Cushing pony loosing weight

[superpony]

My 25 year old pony has lost a lot of weight over the last six months. He is not medicated as every time he has the meds he experiences the veil and refuses to eat anything. We have tried very slowly introducing it but as soon as he gets to half a tablet he stops eating. However, he was recently tested and his levels have actually come down compared to a few years ago (he has had cushings for the last five years and EMS for ten). His cushings levels have only ever been borderline and never anything too scary thankfully.

He is currently strip grazed along with my old TB and is fed hay to supplement this. The old TB is keeping his weight well so I think they are getting enough in terms of grass/hay and reluctant to give more of this with his EMS/cushings. His teeth are fine, he is fine in himself but his muscle/topline has really gone and he is ribby. He still has the occasional hack which he enjoys but that is as much as he can do due to his arthritis.

Currently he is fed Hi Fi Lite, Fibrebeet and Cushcare. He has done really well on Cushcare (his coat is a lot better and he was much brighter after introducing it). I am just wondering if I am missing anything? If there is anything else I can give him?

I feel like the weight loss may be just old age and unrelated to his other health issues but difficult to manage with his history!

Thanks everyone.

 

[2 Dragons]

When were his levels last tested ? f it is Cushing's related you need medication to control it. I would re-introduce it very slowly, even a 1/4 a tablet daily will have some impact. You could also talk to your vet about trying different brands of pergolide.
My horse with Cushings is still in full work and younger than yours but I have found a squirt of linseed oil in his feed has given him the extra non-sugar energy he needed. Lots of hill and pole walking has rebuilt his muscle - but I appreciate you are limited by his arthritis. I massage him and do stretches too

 

[Burnttoast]

My friend's unmedicated 28yo does very well with the addition of Equijewel when he needs it.

 

[meleeka]

Mine has lost weight recently too. I think her teeth are starting to age and although she’s had the dentist recently, I think she’s finding it hard to digest the course hay we have at the moment. I’m upping her Speedibeet (as well as cushcare) until theres softer hay and will see if that improves things. Even if they can eat hay, I’ve found they don’t digest it as well as they age, so it becomes something to do rather than a source of nutrition.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

My friend's unmedicated 28yo does very well with the addition of Equijewel when he needs it.

Was gonna suggest this it's never failed with everything I have fed it to for weight gain.

 

[blodwyn1]

Do you feed micronised linseed as well? It really helped mine.