Fools Motto
Well-Known Member
As title.
Thanks for the replies so far.
Due to an excessively long coat this winter/spring (that is the only obvious symptom) i'm thinking my 20yr TB x Welsh mare may have cushings. She has had the winter off - no other reason other than lack of time/weather/lack of facilities.
She has showed no evidence of any lami.
Thing is, I struggle at the best of times to give her any form of medication. I know Prascend is expensive, and I can't justify it if she won't take it - she knows all the tricks.! Not to mention the dreaded blood tests - she loathes vets. I do my best to reduce the call outs!!
I rode her today after her time off, and she was as normal. Just her long coat got matted up under the girth area - had to cut with scissors! Never had to do that before.
well for mine the answer would have been simple I am afraid. A bullet. It took a long time to diagnose and he was deteriorating very rapid before prascend.
This. I've had to deal with 2. Prascend is a lifesaver and gave both of mine a good quality of life for a number of years.
Fwiw, when I read about people experimenting with "herbal alternatives" I get quite annoyed. It's a horrible disease and not worth messing around with. Prascend works.
Cushings is progressive, so it is to be expected that, over time, more medication will be required to keep the ACTH levels at a reasonable level.Prascend doesnt always work. My boy only went down from 125 to 63 with Prascend and then started to go up again - what was prescribed - more Prascend !
My vets have a rule of thumb that they don't recommend giving more than 3 tablets per day. If the ACTH levels are unacceptably high on 3 tablets, they recommend calling it a day, though of course an owner can elect to ignore this and carry on.Its very expensive too. Cushings really really scares me now. I'm approaching retirement and every penny will be counted - as my horse also gets older I dont think I would be able to afford to give her Prascend. It starts off reasonable - 1 tab / day is about 40 per month, but they end up needing loads of tablets - theres a horse on our yard on 4.5 tabs daily ouch and I know of another who was on ten!
well for mine the answer would have been simple I am afraid. A bullet. It took a long time to diagnose and he was deteriorating very rapid before prascend.
Thanks for the replies so far.
Due to an excessively long coat this winter/spring (that is the only obvious symptom) i'm thinking my 20yr TB x Welsh mare may have cushings. She has had the winter off - no other reason other than lack of time/weather/lack of facilities.
She has showed no evidence of any lami.
Thing is, I struggle at the best of times to give her any form of medication. I know Prascend is expensive, and I can't justify it if she won't take it - she knows all the tricks.! Not to mention the dreaded blood tests - she loathes vets. I do my best to reduce the call outs!!
I rode her today after her time off, and she was as normal. Just her long coat got matted up under the girth area - had to cut with scissors! Never had to do that before.
Thanks for the replies so far.
Due to an excessively long coat this winter/spring (that is the only obvious symptom) i'm thinking my 20yr TB x Welsh mare may have cushings. She has had the winter off - no other reason other than lack of time/weather/lack of facilities.
She has showed no evidence of any lami.
Thing is, I struggle at the best of times to give her any form of medication. I know Prascend is expensive, and I can't justify it if she won't take it - she knows all the tricks.! Not to mention the dreaded blood tests - she loathes vets. I do my best to reduce the call outs!!
I rode her today after her time off, and she was as normal. Just her long coat got matted up under the girth area - had to cut with scissors! Never had to do that before.
Thanks again all.
I'm going to ask another question,
What might happen if you give a prascend tablet to said horse, (somehow!) who hasn't been seen by a vet?
Daft thing to do without a diagnosis. Don't be messing with neurotransmitters and hormones unless you need to
Other things you need to be aware of if you choose not to medicate. Cushings horses tend to have more skin problems. With my girl her sweet itch suddenly became much more severe and if I don't clip her she gets little patches of infection on her skin.
Also, due to lowered immune response they are much more susceptible to viruses and infections.