Cushings query

C

carolineg

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 January 2011
Messages
60
Visit site
:( Our 28 year old shetland mare has had cushings for sveral years ( at least 5). We have just started her on pergolide which the vet thinks will take at least a fortnight to see a difference as she has become very depressed. At the moment she is out in the day and in at night. She was turned out with 2 other ponies but one was bullying her so she now has a paddock to herself but next to the others so she's not alone. She's fed twice a day on Happy Hoof and Hi Fi light and Haylage but for the last couple of days she's not been eating her haylage and she often doesn't finish all her feed. She's rugged as although she has a very thick coat she's cold without her rug. Does anyone have any ideas how we can cheer her up, poor love just stands around looking miserable?
 
My Shetland was diagnosed earlier this year too. He wasnt shown classic symptoms, but was more prone to footiness (lami).
One of the side effects of pergolide / Prascend is that they can lose their appetite.
You should see a difference in a week or two. November is one of the danger times as the pituitary gland is effected by daylight hours etc.
I'd also suggest a re test of bloods in 6 weeks to check ACHT levels have dropped - you may need to up meds.
My shettie is due his third set of bloods on Monday... We're also having to keep an eye on his liver - again something that should be checked prior to starting the tablets.
If your pony is still depressed the tablets may not be working, apparently they work in 80% of cases
 
My vet warned me about this when my mare went onto Pergolide, she called it the Pergolide Veil, depression and lack of appetite, if it carries on longer than a week contact the vet again.
http://www.ecirhorse.com/index.php/cushings-diseaseppid/pergolide
Side Effects

There are basically two different temporary but common side effects that are caused by pergolide: depression and lack of appetite. This is known in the ECIR group as the “pergolide veil”. When first starting pergolide, or when dosage is increased or decreased too quickly some horses become lethargic and uninterested in food. Tapering the change in dosage is the best defense against side effects. When properly tapered, the ECIR Group horses have had either no pergolide veil and feel better right away or the veil symptoms resolve quickly – within two weeks.

Pergolide veil can be very distressing to owners. It is often the case that horses starting pergolide are also starting a new, safer and less “yummier” diet. The horse certainly appears to dislike the new food but it really is just the veil making him less inclined to eat. Hang in there – they do get over this stage. Once the horse gets used to being on pergolide, he will start to eat normally again and suddenly will start to enjoy the “yucky” food.

Meanwhile, there are a few things you can do to help your horse adjust. Tempt the horse to eat with different flavorings (see links section). If tapering and flavorings fail, adaptogens can help.

Adaptogens are natural substances that help the body block negative responses to chronic stress. A formulation of liquid extract of adaptogenic herbs that has a good track record in the ECIR group is APF. A less expensive adaptogen is Canadian, American or North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Some ginsengs cause elevated insulin so be sure the Latin name is correct.
 
My girl got diagnosed about 12 months ago - she was as you have described and prior to that she was such a fiery, stubborn girl and it was so sad to see her like that. She wasn't eating, she had such a thick coat, she was so down and her eyes often took on a glazed appearance. She was also having occasional stress seizures.
The pergolide took about 3 weeks to kick in and then the improvement from there on in was amazing and its carried on until present. She still isn't being ridden - we were almost ready, then she threw a shoe :rolleyes::rolleyes:
I hope things improve with your girl
K x
 
mine was diagnosed in august and initially lost her appetite when on prascend, but this only lasted a couple of weeks and she was fine, then had her blood tested and had to increase the prascend and she went through the same again, she is back to her normal nutty self and is really enjoying life so im sure yours will perk up soon....
 
Thanks so much everone!:) We'll hang in there - I wish my vet had warned me of the side effects. She's eating grass when out in the day and had a bit of her tea tonight, still turning her nose up at haylage. We'll give her 3 weeks and then get the vet back. Thanks again people - its great to know she should start to feel better soon. She's only a pet and companion now but we want her to get back to being happy .:):)
 
My ID mare has been on prescend for a week now after testing showed a level of 85. She was depressed before and acting oddly but no other cushings signs. I had her blood tested as i thought she may have a liver problem. In the last days she has gone off her hard feed and only clearing up one of her 3 feeds a day, luckily the one with the tablet in!!! I am worried sick about her, she is not grazing much and chooses to spend most of her day in he field shelter. It makes me feel a bit more hopefull that this is a side effect of the prescend. She is 19 and apart from a little ribby looks ok in herself, just miserable. She is on 1 tablet a day at the moment and will be tested again in 3 weeks time. What other symptoms have others shown before and during initally starting prescend/pergaloide?
 
magicmadge....mine is 20 and didnt shed her coat this summer and was a bit quiet, she also started cribbing excessively(she normally cribs a little after her feed) even in the field which was very unusual. she also was a little grumpy which was not normal for her.....shes been on prascend for 3 months and is fine....so dont worry too much....i found that putting the tablet in the food put her off eating so i now give it to her in a piece of brown bread in the morning ( she has her feed in the evening,) and she eats it no prob. good luck with yours...
 
Thank you splashgirl45 today was another day without clearing up her feeds but she is eating her hay and haylage. OP it is distressing to see them so out of sorts, my girl is out with two youngsters and they are always messing about and playing and i feel so bad for my old girl just standing watching, it breaks my heart. I'm hoping i start to see some improvement soon.
 
Magicmadge said:
my girl is out with two youngsters and they are always messing about and playing and i feel so bad for my old girl just standing watching, it breaks my heart. I'm hoping i start to see some improvement soon.
Click to expand...


at least thats something my mare stuck in her box for the last 4 months cant even get out let alone see grass
:(:(:(:(:(:(
feel for you OP sad to see them ill or hobbling like my mare , all this worry is giving me content migraines and feeling sicky .
 
Dont lose hope. I have just been through the same with my girl and I know how worrying it is. Mine was diagnosed 8 weeks ago. She became so depressed that vet recommended i stop the peroglide for 3-4 days then only give half the dosage as opposed to the fill tablet.
Went through the lack of appetite and not eating feeds too so i just added a few high fibre nuts to her hi fi lite and that did the trick.
After 14 days on half the dosage of peroglide she went back to the original 1mg. Her appetite is good and she nearly always eats her dinner again now...after some tweaking! Her blood results started at 97 in the first test and went down last week to 18.
I would ensure you spend time grooming and exercising your little one if you can. Mine thrives on it.
The depression will pass...its awful to see but some do go through it. My vet has since told me he was very concerned at the time.
If in doubt give your vet a call.
Happy to speak over pm if need be x
 
Was so worried this morning I called the vet as she wasn't eating grass, turned down her feed again and was a little unsteady on her feet. Vet said (over the phone) to stop the medication and if she hasn't perked up in 2 days he would come out. She's not had any meds to day and managed a handful of fibre nuts and some carrots this evening. I hope we're doing the right thing. At 28 she's done so well up to now, we want her to reach 30, but to see her stand in the field all day today so depressed was awful. I'm going out to say goodnight to her now, tucked up in her stable with her best friend next door - luckily we have indoor boxes with only 4 foot walls between stables so although she's only 9hh she can see her stablemate. Let's hope she's eaten something!
 
Poor girl (and poor you!) I know exactly how you feel. Mine was exactly the same - even the vet said later on that he was extremely concerned about he (he didnt mention that at the time!). I was told to stop the meds for a few days and reintroduce at a reduced rate for a fortnight, then back to the full doseage and this definately made a difference.

Any vet worth their weight in gold will happily answer any worries you have so keep in touch with them throughout.

Hope she's better today x
 
SizzlerB said:
I was told to stop the meds for a few days and reintroduce at a reduced rate for a fortnight, then back to the full doseage and this definately made a difference.

Any vet worth their weight in gold will happily answer any worries you have so keep in touch with them throughout.

Hope she's better today x
Click to expand...

This, they can go through the 'Pergolide Veil' if the medication dosage is changed abrubtly, once they do get it in their system and it takes effect it also take 10 years off them and they start acting like children again, mines is now 23 and acts like a 5yo when the kids are riding her.
As someone else said get another blood test done after about 6 weeks so you know if they doseage needs increased/decreased, also the test results can come back quite high in autumn anyway even in horses without cushings (next year will be easier as they will have something to compare it against).
When mine was diagnosed she wsa on box rest for nearly 3mnths because of really bad cushings induced laminitius and then the snow came so she was really only turned out in the school for months, this year she gets out in the field and charges down the field like road runner.
Keep us updated.
 
Thanks everyone - its so good to know I'm not on my own ! The vet said to take her off the meds which we've done. She's perked up a little and had a bit of haylage (we made our own so its not too rich) but she still low. I start to question how long she'd been going downhill before we started the meds but then she crashed much lower with the meds :( She still isn't interested in hardfeed, but did enjoy a bit of a Lickit. Am going to ring vet again today and suggest he comes out and does some bloods. At 28 its hard to know how much to put her through. We rescued her 8 years ago with rain scald and feet so long they curled at the front. She such a poppet, don't really want to imagine life without her:( but determined not to keep her going when she's unhappy because we're not ready to let go. I've seen it so many times with other people, now I know how they feel.
 
You could try vitex for equids, I found my little mare's depression really lifted with that and her coat started to improve. Sadly we only used it for a few weeks as she was already going downhill, but I definitely saw a difference. Not sure if vets prescribe trilostane anymore, it's hellish expensive, but it was what we used at the time. I hope she starts to feel better soon :)
 
Hi Bubbles, I hope you don't mind me asking but was it cushings that meant you had to lose your ned? I don't know what the advanced stage is like. I 've tried to do some research on the net but it says about chronic lami which our pony has never had, and coat etc but doesn't tell me whether there's a 'final' stage. At the moment money isn't important re meds as long as she might regain some pleasure in life.
She managed some carrots tonight and a little haylage but is hardly passing anything and I'm worried about lack of gut movement. Vet coming tomorrow.
 
Hi :) how did the vet visit go?

Sadly yes. It was strange, I started to notice really tiny things about 6 months before I lost her. She was in light to medium work, working at medium level dressage and still liable to bugger off when she felt like it! At 21 and only diagnosed 2 years previously I thought I'd have a good while yet. Like you all that I could find out about possible final scenarios was a) laminitis that would grumble on and not respond to treatment or b) a systemic infection.

What actually happened was that she aged markedly over the space of 6 months. Physically she was holding her weight and eating up, seemed happy enough but I just knew she wasn't right. I had vets examine her several times for a suspected chest infection but nothing was found until 3 weeks before I put her down, and she was pumped full of ventipulmin to keep her 110% comfortable. She had strange swelling around her carotid artery which you could see, and the swellings over her eyes were enormous. I knew weeks before I had a vet that the end was coming on the day I loose schooled her - she was a complete lunatic normally and would tear off bucking and plunging, that day she said no and stood in the corner. I just knew.

Sorry that's turned into a bit of a heartfelt ramble! What got my girl was a general all over degeneration, but primarily for me her airways let her down first - she had nasty bronchitis as a 3yo which left her slightly weak in her wind. I think if you manage to avoid the laminitis then you'll end up with a similar situation, other things will catch up with the horse that the reduced immune system won't be able to deal with. My girl was bright and happy the day I led her out, but the general accelerated decline was the Cushings and it was only going to get much worse.

Pm me if you want any more info, I hope that's helped and apologies for the essay. I'm off to find a box of tissues!! :)
 
How long do horse/ponies survive with cushings on average, my shettie has had it now for two years. He looks great, but I do wonder how long pergolide and my management of him can keep him healthy. I do know of one pony who has been on pergolide for 10 years and shows no signs of getting any worse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top