Cushings at 11yo :(

tankgirl1

tankgirl1

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Boyo has been diagnosed with early stage cushings today. He is only 11yo, and fit as a fiddle, we had the free blood test done as he had a resp infection back end of last year, and with history of lammi the vet recommended we test. That came back borderline, so had ACTH stimulation test which came back positive, but not massively high so early stages. Vet has advised half a pracend to start with. I'm just gutted, and wondered what other peoples experiences with cushings were, esp in relatively young ponies.
 
My friend has a 15 year old section D. He was diagnosed over 4 years ago..so same age as yours. He has been very poorly with laminitis recently but with supports under his soles and a change to his medication he's beginning to rally. Friend has worked hard to keep him well. His recent blood tests were off the scale so they are trying a different medicine to see if it helps him.
 
Feel your pain OP. My old boy had lammi at age 13 & diagnoses was Cushings.

Sorry can't offer any magic solutions, other than to (obviously) be aware of the lammi situation and take avoiding action for that - especially make a good friend of your farrier as good foot maintenance is essential, you will need to watch for absesses in the foot particularly; also, perhaps on the brighter side, bear in mind that vet research into Cushings (as with all conditions) is progressing all the time, and there will be much more available (and affordable) treatments as a result.

Good luck with yours.
 
My girl was diagnosed in November at age 19. I was gutted to begin with but started her on1 prascend ans she has perked up no end. Her levels are still slightly over so just wondering whether to up dose to 1 1/2 but vet said to hang on. The reason she was tested was due to severe lethargy which has gone now. Oh and orbital fat above eyes. But they were the only symptoms. So now, bar shoving a tablet in a carrot and remebering to give her that every day, I don't notice any difference. It is awful yours is only 11 and so not fair, but get the meds started and you'll both be much happier!!
 
My Tb was diagnosed through the free test aswell. He was just 12 so similar to yours.
I couldn't afford Precsend and his levels were very high so chances are more than 1 tablet a day would be needed (he also had other problems going on)
I've had him on Chaste Berry since Christmas and the difference has been massive! He's back to his normal self and totally sound. Of course spring will tell but then I was told he'd not cope with the frosts and he's been fine so I'm cautiously hopeful.
It's manageable I think especially on Precsend.
 
My 11 year old pony was diagnosed last year. She was very depressed, excessive drinking/urination, fatty pads above her eyes, but no laminitis (she has never had it, touch wood). The vet thought I was mad asking them to test her, but she came back positive. She was started on 0.5mg of prascend, but when re-tested she had got worse, so her dosage was upped to 1mg. Her levels seem ok now, but she is not the pony she once was. She is very quiet and sometimes I wonder how happy/depressed she is....I can't seem to find an answer, but I am preparing myself for the fact that she won't make 'old bones' :-(
 
Can I just suggest that you retest in spring and autumn next year?

My boy tested borderline in the spring, and then retested in the autumn and was well within normal range. The difference? Well, his feeding was the same, his exercise somewhat increased but we'd moved to a yard where he had more turn out (on a lami type paddock) versus nearly no turn out. It was stressing him out a bit and cortisol levels increased. I got in touch with Jackie at metabolic horse who suggested that stress can indeed affect the outcome. I suggest you get in touch with the metabolic horse group - should have many answers for you.
 
My 6yro boy has been diagnosed with cushings, youngest case the vets ever seen (my luck lol) he is on prascend tablets and legapython to help his liver function and other than that he is ok to carry on as normal:)
 
Hello OP,

Sorry to hear this, it's a difficult condition.
My 11yr old Shetland (not a purchase but more of a 'rescue' or 'unwanted acquisition' many years ago!) has been diagnosed with Cushings recently. He was extremely depressed, frequent drinking and intermittent laminitis. The poor thing has many ailments due in part to his rough start in life and in part to his inability to stop hurting himself!

He has been on his meds for 6 months now and finally he has started to return to the cheeky chappy he was before diagnosis. The sadness of it all is that I don't expect him to live until hes 30 or 40 as most of my ponies have. However i think what is important is to ensure he is "happy right now" as opposed to concern myself with the future.

Take each day as it comes.

All the best.
 
Our sec a was diagnosed at the age of 11...she never had laminitis but I felt she was a bit low and seemed to be drinking and weeing excessively. Her ACTH came back in the 500's! She's been on Pergolide, now Prascend, ever since, turned into a pocket rocket, gave mini great fun and has been out on loan to a friend for the last two years with never a problem. We test twice a year, in spring and autumn and her dose is half a tablet through the winter and 1/4 through the summer. She's 17 now and still fit. Good luck with yours, its a huge worry but with careful and regular monitoring hopefully you will be able to carry on as normal.
 
I put my mare on chaste tree berry and you wouldn't know she has cushings and my friend also uses it on her elderly horse that has cushings because the prascend wasn't doing anything for him
 
Sorry to hear this - you must be gutted. My current mare was 14 when she was diagnosed, she had no obvious symptoms and I only got her tested as a precaution as my previous horse was 14 when she got it. I was shocked when the test result came back positive. On the bright side you have caught it early and have time to get a management regime and drug programme established, which will hopefully keep things under control. Good luck.
 
Hi....I have just had a re test after a borderline result in November, the result is 46. The vet has said start on 1/2 tablet per day, but I am going to seek an opinion from another vet I use, as the blood was drawn when my gelding was incredibly stressed after having his teeth rasped.
There appears to be mixed opinions as to whether stress affects ACTH levels but I can't understand why he didn't take the blood prior to the dental work if there is any doubt.
Good luck with your pony
 
I had an old pony who definitely had it from about 7 or 8 but it was undiagnosed for years (wasn't really known about back then). She started pergolide aged about 20 and lived to 30. Before starting her meds she was treated as a laminitic - something we did know about - and was ride and drive for many years. She even competed, doing little working hunter classes and the like. With the right management they can still lead a full life in my experience.
 
I have a pony who is almost 40, yes 40! She has had cushings for a few years now and I suspect a lot longer then before it was officially diagnosed. She still canters round her field and has the odd mad moment where she throws a few bucks in too and every morning she will canter into her stable for breakfast, if you happen to be standing in the doorway she doesn't slow down but just flies past. If you saw her you would not believe her age, she is so full of life.
I realize she is a lot older then your boy but I just wanted to say that cushings is not a death sentence and managed properly it will have barely any noticeable affect. She has half a pergolide every morning and a very careful diet.
She really is amazing my old girl :)
 
jgmbng said:
Hi....I have just had a re test after a borderline result in November, the result is 46. The vet has said start on 1/2 tablet per day, but I am going to seek an opinion from another vet I use, as the blood was drawn when my gelding was incredibly stressed after having his teeth rasped.
There appears to be mixed opinions as to whether stress affects ACTH levels but I can't understand why he didn't take the blood prior to the dental work if there is any doubt.
Good luck with your pony
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I had my 17 year old tested in November too, came back as 33 - vet described that as 'weak positive' with negative result being below about 28-29? Mine hates vets and we had blood going everywhere as he wouldn't stand still when she took the sample. We're re-testing in the Spring though assuming his stress level will be as high! However I'd be interested to know how quickly cortisol or stress hormones would show up in a blood sample taken and effect other hormone readings when a horse is wound up as surely it's got to get quite a bit way round the blood system/dissipate into it first? Surely it just doesn't appear in the blood straight away at the one point you're drawing the blood from and effect levels of other hormones that quickly? Though I guess in micro molecule way it could I suppose. Anyone know the answer to that?
 
Being a bit cynical here but has anyone had a test come back negative?? Fair enough if the horse has symptoms that improve with the drug but if the horse is showing no symptoms I wouldnt start it on lifelong drugs!
 
Jango said:
Being a bit cynical here but has anyone had a test come back negative?? Fair enough if the horse has symptoms that improve with the drug but if the horse is showing no symptoms I wouldnt start it on lifelong drugs!
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The trouble with that is that some of the symptoms come on so slowly that it is hard sometimes to realise there is something wrong. You could just put any changes down to aging. Mine was drinking more but as he lives out and drinks from the trough I wouldn't have realised if I hadn't been riding him and noticed he had to stop to urinate a bit more than he had previously. Half a tablet a day has made a difference to him though, he feels younger to ride.
 
My horse is 20 & fit as a flea (lesson once a week, competes 2 times a month, 3 or so 8 mile hacks a week with about 4 miles of that trotting), no fat pads but she did have lami 3 years ago, she was tested for Cushings then & came back at 29, I have recently noticed lots of piddling & drinking & a slightly curly coat (she is hunter clipped so just on her legs ) so had her tested again in Nov, 3 years after 1st test. It came back as 32. Just had another done in Jan which came back as 29.6.

Vet suggested further tests but have decided to wait till summer & test again.

I think were she not in so much work she might have more symptoms, but as it is will just keep a super close eye on her :(

Interested in Chaste Berry tho, does she need to have a proper positive to use it? Would it do any harm to a normal horse?
 
Jango said:
Being a bit cynical here but has anyone had a test come back negative?? Fair enough if the horse has symptoms that improve with the drug but if the horse is showing no symptoms I wouldnt start it on lifelong drugs!
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I'm sure there are HHOers who have had negative tests on other threads. When my pony was first tested she came back at 140, pretty conclusive even without the other signs. Remember Cushings does not go away, the sooner you treat, the sooner you restore normal body function and hopefully sustain a quality of life. It is a nasty, insidious disease which wrecks their whole system so not worth messing about with imo.
 
Nudibranch said:
I'm sure there are HHOers who have had negative tests on other threads. When my pony was first tested she came back at 140, pretty conclusive even without the other signs. Remember Cushings does not go away, the sooner you treat, the sooner you restore normal body function and hopefully sustain a quality of life. It is a nasty, insidious disease which wrecks their whole system so not worth messing about with imo.
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Totally agree with this - you can manage the symptoms and improve quality of life but the underlying cause does not go away, they will have cushings for the rest of their life - as you say, it's a nasty disease :(
 
Not a good one I'm afriad. I had a 5 year old with acute cushings. one day pony was slightly lame on a front foot when she came in from the field. when I got up next morning she was lay on the floor panting and not able to get up. The vet came and took bloods and gave her a load of antibiotics and a sedative, next day he came back and told me that she was going to die and that he was going to put her down now... He ACTH was about 10000.

I'd had her since a 1 year old. she was lovely. very sad.

Blitz
 
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