Horse seems to have got wise to cushings tablets

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Crazy_cat_lady

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H has been on cushings tablets for about a month and he has been fine taking his daily tablet in a piece of apple

Now the last couple of days it's taken a great deal of persuasion to get him to eat the piece of apple & he has also tried to spit half of it out, cue me following him round with my hand under his mouth hoping to catch it just in case!

Now today has been exceptionally windy so maybe he was too busy knobbing at that but wondering if he has got wise to them

Any suggestions of how to give it to him if he has got wise?

Also those with cushings horses, how often do vets have to blood test them

-I would put the apple in his feed but am worried he will spit said £1 per tablet tablet out and therefore my money while not getting his dose

-yo crushes hers into a paste and syringes her picky cushings ponies but H is also a tit about wormers (have to go in his feed) so not option either!

Hoping it's just a pasing phase but think knobbish Welsh D is occurring. If only I could explain to him it is to help him!
 
Hiya

sorry no tips but my mare was recently diagnosed too, I had her retested 6 weeks after I started the treatment, unfortunately it hadn't made any changes so her dose has been upped to 3 a day now :'( and I have to retest again 4 weeks after starting the extra tabs, so will be done next week!!

my mare has gone off her food with the increase in meds and im slowly getting her used to eating it again! I do the same, push them into an apple as she stopped eating and I wanted to make sure she was getting it all!

the only thing I can think to try is crushing it up and mixing with some apple sauce and see if he will just lick that without realising? but he sounds pretty clever haha!!
 
I found the best way was to dissolve the tablet and mix in the feed, it was impossible to avoid unless they are really picky and stop eating, just a little water is enough or if you soak the feed just add the tablet at the same time and make sure it is mixed well once it has dissolved fully. The one I had got wise to it in pieces of apple, you had to give one or two before he would take the one with the tablet but eventually stopped taking any just in case, once it was soaked he ate no problem, better than just crushed as it seems to stick to just some parts of the feed that they then leave.
 
My mare was really picky about hers. I put it in a piece of carrot, but gave her three pieces in total. That way, the gamble was that she usually got a nice piece of carrot and would eat them all. If the bet was 50/50 (ie only one nice piece of carrot and one with the pill in) she wouldn't eat either. Might be worth a try!
 
i do the same with carrot. i cut a slice in the side of the carrot and poke the (3 1/2) tablets in. then give her 1 piece of carrot with no tablet, then the one with the tablets but have another piece of carrot in my hand under her mouth so she focuses on the next piece then if she does spit tablets out i can catch them. i think apples are moister and the tablets seem to disintegrate and my horse seems to know they are in apples so wont touch them at all now.
 
I must be really lucky with my boy - I just drop it in his feed and he eats it! Have done this for about 3 years now, so sorry no advice.
 
I started with apples but my horse soon refused to eat them. What does work (with mine anyway) is that I take a small, dry handful of his mix, stick the tablets in with that and feed it to him by hand. He crunches the tablets up with the rest of the mix. Keeping the tablets dry seems to be the key for him and he doesn't notice them amongst the mix.
 
Core the apple keep the bit out of the middle, crush the tablet & put it in then replace the core & feed apple
Can you tell I had an awkward mare !
 
I dissolve my pony's cushings tablets in warm water and mix it into her feed and she eats it happily. I found it much easier than trying to feed it with a treat.
 
I put mine in a carrot and still working ok 2 months on. My poor mare has facial paralysis so her lip is droopy and all food comes out the left side so I have to be extra careful and no point in putting it in food as it would be easily lost! but small piece of carrot with 1 tablet in seems to be ok. When I've ran out of carrots I've just shoved the tablet in with a mint. Tricky when trying to make it go in and stay in her droopy mouth and not lose fingers!!!
 
Not for Cushings, but one of mine is on around 40 Corticosteroid pills a day, and has been for around 3 years.
I dissolve them in warm water in a syringe, and have trained her to take them, while loose in the field.
I shout 'drugs' at her, she comes over, opens her mouth, I syringe half the mix, then give her a spearmint treat, she chews for a minute, then opens her mouth for the second half.
I never grab her, or syringe until she indicates she's ready. I always praise her. She has to be on these for the rest of her life, so stress-free methods work for both of us.
S :)
PS While she was in the vet clinic, they refused to 'pander' to her with treats. Took two of them to hold her, one to force it down. :p
 
Good for you. Stress free ways are always better than force.
Shilasdair said:
Not for Cushings, but one of mine is on around 40 Corticosteroid pills a day, and has been for around 3 years.
I dissolve them in warm water in a syringe, and have trained her to take them, while loose in the field.
I shout 'drugs' at her, she comes over, opens her mouth, I syringe half the mix, then give her a spearmint treat, she chews for a minute, then opens her mouth for the second half.
I never grab her, or syringe until she indicates she's ready. I always praise her. She has to be on these for the rest of her life, so stress-free methods work for both of us.
S :)
PS While she was in the vet clinic, they refused to 'pander' to her with treats. Took two of them to hold her, one to force it down. :p
Click to expand...
 
I dissolve mine in a syringe of Juice! Mostly cordial with a bit of water added!

So easy to give especially as one is a giraffe in size and HATES wormers! But is pleasantly surprised every day with me coming in saying Juice! Opens his mouth and willingly takes it!

Borrowed my idea from a friend whos horse is on forever drugs for life and they have a pestle and mortar and crush everything up and put it in the syringe of juice. Horse even opens mouth and sticks out tongue ready for the syringe to be inserted!

No stress at all and all the drugs are in their system. Simples
 
I use carrot for mine too - she spotted them too easily in apple, unless I put it in the core part. I make a slit in the side of the carrot piece and push the tablet right in.
 
My old boy did the same, was fine taking his tablet for a while then got very tricky. I cut a little area out of 1/4 apple, push the tab in and put the plug of apple back in place - so far its working for him.

Mine is tested twice a year.
 
Our cushings pony has gone off apples for life after I initially tried hiding his tablets in them - he won't touch one any more! I tried hiding it in his feed but he would eat everything and just leave the pill at the bottom of the bucket. What I've been doing for a long time now which seems to work, is to crush his tablet up and sprinkle it on top of his dinner. For some reason when it's crushed and sprinkled he doesn't mind it, though when I crushed it in any kind of treat he wouldn't touch it. Might be worth a try - good luck!
 
I have 2 on Prascend and yes they do get wise to anything after a while. I have an array of things which I do to get the tablet down. I think the trick is to mix it up!!

Here are the things on my list

Apple
Carrot
Marmite (they get bored of it very quickly, so I save this for when in a hurry and just give a marmite sandwich)

I also, buy Herbs & spices in bulk (on the internet) and add a little bit to the feed, i.e.

Dried Mint
Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Dried Fenugreed Spice (they Love Fenugreek)

I am also looking into Tumeric as apparently if mixed with certain oils can be used to regulate cushings (There is a Facebook page for Human & Equine Tumeric Users with heaps of info). Does anyone feed this?

I don't test my horses often, as I am interested in the horse being happy and healthy, rather than getting a perfect 'blood count' score and they is a growing body of opinion they are not completely directly related. If my horse is footy, quiet, then I increase it, if it is hyper then I drop down a bit - it teaches me to be very 'in tune' with my horse!
 
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