Cushins .... advice please

JosieB

JosieB

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Hi,
Have had confirmation today that my 20yr old has got cushins. No symptoms except a wavy coat which she has been very slow to lose, hence got her blood tested just incase. I have no experience dealing with this condition. She has lived out 24/7 but has been stabled at night during the winter and is at the moment. Would anyone who is/has also a horse with it kindly pm me and give me some tips etc.. would be most grateful. Am ringing the veteran horse society today for a chat aswell.
Thanks
 
Its well worth searching these threads as there is a real wealth of knowledge on here about Cushings. You can be prescribed a drug called Peroglide to help manage the symptoms but it is a: extremely expensive b: being replaced by an equine version of the same drug. If you do decide to go down this route its worth shopping on the interenet for cheaper options. Alternatively you can buy products such as Naf Cushineaze which have had excellent feedback from other forum members. There are a few products like this so might be an idea to look at these first. Your vet will need to blood test again (normally 3 months) to see if the (think this is right) the ACTH levels are going back to normal.

In terms of general conditions, cushings "tend" to have muscle wastage and drink more, but the muscle wastage is more long term. Cushings does not mean an immediate end to what your mare is doing, its a long term condition which can be managed for quite a while.

Finally, you need to keep a good eye on your mares feet. Cushings very often get/show laminitic signs even if they have never done so before so you need to keep a close eye on her diet.

My mare came home after being away on loan and I was told she had Cushings. My vet did the blood tests etc to check the dosage (mare was on a very very high dose) and then weaned the mare off the drug (with 2 lots of blood tests as this was happening) and it now turns out that the mare was showing symptoms she didn't actually have it which is why my knowledge goes only so far!

Good luck and its not the end of the world which is what I thought when first told.
 
Thanks for that Luci, rang veteran horse society who advised me to contact hilton herbs as they had had great results using their cush x.. rang the vet for a chat he said that I would be throwing my money away using herbal supplements.
Gave me advice re keeping her out, would have to be a bare paddock etc.. not sure what I am going to do atm to be honest. I have a 3yr old being backed soon (had a wolf tooth out yesterday just to add to my bills) and I had hoped to put them back out together afterwards, not so sure now even though the 3yr old is a good doer and a bare paddock wouldnt hurt her.
 
I have had 2 Cushings horses for years. The first one was pts with colic at the age of 30 but he was doing grand up til then. My other horse is 24 and looks fab. Both of them were on the lowest dose of Pergolide for their size and the extent of the condition. Cushings can develop slowly over a long period of time, often not noticed by the owner as the early symptom is lethargy which the owner puts down to old age. Later the coat becomes thick and curly which the Pergolide will sort out within 2 or 3 weeks - back to a normal, shiny coat. Once on the drug the energy levels increase and they are like youngsters again. Putting your horse on Pergolide can, I believe, actually prevent Laminitis so do speak to your vet about this. Pergolide is now being replaced by the drug Prascend which is exactly the same but it is an equine specific drug as opposed to Pergolide which was taken by humans for Parkinsons Disease. My tablets cost me about 80p per day but it may be possible to buy them cheaper over the internet but you will need a prescription from your vet to do this.
Dont be alarmed by this diagnosis - my 17hh horse is hacked out every day and you would not know he had anything wrong with him as he looks brilliant.:)
 
My horse was diagnosed with cushings 5 months ago when he came down with lami he is still in his stable, he has been sound for 5 weeks, i try and turn him out for 1 hour a day but he just can not take it, laminitis starts to come back, my boy used to live out all the time, so i hate him being stabled all the time, he is on prescend which cost me £1.30 each, they need soaked hay, if you do feed dry hay it has to be analised for its suger content, from what ive learnt is they are all different, but your boy will not be able to eat grass 24 hours a day like he used to, he might have to be stabled for most off the time, has he ever had laminitis before? Also they need a low suger diet, mine gets a hand full of bran plus a hand full of hi fi light twice a day.
 
cush x is brilliant i have a rescue that has had several cushings ponies. this was always better than chemicals.
and vermx wormer (pellets) not liquid or powder. not chemical wormers
 
JosieB said:
Hi,
Have had confirmation today that my 20yr old has got cushins. No symptoms except a wavy coat which she has been very slow to lose, hence got her blood tested just incase. I have no experience dealing with this condition. She has lived out 24/7 but has been stabled at night during the winter and is at the moment. Would anyone who is/has also a horse with it kindly pm me and give me some tips etc.. would be most grateful. Am ringing the veteran horse society today for a chat aswell.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Your horse is one of the lucky ones whose disease has been found before it has caused laminitis, so you have an opportunity to treat early and hopefully prevent this from occuring for a long time. Please do not waste this opportunity by giving herbal products that have either not been proven to work, or proven not to work.
 
alsiola said:
Your horse is one of the lucky ones whose disease has been found before it has caused laminitis, so you have an opportunity to treat early and hopefully prevent this from occuring for a long time. Please do not waste this opportunity by giving herbal products that have either not been proven to work, or proven not to work.
Click to expand...

Here here! you have an opportunity to ward off laminitis by putting her on Prascend/Pergolide - dont take chances with anything else as you may regret it later.
 
Well she started on tablets yesterday after alot of thinking. Am giving my field up, which is a shame as is lovely 5acres split into three and she lived out happily there. Will have to sell or loan my youngster who is being broken atm (the grey in my avatar if anyones interested ;) ) and keep the old girl stabled with a bare paddock and hopefully find someone who wants to share a bombproof hack once her dosage sorted. We already have one crock costing us a fortune.
I will give it a month and then see how she goes, just had her teeth done and thorough worming so can carry on from here.
Thanks for all the advice, have to say if you look on the net its abit overwhelming. Will soak her hay and get her on some suitable feed..
I do think I am lucky finding out early, its only that she has been on loan for almost a year and when she came back the difference in her coat from last year was so noticable.
Thanks again
 
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Ive never had to worry that much about my two cushings horses going out on grass. I know its a risk with laminitis but both of them were taking Pergolide and I think this helped tremendously. Winter they were out for 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon. Summer out from lunchtime until 7 pm at night. Whole of July out 24/7.
 
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