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kellyeaton

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i have a horse with cushings that bought on a bout of lammi she has been in a month now my vet came and saw her and is happy with her starting to go back out to the grass slowly at the weekend.I am justing if any body has had a horse like this and did everything go well when they start to go back out to grass. Plus she has started pergolide 3 weeks ago?xx
 
Hi Babybells,

my old pony has been diagnosed with Cushings about 7 years ago, he's 31 now and apart from the odd niggle brought on by old age he is still doing ok.

However, Cushings is a chronic disease and will require life-long managing. My boy is on Pergolide and restricted turnout, goes out from about 7am to lunchtime. I don't turnout when the grass is frosty as this elevates fructan levels in the grass, which can trigger laminitis and he is on a high fibre/low starch diet. Also, it pays to pay close attention to corrective shoeing/trimming in these horses.

I hope all will go well for your horse, and with dedication cushings horse can have a good quality of life for a long time. Good luck
 
My old boy was diagnosed with Cushings a couple of months ago now and has been on pergolide since - he had cushings induced lammi (this is how we ended up with the cushings diagnosis as he has been on very careful management for years after a bout of lammi when he was a 6 year old - he is now 23!) with corrective shoeing etc he is now back to being a normal horse again, out all day on careful grass management although his lammi does not seem to be triggered by food!! I thought 3 months ago that we were going to lose him he was that bad but he has bounced back and the peroglide has helped enormously. I have my cheeky naughty pony back!!!
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thanks so much. has use had a bout of lammi since being diogonitisted with cushings? could your horse manage more turn out if you or he/she wanted or is that all he can cope with? How long did it take would you say for the pergolide to work? How big is your lad? how many pergoilde is he on?
 
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My old boy was diagnosed with Cushings a couple of months ago now and has been on pergolide since - he had cushings induced lammi (this is how we ended up with the cushings diagnosis as he has been on very careful management for years after a bout of lammi when he was a 6 year old - he is now 23!) with corrective shoeing etc he is now back to being a normal horse again, out all day on careful grass management although his lammi does not seem to be triggered by food!! I thought 3 months ago that we were going to lose him he was that bad but he has bounced back and the peroglide has helped enormously. I have my cheeky naughty pony back!!!
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[/ QUOTE ]How big is your boy? how many pergolide is he on? how long after the bout of lammi did t take your boy to get back to grazing? Have you had any probs since he has been on the pergolide? What sort of grazing his he on? His your boy out in day and in by night? Thanks1XX
 
Mine is an approx 13 hh pony, he is on 1 mg of Pergolid a day, but he initially was on 0.5 mg for a few years, but when he started to get laminits attacks again we decided to up the dose. In short you generally start with the lower dose and up it until the symptoms of Cushings are controlled.

Remember this time of the year is a high risk time for laminits for Cushings horses as the condition is worse in winter due to the short daylight periods.
 
My boy is 13.3hh and he is on 0.5mg per day and has been for 6ish weeks now. He was allowed back out into the sand school 4 weeks from the start corrective treatment to his feet (vets gave avery guarded prognosis! he had serious founder - pics of x-rays in veterinary under Post images of all your Horse‘s Veterinary Conditions ) once he was off all painkillers and sound he was allowed on limited grazing just an hour to start and gradually built it up, we are lucky as live on the South downs so the grass around here is not naturally very rich. Now he is out from 7am until 6pm with his friends and in at night and very happy. His quality of life is very important to me and if he was unable to go out he would be very unhappy so we had a lot of hard rending decisions to make that fortunately are on hold for now as he is fine for now! x
 
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His quality of life is very important to me and if he was unable to go out he would be very unhappy so we had a lot of hard rending decisions to make that fortunately are on hold for now as he is fine for now! x

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That really sums it up for me, if my boy couldn't go out at all and be a horse or the laminitis and pain would be controllable, it would call it a day as well, as hard as it might be to make that decision.
 
My lad was given the all clear by the vet some weeks back now - although does not have cushings - but I was forced to turn him out during the day as soon as possible (on vets instructions) as his breathing was getting so bad being inside.
I have been strip grazing him for weeks now and gradually increasing the amount of grass he has per day although he has been allowed to be out all day and in at night.
I have a fab vet who is on the end of the phone when I am not sure, panicky about something or just have some questions...so I would recommend that you speak to them if you are unsure in any way about what you are doing management wise.
I have settled into a routine of checking his digital pulses and crest twice a day for changes and weigh taping every week.
We had a blip this morning as for the first time in weeks I felt a slight pulse in the foot that had rotation and majorly panicked! I spoke to the vet and she is happy that it is likely due to the fact that he had new heartbars fitted on Sunday afternoon...but it is always best to check and be ahead and vigilant at all times.
I have resigned myself to the fact that checking daily and calorie counting to a degree will be a permanent part of my routine from now on.
The ups and downs of his recovery have been horrendous and it is this that I find the hardest to deal with..juggling all the time between his laminitis prevention, COPD problems and him having enough to eat...but not too much.
 
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