DESPERATE for any ideas-CUSHINGS

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Boondocker

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I have a 29 yr old shetland who up till twelve days ago was ticking along nicely.To summarise, went off food,vet came, no high temp, no sign of pain or swellings, teeth checked, bloods taken, liver heart lungs all fine.Very anemic so had Vit b injection and is on vi sorbine iron mineral supplement.Not had desired affect as still not eating, just picking. Have tried ALL applicable variety of foods from spillers,Baileys, allan & paige top spec etc! Plus mollasses, golden syrup, polo butties carrot peelings and apples!! Bloods came back re cushings and has been confirmed, Prascend/pergolide tabs started monday, one of side affects is appetite suppressant, and sure enough, not eating at all now. Any ideas at all anybody? Do i stop prascend and at least get him back eating something? I know one has to face the fact that he wont go on forever, and if he wasnt still whinnying at me and cantering across the paddock i would probably let him go? Any one any suggestions, all most welcome...............
 
We also have one horse with cushings, who started to drop off a lot of weight (on 3 tablets a day) - agreed with vet to drop levels down to 1 a day, which has helped. Its a difficult balance, but we were considering taking him off the tablets all together - but if yours had little appetite before tablets anyway, then not sure what to suggest. We did try adding mint supplement to feed which helped a bit.
Also tried a balancer as if he ate a little, that should help.
Good luck x
 
How much Prascend is he having daily ? My mare started on 1mg and became very depressed, legarthic and off her food - it lasted about 10 days with me constantly ringing the vey for advice; he told me to cut the Prascend out for a few days, then reintroduce at half the dosage. This did the trick.

I would speak to you vet for further advice.
 
Thanks guys, the polo and everthing else butties are purely to get his medecine down not part of his staple diet, as the vet said its a case of trying to get him to eat ANYTHING. Tried mint and nothing working. I dont feed him molasses either but tried a bran mash with molasses coz at the moment absolute priority is trying to stimulate his appetite and the vet says a little bit of something is better than nothing at all
 
Try reducing the prascend for a few days, or cut it out for a few days then start again. My horse had trouble with it initially and ended up having to stop it altogether after being on it for 3 weeks, after a colic episode (unrelated to the cushings), when we restarted after 2 weeks off it he was much better on it than he'd been the first time and his appetite was better. Now we are 35 days in and he is eating fine. Good luck xxx
 
Some horses go through a 2-3 period of poor appetite when first on prascend but it usually soon passes. I don't know what dosage he's on, but it may be worth dropping it slightly if he doesn't improve after 2-3 weeks and then getting his bloods checked again. Speak with your vet.

If he's still chirrpy enough to whinney and canter about, I wouldn't be too concerned just yet.
 
Just a thought, have you had his teeth checked? Also, try him on some danilon (if you can get it down him) as sometimes pain can suppress appetite.
 
I have fairly recently got my horse onto prascend successfully.
I was aware of the problems in getting him on it and aimed for 1 tablet a day. I started on a quarter of a tablet for 4 days, then moved up to a third, then half, then threequarters and after 14 days finally had him onto 1 per day quite happily. That was probably an over cautious approach but I decided it would be as quick in the end as him stopping eating and having to cut the dose back etc.
 
Boondocker, yes, I'd drop the dosage for a few days then re-introduce. But you absolutely need to continue with the Prascend/pergolide because otherwise the Cushings side effects will kill your pony anyway. Have you tried a handful of D&H Mare and Youngstock mix just for the sheer palatability of it? You could borrow a couple of mugfuls off a friend maybe as a whole sack will be too much. You would only need enough for a few days to get the pony eating again. I'd recommend a mix because you can break the tablet into half or even smaller pieces and it will be lost in the general crunchy yumminess of the crunchy mix pieces. Just a handful of the mix on its own in a small feedbow with the tablet broken up (but not powdered) in it. Break in half along the line and then nailclippers work to break it up smaller if you need to. This method of hiding it works for my veteran. After your pony is eating again you'll need to retest his blood ACTH after a month to check it's returned to within normal levels. Fingers crossed for your little lad x
 
I am going through exactly the same. It is no problem to get pony to take the damn tablet, but he is just picking at his food & has the scours.

This is especially annoying as his only Cushings sympton (apart from a hairy coat, which could just be part of being hairy little native) was difficulty in keeping condition on.

I swithered and swithered about giving him pergolide - the vet said it was very much my call. In the end, I decided he had such a cracking season with my daughter last summer, he deserved the best treatment and went for it.

He started last Friday and I now wish I hadn't bothered. All those expensive buckets of food to keep him in decent condition, which at least he would eat, and now the condition has fallen off him as he is isn't eating and scouring, gah!

I reduced it to half a tablet yesterday, but if he hasn't picked up by this weekend, I may just forget it.
 
If you are on less than 1/2 a prascend daily the vet can prescribe pergolide instead - even now. Not only is it cheaper(!) but it might suit better.
 
Boondocker said:
I have a 29 yr old shetland who up till twelve days ago was ticking along nicely.To summarise, went off food,vet came, no high temp, no sign of pain or swellings, teeth checked, bloods taken, liver heart lungs all fine.Very anemic so had Vit b injection and is on vi sorbine iron mineral supplement.Not had desired affect as still not eating, just picking. Have tried ALL applicable variety of foods from spillers,Baileys, allan & paige top spec etc! Plus mollasses, golden syrup, polo butties carrot peelings and apples!! Bloods came back re cushings and has been confirmed, Prascend/pergolide tabs started monday, one of side affects is appetite suppressant, and sure enough, not eating at all now. Any ideas at all anybody? Do i stop prascend and at least get him back eating something? I know one has to face the fact that he wont go on forever, and if he wasnt still whinnying at me and cantering across the paddock i would probably let him go? Any one any suggestions, all most welcome...............
Click to expand...
There are some cushings old post saved here
http://equinecare-and-control.weebly.com/c.html
 
brightinsel said:
TBH, if there is no laminitis, I wouldn't be treating medically for Cushing's, and if there was, I'd call it a day.
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Easy to say, but if you have a happy little pony, who does a fantastic job for their wee jockey and whose only symptom is struggling to maintain weight, I think you have a duty to try and do what is best for that pony.

Medical treatment helps many ponies, but it cannot be one size fits all, which is why blanket statements such as yours are a bit naive.

The only hard and fast rule about horses is there are no hard and fast rules. In so many case, you have to suck it and see - and be prepared to be flexible in response to what the pony is telling you, and not rigidly adhere to self invented rules.
 
brightinsel said:
TBH, if there is no laminitis, I wouldn't be treating medically for Cushing's, and if there was, I'd call it a day.
Click to expand...

TBH I found your post a bit out of order!

My 16yr old has recently been diagnosed with PPID following recent weight loss. Up until August he was fit and competing in Dressage and even did 2 Endurance rides finishing with Grade 2s... are you suggesting I should just let him deteriorate when there is medication available that will help him?

Even with Lami, it is possible for some horses to return to a happy and fullfilled life for the remainder of their years - I know as my old boy came down with Lami in 2008 at the age of 21! First ever episode and was caused by Cushings. He went on to have 3 1/2 sound and happy years before we lost in in April this year from colic.
 
Thank you all so much for taking time to reply to my post. Arrabelle,I agree completely, and my pony only had test as was poorly and was not showing any of the prominent signs but wanted to cover all bases with blood tests. Not eating is the problem, and vet has told me to go to 1mg tab every other day. Thank god no scours. He is out in the field as grass only thing he interested in.
Brightinsel:No Laminitis, but high reading in blood test. When you have had a pony for 29 happy years, you owe it to them to give em a chance, if he shows any sign of suffering i also owe it to him to do the right thing and i will.
He is on danilon for mild arthritis. Teeth checked yes.
Thanks for tip on prices and online subs, after this trial period if continuing i will certainly take that advice!
Its very difficult because i am having to do things i would not normally for fear of laminitis, like the grazing, but as the vet says, at the mo its more important to get him eating. Rock and hard place are words that come to mind:(:confused:
 
Pasha, i could not of put it better myself, my old lad is retired, but still cantering off into the field when gate opened for him, and this includes YESTERDAY.......
 
Boondocker said:
Thanks guys, the polo and everthing else butties are purely to get his medecine down not part of his staple diet, as the vet said its a case of trying to get him to eat ANYTHING. Tried mint and nothing working. I dont feed him molasses either but tried a bran mash with molasses coz at the moment absolute priority is trying to stimulate his appetite and the vet says a little bit of something is better than nothing at all
Click to expand...

The other thing I used to do was feed a tiny handful of nuts, with the tablets included - voila. Vet said this was fine too and didnt draw attention to anything untoward.
 
Have you tried happy hoof my shettie loves it, would only eat that when he was poorly and not eating. Just to get him over the inital stage of starting the prascend then go back to his normal feed. Is he eating hay/haylage that could be enough.
 
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