I started this thread because I see a large disparity in cost between the human and equine omeprazole, but the information about coating is very interesting.
All of our horses are OTTB's and everyone of them have had ulcers. Truthfully the expense of omeprazole has pushed me to a feeding schedule and program as Madelyn suggests in her post even though it can take a great deal of time to resolve the problem.
http://www.ker.com/library/advances/310.pdf
The high costs of veterinary care is becoming prohibitive. All research on this topic suggests that 90% of all racehorses suffer with ulcers. 65% of all competition horses (other disciplines) suffer with ulcers. I've even heard that 54% of all foals suffer with ulcers. Patents, globally, on omeprazole began to expire in 1999. I take generic prescription omeprazole personally and I can get a 90 day supply from a discount pharmacy like Rite Aid or Walmart for $9.00. The suggested retail price for one daily dose of Ulcerguard is $9.75 but you are unlikely to get it for that.
Simply my point is that the majority of horse owners make less than $75K annually (2000 report so its probably less) and they are unable to meet the high cost of equine prescription medications. In the end, it is the horse, particularly the racehorse, that suffers because many good medications are out of reach for a vast majority of horse owners, regardless of discipline. Once a horse leaves the track, the new owner is faced with many health maintenance problems and IMO ulcers are highest on the list.
High prices on equine medications are really "encouraging" the abundance of "unwanted horses." In cooperation with this is the extraordinarily high prices of feed and the recent of emergence of high unemployment and stagnant salaries.
