Could he have Cushings?

[Bertolie]

My 19 year old cob gelding still has quite a fluffy coat. He has been moulting on and off since about February but his coat is still about an inch long on his sides and belly. He never gets a particularly thick winter coat so he doesn't have loads to shed.

Vet is coming out on Monday to do blood test as I downloaded the voucher for the free cushings test.

Sorry if this is a numpty question but what are other symptoms of cushings? I don't know a lot about it so any information on what else to look for would be appreciated.

Someone told me that drinking and urinating more were symptoms but he isn't doing this, and he's never had laminitis in his life.

What do people think the likelihood of him having cushings is, based solely on the fact that his coat is still a bit long and fluffy?

 

[The_snoopster]

If you google cushings there are loads of websites devoted to it, but the signs are pot bellied but no topline, drinking lots of water, urinating more, holding the winter coat, skin irritations, laminitus. They maynot show all the signs all at once, once you have a diagnosis from the blood tests the vet will proberly recommend putting the horse on pracend, which has totally changed the life of my pony as he looks so well. Good luck

 

[splashgirl45]

mine didnt shed her coat and seemed a bit depressed and grumpy which was very unlike her so i got her tested in august last year and her levels were 172 which is quite high so they dont always show the other symptoms. good luck with yours...

 

[shortstuff99]

Also symptoms can be fatty pads above the eyes and excessive sweating as they can't control their body temp. My mare had a really high level when she was tested but didn't have the curly coat bt did have the other symptoms! I think it is a hard condition to try and guess as the symptoms can be so varied.

 

[Bertolie]

He doesn't have any of the other symptoms apart from hanging on to his coat. Will just have to wait and see what the blood test results are I suppose.

 

[Kellys Heroes]

My mare had no symptoms at all but recurrent laminitis and a bit of a changed shape (bit of a bigger belly than normal) and it took our vet a while to test as he thought it was just lami. She's on meds now and has improved in spirit and become naughtier (!) but her hair is still very long. They don't always show many symptoms but definitely worth testing for.
K x