Cushings and liver damage

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Dinkeydoo

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I have a little 20 y.o 11.2 pony that has recently been diagnosed with cushings, we already knew he had liver damage but the vet says although it's gradually getting worse his liver is still coping. The problem I have is both need different management and what you should feed a pony with cushings you can't feed a pony with lover damage? He is on half a tablet of pergolide and this has made him go off his feed(fast fibre) which he needs to take his supplements, milk thistle, yea sac and garlic. Any advice would be very welcome,thanks.
 
its very common for them to go off their feed at the beginning of the cushings treatment, it usually gets back to normal withina couple of weeks so just be patient and try and tempt him with 3 or 4 small feeds.. sorry i cant be more helpful, my mare has cushings and i was really worried when she went off her feed but it didnt last too long and i managed to get her eating by giving very small feeds and cutting a small carrot or piece of apple on top. good luck
 
Grrr, just typed a long reply and clicked the wrong button!! Check for iron in the soil or hay, excess iron is implicated in liver damage, unless you know it was from ragwort poisoning in the past. Speak to Sarah Braithwaite at Forageplus about balancing iron levels, and soil/forage testing, she is very good at minerals.
Cushings doesn't need special diet (the pergolide loss of appetite is fairly short lived side effect) but Insulin Resistance which normally accompanies it does - as low as possible sugar/cereals and starch, my old girl lives on unmollassed beet pulp, alfalfa nuts and grass nuts, but check the iron levels in all of that, that isn't something I need to worry about.
And ditch the garlic unless you really need it- it is a natural antibacterial and will kill the gut bacteria, undoing all the good the yeasacc is doing. Good luck, it isn't too bad once the pergolide starts doing its stuff - mine is dentally challenged so can't eat hay or haylage, which makes it expensive.
 
Dinkydoo, check out the ems/ppid facebook page, lots of helpful advice on there, esp concerning the fact your wee pony isnt eating at the moment...am sure it says somewhere that you stop the pergolide for a few days until pony starts to eat again, then give the pill again.. Preferable to keep pony on low sugar/starch as already said, Hi fi molasses free is the best low sugar chop and fast fibre..
Try the facebook group and see what they say.. i was lucky as my horse didnt go off his food...a;lso try adding sparkling apple juice, meant to be a good enticer. Good luck :)
 
Dinkydoo - my wee 11.2 pony was exactly the same and we were most concerned when we could see all his ribs - he's over that stage now and eating like a proper horse.

He has big bucket twice a day and soaked hay. He's put a bit of weight back on in time for autumn/winter and he's doing fine

Succulents are good - offer a cabbage maybe - Bramble loves them.
 
And just to add - you will have to experiment with different feeds - mine went right off FFibre and won't touch garlic.

My attitude was I don't mind him having a SPRINKLE ;-) of full Alfa-A on his feed because the benefit of the rest of the feed and the minerals outweighs the harm that the handful of molassed alfalfa on his feed will cause. It's about balance and tempting them to eat.
 
Thanks everyone some really helpful advice there. He's having half a pergolide daily and he's being re tested this coming week to see how he's doing and if the dose needs to be increased. He's looking happier in himself and is having a couple of hours out now so fingers crossed his medication is working and not affecting his liver too much.
 
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