Cushings Pony - Not Eating

[Joyous70]

My boy has just been diagnosed with cushings, the vet has prescribed prascend at 1/4 tablet a day to begin with.

Until now he has eaten all of his tea, however the first night i gave him his tablet, he didn't finish off his dinner, so yesterday i gave him his 1/4 tablet by hand with a couple of pony nuts, but he then wouldn't even entertain his dinner. I know the meds can cause them to go off their dinner initialy, but surely this is too soon for the mes to be taking any effect, is this normal what can i do to persuade him to eat his dinner?

Thanks in advance

 

[flintfootfilly]

Hopefully you'll get some more replies, but definitely some horses/ponies can tell as soon as Prascend is added to their feed.

My mare officially started on 1 tablet a day, but I started with a quarter to half a tablet for a week or two, just so she gradually got used to the taste and didn't reject her feed. However, she's a greedy pony and not much puts her off her food. She ate up from day 1.

However, the one bit of good advice I got was to dissolve the tablet in a small amount of water (I just put the tablet in a 5ml plastic measure). It's dissolved by the time I've put the rest of the feed in the bowl, and then I just pour some more water over the scoop over the feed, so the Prascend is distributed pretty evenly right through the feed.

Might be worth trying that with yours?

Is he a very small pony? Just wondering why he's starting on such a low dose. I thought that usually a horse starts on 1 tablet a day, and the dose is then adjusted from there.

I think if that doesn't work, then I'd try increasing the volume of feed with more of the things he likes, just for a few days or a week or so and gradually scale it back to the feed you want to give him.

Like I say, hopefully you'll get some better advice as the day goes on.

Sarah

 

[be positive]

Starting on 1/4 a day and building up is what my vet recommended as it can have an immediate effect on them, not eating is one side effect and he should gradually get his appetite back as he adjusts to the medication.

Once eating then dissolving it before adding to the feed works well but until then you will need to give it by hand, mine got very clever and had to be given his in a piece of apple, then required several pieces without the tablet in before he trusted he was not getting anything nasty, but some are really tricky so it must either taste very nasty or have a strange impact on them and somehow they know this.

Be patient he will adjust and his health should improve fairly quickly.

 

[TheBigPony]

I had a similar experience with my horse, she is 16.2hh so the vet said to start her on 1 tablet of prascend a day. However, she went of her hard feed (would still eat hay) and became quite depressed within days. The vet suggested that we reduce the dose to a half tablet to give her a chance to get used to it. We actually took her off the prascend for a few days completely (manufacturers recommendation) and then started with the lower dose. As soon as we stopped the prascend she started eating again. We kept her on half a tablet for 3 weeks and then increased the dosage to three quarters for another few weeks and then increased again to one. We found that way she was ok, didn't get depressed and ate her food.

Unfortunately we have had to increase the dosage further this atumn and again we increased by a quarter at a time so she is now on one and half and had no problems with the dosage increase. The vet gaves us peroglide for the quarter dosage as the prascend tablets are difficult to cut that small.

The other thing we found when introducing the prascend was that she suddenly went off some of her feed supplements. She had been eating one for her breathing for years and basically wouldn't eat her dinner if it was in there for about 3 months when she first went on the drugs.

I also give her the tablets in a carrot to make sure she eats it and so that she is not put off eating her feed.

I hope he starts eating soon for you.

 

[LCH611]

Our elderly Dartmoor pony got very anorexic when we started him on Prascend, and for a fatty that has been on a diet all his life, he suddenly got very capricious about what he would & wouldn't eat! For a couple of weeks I was offering an a la carte menu and his taste changed every day! He would eat Marksway horsehage from the packet when he was tied up in the yard to have his box done (he was on box rest with lammi), but the moment it was put in a hay net he wouldn't go near it. Likewise one day he would eat cinnamon, or spearmint or something else yummy in his feed and the next day he would all but hurl the bucket at me in an absolute fury that I had tainted his food. He has currently decided that he will only eat a slice of apple (it used to be the highlight of his day having one slice of apple without his half pill, followed by another slice with the pill in) if it is a Braeburn and he won't touch Coxes, Pink Lady, Gala, Granny smiths or Bramley. However I have now discovered that providing it goes into his morning feed, not his evening one he will eat it. It is worth sticking with it though as he is utterly transformed and at 28 years old having always been a fairly steady sort he is now charging about playing with the babies, has a naughty glint in his eye and we have had to put a Cheltenham gag on him - the rider doesn't care that he can't stop him (in fact there isn't much evidence of him trying ) - but it makes my young horse a bit inclined to buck & leap about when a turbo furry pony whizzes past hunting for logs & bushes to leap over

 

[splashgirl45]

i tried to give mine her prascend in her feed and she wouldnt eat it, wouldnt even go near the feed bowl, so i started giving her the tablet by hand in the mornings(she has her small feed at night) and she gradually started to eat her feed again after i put some slices of apple on top... some horses are very fussy with their feeds and it doesnt take much to put them off completely.

 

[Micky]

Try giving your pony the tablet with a sugarfree polo first thing, then give his normal feed, as long as hes eating his soaked hay for the minute, i wouldn't worry too much You can also try adding a little fizzy apple juice to feed to entice him and until he gets into the swing of eating again..Check out the facebook page PPID/Cushings?EMS, very informative and others like you and i with cushings horses.

 

[bensababy]

I had the same situation with my old boy, I had to syringe it down with apple juice to start with as everything I tried he refused to eat. After about 4 weeks he became less suspicious. Have you tried asking a stranger to feed it to him inside s apple chunk or polo? Mine was less suspicious of strangers feeding him. Good luck I know how hard it is!

 

[AnneCooper]

I've read all about the side effects of prascend - what I'm not too clear on are the benefits. My horse has just turned 34 - he's an ex international eventer Welton Fair Game - his cushings test came back mega at 667 - but he was well, happy, mobile & eating. On 1 tab of prascend he's depressed, stiff & off his food - I rreally don't know why I'm doing it - help please!!

 

[Northern Hare]

My horse was diagnosed with Cushings last June. He's a TBxWB 21 yo and if it wasn't for the fact that he went very slightly footy, we'd have never thought of testing him again. He'd been given the all clear the previous year (he was part of a study at the vets) so I was really surprised when it proved positive.

Anyway, the vet recommended we wait and re-test after a couple of months, which we did and then opted to go down the Prascend route. He was in fantastic condition and seemed in good spirits until we started the Prascend. When he'd been diagnosed, I changed his feed as he was getting a molasses coated mix until then, so changed him onto A&P Fast Fibre. To start with, he loved it but when we started him on the Prascend he went off this and every other feed we tried him on. Unfortunately, he also appeared to be very lack lustre and depressed - and started to really lose weight very quickly.

In the end, having called lots of feed companies, I decided to try him on Topspec Senior Balancer plus their cool conditioning cubes with Alfa-A Molasses Free. At last he started to eat again and slowly started to pick up condition. I found the best way to give him his Prascend tablet was tucked into half a small carrot and he takes this no problems. I appreciate that carrots/apples are high in sugar but it's a very small piece.

He was tested before Christmas and his results back down to 25 (from 175), so we were were really pleased.

We stuck with the Prascend, and I'm so glad we did. In hindsight, he'd not been "himself" for a while but I'd been putting this down to his age. Now, I feel as though I've got a 10 year old, not a 21 year old horse! He's on terrific form, is once again bright in his eye, and very alert, spends his time in the field with his friend galloping around and playing. To ride him, he feels fantastic and now he's getting much fitter he's actually a bit of a handful at times - although I'd much rather that than as he was before and very lethargic and lack lustre.

One point ref the cost of Prascend. If you are able to, it's worth approaching your vet to see if they'll match the prices that are available online. I did this - and as long as I buy 160 at a time, they cost me around 95p/tablet plus £20, so that's the same as if I'd bought them online plus what the vet would have charged for the prescription. I'm very happy with this arrangement - and it gives the vet the business.

 

[Silverfire]

I've read all about the side effects of prascend - what I'm not too clear on are the benefits. My horse has just turned 34 - he's an ex international eventer Welton Fair Game - his cushings test came back mega at 667 - but he was well, happy, mobile & eating. On 1 tab of prascend he's depressed, stiff & off his food - I rreally don't know why I'm doing it - help please!!

There are probably thousands of horses with high ACTH levels who never get tested or treated for cushings unless they are showing symptoms. If he was happy and well without it then if he was mine i don't think i would be giving it.
I have a horse on prascend, hes 21 this year and he needs it. Hes been a bit off his food lately so i cut his dose down from 1.5 tablets to 1 tablet for 10 days, his appetite is back and hes asking for his feeds, but hes now really footy with mild lami, amazing what a difference that extra half tablet makes to him.

 

[Lucky Lady]

Really feel for every horse with the dreaded Cushings Disease and the upset it causes you owners. I dread the thought of any of any of mine getting this! Its known that Prascend has this effect on the stomach and it makes you wonder what damage it does, when they are on this long term! There is a horse on my yard and was on Prascend and she took him off this and she has gone onto a natural remedy which he has shown to be thriving on this. Since left the yard will try and find out what it was. I would google and try and find a natural alternative.

 

[Micky]

Unfortunately you are wrong, if you read up about cushings PPID as its now known, you will know that there is/can be a 'veil' period, when the horse goes of its feed and seems worse than before, the recommended thing to do is reduce the dose of Prascend for a few days or week and then up it again to the normal dose. Prascend does have its own page on the web and there are a few very good sites all about PPID/IR/laminitis out there, with all the Facts to help with any problems you may experience...It is worth loking up and teach yourself.