Safety of omeprazole paste in foals and mature horses.

Omeprazole has been shown to promote healing of spontaneously occurring gastric ulcers in horses when administered for 28 days at a dose of 4 mg/kg bwt/day and to prevent recurrence of ulcers in almost all horses when treatment is continued at a dose of at least 2 mg/kg bwt/day. The purpose of the 3 studies reported here was to 1) evaluate the evolution of potential effects of omeprazole paste (GastroGard), at a dose of 20 mg/kg bwt/day (5x the recommended dose) for 91 days in mature Thoroughbred horses; 2) evaluate the safety in young horses of omeprazole paste when dosed at 4 mg/kg bwt/day (1x), 12 mg/kg bwt/day (3x) or 20 mg/kg bwt/day (5x) for 91 days in Tennessee walking horse foals; and 3) evaluate the safety of omeprazole paste when dosed at 40 mg/kg bwt/day (10x) for 21 days in mature Thoroughbred horses. Within each study, horses were allocated randomly to the control or omeprazole paste treatment group.