Feed experts? (Underweight cushings pony who refuses to eat!)

starryeyed

starryeyed

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Our pony has just been diagnosed with cushings but since starting Prascend last week he has completely gone off his feed and I'm quite concerned as he's wasting away!

He's always been a slim pony (they do exist!) and we've never struggled to keep weight off him, though this may be due to our careful management as when he's healthy & not stuck in his lami paddock he's kept active and his diet is carefully monitored. He's always been happy & fit, doesn't look the lami/cushings "type".

Before prascend he was fed high fibre/low sugar haylage (he can't have soaked hay due to a very sensitive tummy, it gives him awful diarrhoea - this is the vets next port of call once the cushings medication etc is sorted but he wants to do one step at a time)
He also had Safe & Sound, with some topspec balancer. He hasn't been allowed more than a blade or two of grass all year due to ongoing lami, which we now know was caused by cushings :( This has been fine for months.

But now he is not eating anything! - Won't touch safe and sound, won't eat topspec's topchop lite (with minty flavours), I tried him with happy hoof which I wasn't too keen on due to the molasess but he wouldn't touch it. I've been putting bits of apple in but he picks it out and leaves the rest. For the past few days I've put a sprinkle of cool mix in there which I know isn't ideal, but at least he'll eat a mouthful or two this way. He's only eating a very tiny amount of haylage overnight, but leaves it during the day. He's never eaten soaked feeds, have always tried to put a bit of speedibeet in there to dampen it a little but he will only tolerate a bite or two.
I've started to let him eat a bit of grass again just so he's eating something, which he does (happily!) - but I'm aware that I need to introduce it very slowly to him after him not having it all year, so reluctant to leave him on there too long as don't want to cause more problems.


I'm going to the feed shop tomorrow to stock up so was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for something I could try? I know the unfortunate thing about lami-safe feeds is that they're plain and boring but is there anything he may consider? I would try fast fibre but doubt he'd eat it as it's wet..

If I can't get him eating in the next day or so I will call the vet to discuss as I'm really not comfortable with how quickly he's losing weight, but thought it could be worth asking here as I know HHO is very knowledgable when it comes to feeds!
Is there an alternative to prascend if he doesn't get on with it? :(

Thank you in advance x



(Ps - last thread of the day, I promise!)
 
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I've heard that one of the side affects can be loss of appetite but it's usually temporary so as he's only been on it for a little while it's probably his body adjusting and he'll start eating again once he's used to it.
My mare's on Prascend and everytime we have to increase her dose slightly she shows some strange side affects which wear off after about a week.

How much Prascend is he on and did you get him blood tested before putting him on it?
 
Ohh, good to hear its usually only temporary! Yes, he's been blood tested (his reading was very high :( ) and the vet is coming again in a few weeks to test again to see if it's made any improvement. He's on half a tablet at the moment, he's 12.2 so only a littley x
 
My mare used to stare at her haynet with a glazed expression like she was stoned and then run backwards snorting as if it was a big scary horse eating monster before broncing round her box.
Scary the first time she did it as completely out of character but once we realised it was a side affect we didn't worry about her.

She started off like your boy, just getting the odd bout of lami so the vet put her on pergolide originally when it was still available but we've moved her to prascend in the last 3 months. We do have to feed her up and monitor her weight as she has started to drop it if her blood levels are out of balance.
I know the YO feeds her cupra meal as it's a high fat low sugar feed and keeps her in fantastic condition without tipping her balance and triggering lami.
 
My fussy old cushings pony is fortunately not laminitic so feeding is easier to an extent but he lost interest in most feeds after a while until I got fed up and offered him some plain pony cubes one day, he ate them all up. He now gets bog standard cubes which he loves and I can add fast fibre to them, which he previously would not eat, it may not be a perfect diet but at his age I feel he can have what he wants. In winter he has Conditioning cubes to keep his weight up and will go onto linseed for a little extra.

I think they sometimes prefer a feed they can chew, as long as their teeth are ok, rather than the mash or chaff type feeds that is supposed to be better for them.
 
Hi. i have a very fussy cushings pony who has also lost all appetite but in hard fast work! She has been on prascend since April and although a bit better, she is still alto worse than pre prascend. I found that damping her feed with apple juice and well mixed in grated carrots really helped. good luck!
 
I HATE Cushing's and all that goes with it. Once laminitis sets in, you are on a hiding to nothing as it is only marginally controllable by the drugs and renders all attempts to manage laminitis through careful feeding practically futile.
 
I agree that cushings is a horrible disease but its not always a hiding to nothing. my little lad nearly lost his fight with laminitis bw
 
Sorry, silly phone....before i got him and it was only his owners persistence (2 years) that pulled him thru. since then (and on pergolide) he started what has been a glittering career with massive wins inc hoys twice and most major show championships. Above any results we have both had fantastic fun and many happy memories. He has recently had another bout of laminitis which turns out was due to a need for increase in pergolide. I am now going to get both of my ponies on pergolide acth checked with their vaccinations to monitor any changes.
 
Linseed meal!!! Works wonders, is non heating and doesnt cause the selenium/Vit E deficiencies that oils do and is pretty much pure calories :) You can feed up to 100/150g perday of it and its fairly cheap from charnwood milling OR from equimins :)

I would also add mint, pureed carrot or apple etc to the feeds different flavour every time even pear or turnip or parsnip and just make sure the caloreis are there so that the little he will eat goes farther.

If on a yard can you leave lots of little calorific feeds sitting even if just a scoops worth of feed that people can throw over the door at varying times??
 
^^Ditto the linseed meal^^

My cushings pony lost a lot of weight as I've been strict with him on the grass this year after another mild bout of lami, and I managed to fill him out a bit with a bit more linseed added to his dinner every night.

Is there a place with lots of hedgerow and green stuff (other than grass!) he can go and nibble at? My 2 get a pile of dried nettles every night in their bare paddock for them to work through if they finish their nuts and hay and get hungry.
 
I have 2 with cushings, my mare has had no change in her eating habits at all and gobbles everything down including the pill in my hand with a small handful of nuts. My shetland however is a total nightmare to feed even 4 years on from diagnosis, if you chat to your vet he may recomend you cut back on the prascend and gradually up the dose while your pony is going through the "veil".
My shetland has refused to eat all chaffs, all sugarbeets, but will pick at ponynuts as long as they are dryish. I only put a tiny ammount of water on them enough for his 1/3 of a tablet to stick to a nut and be eaten. I went through days at the beginning where he refused to eat nuts, and resorted to seringe his tablet like a wormer in his mouth, when he became wise to that he refused to be caught.
He is on a tiny paddock, but if this even gets the hint of a green flush it can mean trouble as he only picks at his bucket and usually I will find the 1/3 still sat at the bottom stuck to an uneaten nut. I have got this sorted now and have made a series of tiny turnout areas for the green flush season, and never give any hay untill the bucket is empty or he will walk away from the bucket to eat his hay.
He will occasionally eat his tablet in a small piece of apple or carrot, but then go off them completely. I found what can help when he goes off feed is a sprinkling of dried spearmint on the top of the nuts. In the winter I will buy him a bag of low energy course mix which he will eat happily, but of course during spring summer and autumn its not really an option because of lami.
For most horses it usually gets better after a few months, some however continue to be fussy. I always feed the shetland away from his companion in a stable or fenced off feeding area, I will then go off and poo pick , muck out, feed others do other jobs whilst he is eating. If he is allowed space to roam he will go off from his feed, although if he is alone for the day in his paddock he will eventually eat all his bucket but I think this is done over several picking at his bucket sessions.
Its definatley worth chatting to your vet and ask if lowering the dose for a week then gradually upping the dose is an option for you as this works for most ponies/horses. Good luck.
 
Sounds odd, but adding hot, rather than cold water to hard feed and steaming, rather than soaking hay sometimes tempts a fussy feeder :)
 
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