing her hip into the wall of her stall. The ingredients in it are: Vitex, cornsilk & Raspberry. They suggest giving it 4 ounces per day for the first 2 days of Estrus and then 2 ounces daily for the rest of Estrus.

Thanks,
Betsy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Apr 2, 2006 - 10:16 pm:

Well despite the fact that we run a breeding station and over the years have owned many mares ourselves I have never had to treat painful heat cycles in mares. Though very rare there are a few case studies of colic around the time of ovulation in mares. But these horses had obvious signs of abdominal pain and flunixin (Banamine) was safe, inexpensive, and effective. As to whether this herbal preparation might help mares that have this problem I cannot find any research supporting or denying it.
DrO
New Member:
Cracker

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 5, 2006 - 4:00 pm:

Thank you Dr O. for all your help and information. I just heard back on the culture and if you can believe it, it is normal. Her Cytology came back as normal too. I am still baffled by the discharge she had all over her back legs. My vet said he thought it was just due to normal heat cycle. Of course she has never had that before. I don't know what is going on with this mare, my vet seems to be just as confused as I am. He suggested having a chiropractor check her out and see if it is due to something being pinched, so I guess that will be my next step. Thanks again for your help.

Betsy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 6, 2006 - 6:16 am:

This is pretty easy Betsy, once uterine discharges were ruled out the only left is you saw was your horse urinating and if it was done frequently for short periods of time she was in heat. This may also be the cause of the squatting like behavior. I don't really see any symptoms that sound like "something being pinched" in the above description.
DrO
Member:
Cracker

Posted on Friday, Apr 7, 2006 - 2:52 pm:

I am sorry Dr. O, I guess I did not explain well enough. Now that we have ruled out an ulcer and an infection or hormonal problems as to why she does the kicking in mid air in her stall my vet thinks maybe she is in pain from something being pinched as she kicks the most when eating and grunts when she kicks. Not that the discharge could be from something pinched. My vet is with you in that he thinks she just had a heavy heat cycle and that is what the discharge was from. He said that since everything came back clear on the Culture and Cytology and since the Maalox does not seem to help her calm down when given when she kicks then we don't think that it is hormonal or an ulcer. She did something else weird last night while kicking, she bit at her chest like she does when a fly will land on her during the summer, but we have no flys right now. She did it only a few times, but it was weird. I have an appointment with my Equine Chiropractor who is also a vet and I am hoping this will take care of the problems, if not then I and I think my Vet are at a loss as to what it could be that is making her kick in her stall and actually I have seen her do it out in the field too. If you have any other ideas of what it could be that I should bring to my Vet's attention I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Betsy
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Saturday, Apr 8, 2006 - 3:09 am:

If she kicks most when eating, have you done a thorough inspection of her mouth? Including under the tongue, and a detailed check for tooth fracture or trauma?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Apr 8, 2006 - 9:24 am:

I do not have confidence in Maalox as a diagnostic agent. A week of ranitidine as per the article would be better. Though documented with gastric ulcers there are horses that do this without known causes Betsy. If a thorough exam and a good rule out of ulcers does not turn up anything, you may have one of these.
DrO
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