Cushings??

[Dizzydancer]

long story sorry!
about 5 years ago my loan horse was diagnosed with cushings by the vet, blood test came back that is was positive, altho vet never gave him any meds said not necessary.
I believed him for a while, the horse had a long coat which grew thick again within weeks of being clipped, he did suffer a couple of bouts of lami, altho he had this all his life anyway so maybe a coincidence! It never went full blown lami tho as i have an amazing farrier who picked up the first signs on his visits.
However he has been ridden continuously throughout these 5 years, he is never depressed, has more muscle now than when he was an 8 year old, he doesn't drink much, and most amazingly is still alaive after a 5 year diagnosis.

Any ideas whether this could still be cushings but a mild version or if it is anything else?

 

[tangotime]

The symptoms you describe, the long coat and laminits attacks are typical of Cushings and sometimes the disease progresses slowly. You could always get your vet to repeat the bloods.

 

[piggyinablanket]

I have a 26 yr loan pony with mild cushings, has never had lami and looks well, but his coat is thick and longer than normal and goes curly when he gets wet. Bless him. He is still being ridden and does fine on good grass with no feet probs at all, but loses condition in winter.

 

[JillA]

The only way to tell for sure is an ACTH blood test, which costs around £45 + the vets visit. Vitex (Agnus Castus) can help with coat problems and you can get that from herbal suppleirs without prescription, and Pergolide isn't that expensive these days - if his pituitary gland isn't functioning properly it will probably only get worse, so you could do with low dose of either to just keep him on the right side of serious deterioration.

 

[tontoandtigger]

hi, my little old boy had cushings and he didnt show meny signs only the curly coat. he lived to 32 and the cushings didnt progress until about 18months before we had him pts , he started to drink huge amounts of water and his stable needed gutting everyday as it was so wet. he then got very loose droppings and we battled for about 6 months but he got a mild bout of lami which complecated matters. we got him over it but he never recovered and about 4 weeks later got lami much worse. poor little love just couldnt fight anymore and we decided kindess thing was to let him go. he hadnt suffered with the cushings very much in his life it just suddenly took over and i think made the small bout of lami worse so cushings was able to get worse and so on. if you have had bloods and showed cushings its possible its something you wont see fully until the later years of his life.
how old is he.
all i can say is enjoy him and dont worry .

 

[Dizzydancer]

thanks for the advice everyone, i will definately look into some of those supplements to help keep it at bay!!
Tonto he is 19 now so who knows when it will show but like you said i will just keep enjoying him until that decision must be made!!

 

[Puppy]

It's pretty impossible for any of us to know whether or not your horse has cushings. Ask your vet to do the blood test, and if I were you, and it's positive then get a pergolide prescription.

 

[gaufron]

My 30yr old pony has just developed Cushings. He has had poor teeth therefore hasn't been been able to eat hay for two years. He has never had the slightest sign of laminitis so we have decided not to restrict his grazing. At his age there is little left to make his life interesting except eating grass! So we have decided to let him have as normal a life as he would like. If he gets laminitis at some time then it is time to call it a day. He refuses to take Peroglide in any shape or form. So I will try Vitex, and I might try homeopathy. Meanwhile he is happy out at grass for the summer. However I would like to get the drinking and weeing under control before he comes in for the winter.