Feeding a Cushing's horse ...... what do you do?

Eaglestone

Eaglestone

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For anyone who does not know me, I am lucky enough to own a Cushing's horse, called Motor :) who went down with Cushing's induced Laminitis in October 2005 ..... Seven years on he is doing ok and is now 31 :)

I only allow him limited access to grass and feed him 1 scoop of High Fibre Nuts and 1 scoop of Happy Hoof, as a mash, twice a day.

He heartily eats this up and has a soaked haynet of last years hay twice a day. He chews this up and spits it out. He has done this for a couple of years now and although he is due to have his teeth done, all appears to be fine in his mouth :o

I would like to know if I can dare give him some other 'alternative' feed, which will not trigger off Laminitis? :confused:, but may help to maintain his weight. He looks very good, just a bit of rib showing, but I really do not want him to lose any weight, now the colder weather is here.

I would love to know how others are feeding their much loved Cushing's horses, in similar circumstances.

Thankee :D
 
Mine is 33 he has never had laminitis fortunately as he is a fussy eater, will not eat what is supposed to be good for him and safe, although he has got better since I discovered he likes plain, unsoaked pony nuts. Having tried all the safe feeds which he would not eat, I had to use weight gain feeds for a while and found he just wanted pony nuts, so he gets them with some fast fibre which he does not really like.
In winter he will go onto baileys topline cubes which helped maintain his condition, linseed seems to be acceptable to him and is safe to feed so will use that also.

For your pony I would add micronised linseed or oil to his main feeds which should help with keeping weight on and leave a separate bowl of something to act as a hay replacer overnight, either fast fibre or speedibeet so he can just pick at it when he wants, I did this with mine he just left it but it is worth trying.
 
Mine is on sixteen plus cubes
his ACHT level is fairly low but he has suffered off and on with laminitis.
before going on pergolide he couldnt even tolerae horses and pony cubes but could have a balancer and alfa a oil only.
Since being on pergolide he happily has teh sixteen plus cubes with no problem and they ae supposed to be cushings safe
I was told to feed them over several small feeds
 
be positive said:
For your pony I would add micronised linseed or oil to his main feeds which should help with keeping weight on and leave a separate bowl of something to act as a hay replacer overnight, either fast fibre or speedibeet so he can just pick at it when he wants, I did this with mine he just left it but it is worth trying.
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Thank you for your reply and I hope my boy is around at 33 :)

How long has your boy been diagnosed with Cushing's and how much Pergolide is he taking, if you do not mind me asking?

The mash of HFN and HH are supposed to last him a long time, but he does tend to tuck into it heartily and it's gone in 1/2, which I think is too quick, but he has been doing that for years now, so I have to accept that :confused:

I wonder if the speedibeet would be 'woofed' down just as quick and I am worried that he will take too much food in, in one 'sitting' and it will make him colic :( ... I will look into the fast fibre ... can you give me some product names?

He does get oil, although I have run out at the moment, but I fed Corn Oil, as suggested by my Vet .... will Linseed be better, do you think?
 
sallyf said:
Mine is on sixteen plus cubes
his ACHT level is fairly low but he has suffered off and on with laminitis.
before going on pergolide he couldnt even tolerae horses and pony cubes but could have a balancer and alfa a oil only.
Since being on pergolide he happily has teh sixteen plus cubes with no problem and they ae supposed to be cushings safe
I was told to feed them over several small feeds
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying SallyF :)

I will have a look at the Sixteen Plus Cubes and compare them with what is he getting with the HFN and HH mix ...

I can only split the feed into 2, apart from 3 days a week when I am available to split into 3!

How old is your chap and how much Pergolide is he on, if you don't mind me asking? :)
 
Mine was diagnosed 2 years ago when he just dropped weight and drank and peed for England, other than that it is just his thick coat that gives away his condition. He was on 1/2 in summer but has just gone back up to 1 a day on vets advice.

Fast Fibre is by Allen and Page it is what mine is meant to be on as you can feed plenty safely and replace hay with it but he will only eat small amounts mixed with cubes, he prefers dry feeds not sloppy ones and seems to enjoy chewing. Because the ff is just fibre it is supposed to be safe to feed in quantity in the same way as hay is able to be eaten ad lib, they do not get overloaded in the same way as they can with cereal feeds.

Linseed seems to be regarded as a really good source of oil as well as other vitamins, again my fuss pot will not eat oily food, any more than a small amount he will leave it so the linseed is ideal.
 
Our oldie who we lost this year at 28 did really well on fast fibre and put on some "good" weight with it - I wish I had found it sooner for her really. It was easy to eat and "safe" and along with her pergolide I believe it was the right sort of nutrition for her. You can make it soupy or quite dry and "hide" things in it. She actually changed shape whilst on it and lost her "old pony" look, though I am sure the pergolide helped. Her coat improved too. Treasure your oldies - I miss ours:(
 
misst said:
Our oldie who we lost this year at 28 did really well on fast fibre and put on some "good" weight with it - I wish I had found it sooner for her really. It was easy to eat and "safe" and along with her pergolide I believe it was the right sort of nutrition for her. You can make it soupy or quite dry and "hide" things in it. She actually changed shape whilst on it and lost her "old pony" look, though I am sure the pergolide helped. Her coat improved too. Treasure your oldies - I miss ours:(
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I am so very sorry for your loss Misst :(

Thank you for another vote for Fast Fibe .... my boy, like your girl, is very much loved and is my world :):)
 
Eaglestone said:
Thanks for replying SallyF :)

I will have a look at the Sixteen Plus Cubes and compare them with what is he getting with the HFN and HH mix ...

I can only split the feed into 2, apart from 3 days a week when I am available to split into 3!

How old is your chap and how much Pergolide is he on, if you don't mind me asking? :)
Click to expand...

My horse isnt old at 17 and also his ACHT level is only 44 which is just above normal but despite very careful management we have struggled with laminitis for about 3 years now.
He is a retired TB stallion that raced until he was 7 and then had colic surgery at 8 which we think is a factor as it was small colon surgery.
No other symptoms until this summer when he suddenly lost huge amounts of weight .
This winter he has grown more coat but only the ort of coat a gelding wold grow.
He has though dveloped problems with his vision although on examination his eyes look normal.
The general concensus with mine is that he has an agressive adrenal gland tumour rather than the usual piturity gland tumour hence the more varied symptoms and blood results.
Mine is on 1 gm a day and the laminitis is stable and although his vision wont change it has helped his stress levels and we now leave a night light on so he doest panic as itsdark he cant cope with.
 
Young lad @ 19 but went very down hill after laminitis in the summer (acth related but now controlled). He aged pretty much over night and went from being s fit athletic fighter to a frail old man. now his laminitis is settled he has started on balanced n hance - low sugar and starch conditioning feed. he has picked up really well and is slowly looking better and now back to being the bulshy little git i love so much!!!!! He has 1 scoop of n hance and 1 fibre cubes split between 3 feeds and mashed with hot water (only because he loves it!) and is a small 12h
 
Mine is 22 and gets Cupra meal to help with her weight. She was diagnosed about 2 years ago. She also has a double complication with feeding as she lost almost 50% of her small intestine in colic surgery about 10 years ago.
 
Thank you all for your replies and suggestions, all of which I will be looking at.

If anyone else has a very long term Cushing's horse, then I would be interested to hear what they are doing to keep their weight on.
 
My horse has just been diagnoses with cushings, at the moment she has soaked oats, alfalfa pellets and I've just switched from fast fibre to veteran vitality, as I'm struggling with her weight.

She also has adlib haylage, and linseed too.
 
Mine gets happy hoof, high fibre nuts and speedibeet and is looking well off this baileys outshine is meant to be good for weight gain/condition and is cushings friendly
 
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