Cushing's disease

[Rosyryan]

Hi everyone, just discovered this forum whilst looking for info on Cushing's disease. Does anyone own a horse which has this condition? Mine is doing well on Pergolide, she was diagnosed at 13 years is now 16 and is a CBXTB I was heart-broken when the dex test came back and was positive,does anyone know if CBXTB's are particularly prone to it I was planning to breed from her, but I suppose that is out of the window now 1 vet says yes,the other no,both fromthe same practice. Any thoughts welcome.

 

[Evadiva1514]

My little mare has had Cushings following a very bad bout of laminitis in 2002. Since then she has had other complications due to the cushings but is coping well with her illness, we take each day as it comes with her and her management has to be fairly strict due to her other cushings related problems.

We never planned to breed from our mare but we had i would have perhaps have been a bit bothered about the laminitis implications anyway so i'm afraid i can't help you with that. Sorry!

My mare isn't treated with pergolide we have managed to control her symptoms using various shop bought supplements as at the time of her laminitis outbreak our vet didn't believe it was even worth trying her on it. Over time we have worked on each symptom systematically and we are now controlling the disease comfortably. We have to take each day as it comes with her as we never know whats around the corner!!

 

[Rosyryan]

Thanks for the info the vet who was treating her at the time prescribed 4mg of pergolide for her per day she bacame very shakey no joke when trying to lead trembling horse along a busy road she weighs 620kg! (trembling can be side effect of pergolide especially at such a high dose) advised to turn her out the vet said she would be happier turned out. Anyway I changed to a holistic vet and Inow manage her on 2mgpergolide and feed supps and cross fingers she is okay still hacking out and low level dressage.. I would like to retire her but the old man who runs our yard doesn't allowed retired horses to stay on the yard( run by retired military officer) very few livery yardsin the area soa bit stuck at the moment.

 

[Evadiva1514]

My little mare is now retired, as she was outgrown by my younger sister so she is happy being a lawn mower at the moment. She has her feisty moments though, and after all she has been through it is really lovely to see!! She still has the same routine as the other horses and still enjoys being pampered!!

 

[Rosyryan]

How old is your girl? I think I will keep my girl going for as long as possible, trouble is I feel guilty because I work her, she looks well vet said that you wouldn't know that there was anything wrong with her, have you tried any global herb preps on your girl?

 

[BethH]

I know of horses with Cushings who lived to their late 20's. I don't personally have lots of experience with it although it was suspected my old horse who I sadly lost last year at the grand old age of 30 may have had the start of some symptoms, he started getting a slightly curly coat that took ages to loose etc. In his case i was still riding him very quietly at age 29 and we just did whatever he was able to cope with, the last year was just very light hacking 2 or 3 times a week for 1/2 hour but I do think with horses that it keeps them flexible in to old age although there is no way i would ride if there was any danger at all to the horse or rider. When I stopped riding him, he stiffened up a lot and then sadly passed away after 6 months of retirement.

 

[Evadiva1514]

Misty my mare is 19 this year and has been retired for about 18 months. Unfortunately since retirement she developed Uveitis in both eyes and now has limited vision in one and the slightly better vision in the other eye. Apparently this was also due to the cushings, but having said that she is happy and we haven't got a rider small enough here anyway as she is only 13.2, so she is quiet happy being out and about on the yard.

I currently feed her on Hormonise, D-Tox and Cush aid (If her weight starts to drop) But other than that i have never tried anything else, and seeing as it is working well for her, i daren't give any of them up!!

 

[BethH]

I think the saying "Don't fix something unless it is broken" is a good one. Your mare sounds beautifully cared for and I hope you get to enjoy her company for many more years to come

 

[Evadiva1514]

Thank you Beth - She is a very special lady.

And we get a lot of pleasure from spending time with her and caring for her as it is time we thought we would never have to spend.

This is her at a show just before she was retired, it was lovely as her last show she scooped no end of rosettes and it was lovely for my sister to go out with a bang!!

We clip her out now as although she sheds her coat, more coat keeps growing and this way she stays clean and comfortable and we can keep a better eye on her condition etc.

 

[sallyf]

I think cushings disease varies alot.
We covered a mare a couple of years ago who who take in foal but then wouldn't hold the pregnancy beyond 20 days.
Even using regumate.
The mare was 14 yrs old at the time and lady eventually had her tested for cushings as prone to laminitis among other things.
The test came back borderline and the mare was successfully treated for about 6 months until she collapsed with breathing problems and was pts.
All caused by a very aggressive form that just acelerated despite of the treatment.
I think each case is individual and needs treating as such .
There are no set and fast rules and some horses seem to go for years quite happily.

 

[goeslikestink]

cushings can go along with diabieties arthutirs and laminitus one both all four what ever but doesnt stop a horse or pony from working its down to good diet good management good rountine

my old boy is 36 has cushings and still in work and he has with arthirus

ted the other old pony died at 34 he had it with lamintus and diebeities

but both were mantaned and manage well -- mangement and good husbandry is the key to a healthy lifespan

 

[Rosyryan]

Thanks very much for the info everyone, and the pics were inspirational, you are all right we will keep on going, who knows maybe some body will come up with a cure in the near future? Vet in US seems to think it can be potentiated by a lack of phosphorus in the diet, apparently phosphorus keeps the pituitary gland in check, anyways it's a weird disease her dentist has seen a case in a horse as young as 8 I just wonder if there is a genetic link at all?

 

[monica123]

she is lovely!

 

[goeslikestink]

then if the phosphorus is lacking add lime stome floor to feeds
as lime stone floor when feed bran for instance lacks the p factor
as years ag used to be big broad flakes now its like dust so add ataplespoon of limestone floor to dinner it is calcium good for bones and coat- of foals pregnaant mares and old guys

 

[hayleyandjambo]

I lost my old pony at 27 to a combination of cushings and melanoma.

I agree with the comments about diabetes, this was certainly a major issue with my lad as he had the classic symptoms of drinking gallons of water. Unfortunately he got chronic diarrhoea that wouldn't go away during the later stages due to his gut losing the ability to absorb water correctly. As steroids were the only option to help with this we had to take the decision to put him to sleep.

On a brighter note he had had cushanoid changes from being about 19 (coat not falling out properly / drinking too much) and seeing as we never had him on anything for it he did well.

Good luck with everything, but it sounds like you are already doing everything you should be.

Hayley

 

[marsha]

I have a Shetland pony with it. Diagnosed 3 &1/2 years ago. He is very well on strict sugar reduced diet & Hormonise.

 

[marsha]

Side effects from pergolige can be very severe A good site is "laminitisandcushings.com"

 

[Rosyryan]

Th 6anks very much the above site it is very informative, oddly enough the only symptom my mare had was a slow to shed witer coat , vet decided to dex test and even she was surprized when the dex test came back positive, no other symptoms not even when she had a 3 month break from pergolide last summer, lab retested her blood foc in case they had boobed on the test but it was still positive? I find a diet for laminitics works well no fructose not even a carrot. Btw we did 2 novice tests last weekend she won both on scores of 66% and 69%, so I don't know is there any other disease that coud cause a horses winter coat to shed slowly ?

 

[hollyandivy123]

http://www.recoveryeq.com/cushings_syndrome_pro.htm

this is a good site but it can sound scientific, every horse with cushings will be different just we are different.

 

[samesy]

My mare was retired last year through unsoundness. She always lost her coat early & looked lovely all summer, this year however she has stayed hairy most of the summer & already has most of her winter coat despite it only being the first week of september. When the vet came to do her annual jabs he agreed she could well be showing early signs of cushings. Having done some research I don't really want to put her on Pergolide but have heard the herbal supplement Agnus Castus can help slow the symptoms - has anyone tried this herbal supplement & what were the results like?? Any thoughts would be appreciated.