Experiences of cushings and recurring abcessed

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Cocorules

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My pony was diagnosed with cushings a few years ago. It had been controlled by prascend and tested at 15 in February but went up to 62 last month. She had a hind abcess then. She had some general blood tests then but they did not show anything going on. Her prascend dose has been upped.

She then went very lame on a front leg from a tiny puncture to her sole. The vet said to put fronts on after 10 days but she got even more lame so he said shoe her sooner. That made her sorer. She then got worse from another abcess.

She then got another abcess in her other hind. Now she has lost the shoe on her other front.

All of this is in a 3 week period. She has been on a hoof mender supplement for the last 2 months. She has never had laminitis.

Has anyone been through this and managed to stop the abcesses?
 
The constant abscesses are an indication the foot is not healthy I know she has tested positive for cushings I would have a test done for ems,, my mare went through a period of always getting an abscess she turned out to have both and I struggled with the ems as she couldn't be ridden, I would also be a bit concerned that she is quite lame on more than one foot she may be suffering with low grade laminitis it can sometimes be hard to detect, I also would be worried about the fact she went lame after having shoes on that's not right, if it were me I would be wanting to know what's going on in those feet she sounds uncomfortable of me.

Sorry just wanted to ask is she overweight?
 
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Thanks she was very skinny indeed but is being fed ad lib hay now and a little more grass (vet suggestion) and in the last 2 weeks has got a larger belly but she is still very bony. She has the maximum amount of hard feed she can have. I think the general blood tests covered EMI but I will check with the vet.

The vet thinks it is the cushings itself which is the problem. Her ACTH levels had been normal while she was on the prascend I am hoping that the increase in the dose will bring it under control again but her hooves have detiorated so much so quickly. She is still really happy in herself though.

It just feels as though just upping the prascend may not be enough to allow her hooves to recover even if it brings the ACTH levels down.
 
Sorry if I am stating the obvious but I assume she is on a low sugar/starch (cereals) diet? And as well as biotin/methionine and zinc, magnesium can help with white line problems, which may be where the abscessing is starting? I would be looking at her mineral balance, Forageplus are very helpful and knowledgeable.
 
Thanks she is on equimins hoof mender which contains those minerals but has only been on it for 2 months so it will take time to take effect. She is on spillers high fibre cubes max amount as she has had poor teeth for a long time so I had used it as a partial hay replacer. Ironically her teeth were checked last month and they are ok.

I prefer cubes because they can be turned into a mash but these do have molasses in them but are the lowest in starch of the high fibre cubes on the market (or they were last time I looked). They are comparitively low in sugar. She has no extras at all. I think you are right about rethinking her hard feed and getting her minerals balanced.

It is pretty much the only thing I can think to change.
 
If you can get Equibeet it is unmollassed beet, or failing that so long as you don't need vast quantities, Speedybeet is similar at <5% sugar. Mine get soaked Equibeet + grass pellets for their supplements, other than that grass or forage. Interesting that her teeth have improved, I wonder if that is due to the Prascend.
 
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