Cushings - I remember what the vet said.

[Orangehorse]

My horse was recently diagnosed with Cushings and is on medication, which a blood test has confirmed is doing its job.

So I had the vet out today for a cough that hasn't cleared up, and have some more medicine for that. She said that maybe the Cushings was a factor in him not being able to get rid of the slight infection.

Which reminded me that when I had a pony with Cushings, a few years ago the senior partner came out to look at him and said that it was a downhill journey from now on - infections, eye problems, nothing is going to get better. As he had laminitis too, she didn't think that medication was the way to go, so he was PTS a couple of weeks later, having had a nice few days out in the field chatting to a new mare who was his replacement!

This is the first time my horse has had a cough so what she said reminded me of the above. I certainly don't want him to end his days with laminitis in November.
But he is OK at the moment and hope that cough medicine works.

 

[Tiddlypom]

The Prascend, once titrated at the right dose which can take a few tweaks, is often very effective at controlling Cushing's symptoms for many years. The earlier in the course of the disease that the Prascend is started the better the outcome is likely to be.

I'm sorry that the first vet was so pessimistic, that is not modern thinking .

 

[meleeka]

Mine has had cushings for around 10 years so it’s certainly not downhill all the way. In my experience the medication is literally a life saver. Mine was diagnosed after coming down with laminitis and she hasn’t had it since. The medication should control the cushings, so reducing or eliminating the symptoms of the disease, including infections. Of course it doesn’t always work as it should, but for the majority it does.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I have known lots of horses on prascend for years and it's been a real success, I have only known 1 horse that was on it for 3 years eventually on 2 tablets a day and got laminitis so it just wasn't working he was only 20, so I suppose it doesn't work for all of them but I think it can really help the majority of horses.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Our Appaloosa had breathing problems and sadly only had a few months on Prascend The Westphalian had just about a year on Prascend but we were unlucky and it took persistence to get the Appy diagnosed because she kept testing negative on ACTH test, otherwise she would have been on Prascend longer.
I am just glad that we could use Prascend as I lost a 6 yr old Shire mare to what I now think was Cushings, about 20 yrs ago, vet did blood tests but goodness knows what for and I had never heard of Cushings at that time.

 

[marmalade76]

Mine had a few hoof abscesses before he was diagnosed with Cushing's, I do believe they were related. Perhaps my boy would have lived longer had I realised sooner.

 

[Orangehorse]

Well unfortunately he has a long list of things wrong with him. Individually each thing is not such a big deal, but altogether .........

He does get hoof abscesses, and the farrier also thinks he has a keratoma in the hoof which always seems to be the troublesome one (although the last one was in a front hoof). Again, nothing to panic about, but something else that is there.

He has lost weight recently, although he seems cheerful enough in himself.

 

[splashgirl45]

Mine had a pretty normal life once prascend had kicked in. I rode pretty much every day to keep her fit and she had soaked hay in winter and fast fibre and formula4feet and light chaff to keep her weight ok. She was turned out daily in winter and 24/7 in summer but not on lush grazing . I decided that quality of life was more important than length and she was PTS after 5 years at age 25 as the tablets were not controlling her levels , one thing I was grateful for was that she never got laminitis and she enjoyed her life

 

[MummyEms]

Our pony is 21 and been on 1 whole prascend per day for over a year now. He's beautiful, shiny, fit and healthy. He wins nearly everything he does for my youngest daughter.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Our pony was diagnosed and put on prascend (or pergolide as it was then )when she was 12. She was pts at 28 years old .

 

[2 Dragons]

Our pony has been on 1 Prascend a day for 1 and 1/2 years now. He has regained the muscle he lost and managed to fight off a persistent pin worm infection. He leads an active life as a mother/daughter share. I think its important to manage them consistently- -medicating on time each day, soaking hay, managing grass intake, rugging and clipping as needed, keeping up to date with dentist and farrier and having regular blood tests.

 

[claracanter]

My 20 yr old WB has had Cushings for about 7 years now. Blood tested every 6 months and last year on vet’s recommendation, we actually decreased his prascend from 1 tablet to half a tablet a day. I had never even heard of this before and didn’t know it was possible until the vet suggested it as his levels were so good. I’d assumed he’d just gradually deteriorate. Of course, I know he’s not going to be cured but he has stabilised on the smaller dose. Just wanted you to know it’s not all doom and gloom for Cushings horses.

 

[shortstuff99]

Not to be a bit gloomy but cushings is a progressive disease so it will inevitably get worse.

My mare was on Prascend for about 10 years pretty successfully until the cushings caused a stroke/ataxia.

 

[SusanK-USA]

Long time lurker. First time poster.
I joined to reply to this thread.
My horse has PPID Cushings - he's my third horse to develop it.
There are two groups I recommend joining and reading as much as you can.
The ECIR group and the FB group Equine PPID Cushings.
You will see that rarely does it happen that a horse stops responding to the meds.
It usually means a dose increase is needed.
For the UK that means of course Prascend, Peroquin or Bova paste.
The latter IIRC is compounded.
There are horses on 5 mg of either Prascend or compounded Pergolide.
My horse is on 6 mg/day of compounded capsules.
He won't eat/accept Prascend and I could not afford it anyway.
There are horses on 5, 10, 20 mg/day of Pergolide and doing very well.
IMHO it's best to adjust doses acc to symptoms.
I can see on blood tests the drug is working- lowering his ACTH levels and also lowering insulin levels.
Some horses are controlled for years on 1 mg/day.
Others need periodic dose increases as they age, the disease progresses and esp during the annual seasonal rise - where ACTH levels can double or triple.
(I've also learned that most vets know very little about PPID and treatment).
I've seen too many horses sadly lost because the dose wasn't high enough.