Mercy for cushings horses

I had my 16 year old pts a few months ago, i gave him 12 months of having cushings just to give him a chance, his life was issolated away from my other horses, he looked 26 not 16, i just couldnt do this to him for the next 10 years of his life.
 
Thank you so much for posting this.It was very brave of you.I hope I never have a horse with cushings but if I ever do I will bear in mind this post.
 
So sorry to hear about your lad, it sounds as if you did the right thing for him and thank you for posting to give guidance to others.
However, just to reassure people, our pony has been on pergolide/prascend for at least 6 years (can't check records now) and although she has had blips and the occasional lami attack I am happy that her quality of life is good. She did have a longer than normal lami episode earlier this year, when I told vet I did not want to keep her on prolonged box rest if this should be indicated. However she was kept on a tiny starvation paddock for a few weeks and is now absolutely fine. She has never had any loss of appetite or temperament change, she is not ridden as she was outgrown by my daughter about 14 years ago. Her ACTH level is currently 16 although it is taking a high dose, 2.5 tablets, to maintain this. She is checked very regularly for any signs of discomfort, raised heart rate etc and all seems fine. Like you OP if at any time I feel she is not happy then she too will be pts.
 
This does make disturbing reading. However, I do not think that all horses with cushings will suffer this pressure in the head. My own mare was diagnosed 6 months ago and so far is doing very well on one prascend a day. She is perky and full of life. She looks stunning, now she has finally shed her winter coat! She is 18 but looks 10 and plays with my gelding like a youngster, full up rears, the lot.
 
I think that the OP has made a very valid point, I would imagine that a growth of any significant size could cause headaches and discomfort. When it gets to the stage that horses go blind or have seizures it must be unbearable for them.
Thank gooness that the OP recognised that her horse wasn't happy and gave him the final gift.

I think monitoring your horse very closely for any signs of discomfort must be the way forwards, but I think that pressure in the head is often not thought about as so many of us focus on laminitis.

I'd just like to say that I've witnessed a non cushings horse shot that had significant blood loss too though, I won't go into detail, but suffiice it to say that we had to clean up a trail from the removal vehicle on a road as well as the spot where pts occurred. It can sometimes happen and best to be prepared.
 
I've resurrected this thread because it struck a chord at the time and I've always remembered the good advice in it on Cushings which helped me with my decision yesterday. Little retired pony was diagnosed at a very early stage 3 years ago, as she was weeing and drinking a lot and just starting to hold onto her coat. She's been managed on Pergolide and subsequently Prascend and has never shown any laminitis. I always said that the day she developed laminitis would be the day she went as we didn't want her quality of life compromised and she owed us nothing.

Last week fat pads started appearing despite our strict grazing and soaked hay regime which has managed her well in previous years. Yesterday she came in with laminitis in all four feet so I buted her to wait for vet and mini to come home to say goodbye. Vet came early evening and by then she had started mild neurological symptoms, looking sedated, tremors in her head and numb ears. She then switched and attacked her stable mirror which had been her best friend for years. Vet said was absolutely the best decision so she went so peacefully by injection with a last mouthful of good grass to see her on her way.

Thank you for the thread, it helped me not to keep her suffering for too long.
 
My old pony was PTS last autumn. I thought all summer he didn't look well, although nothing specific and it was the onset of autumn laminitis that brought out the vet. I had carefully managed him before and he hadn't had laminitis, but he was never ridden only taken too and from the stable to the field!

Like many grey ponies he had external tumours, so I thought it was an internal growth and was expecting a sudden colic to be his end. When the vet took his bloods the advice was more or less, to have him PTS straight away. She said there were treatments, but the pony was ill and would deteriorate and suffer in the meantime. She gave pretty bleak prognosis for the course of Cushings disease. I was very sorry to see the end of the pony but I am glad I didn't insist on weeks and weeks of treatment while he was suffering from laminitis and becoming more and more ill. I still miss him lots.
 
As with anything though it depends on the horse. Sounds awful OP.

I have 1 with cushings and 1 who I very sadly had to PTS a few months ago because of it. The one I had to PTS was diagnosed last year and put on prescend but it didnt seem to help. One day she'd be galloping round the yard and the next she'd be sore with laminitis even though she was totally off the grass (and on the most low sugar diet you can get). She just kept getting bouts of lami which were getting longer and harder to control so with nothing left to do I made the decision. My other pony was diagnosed about 6 years ago and touch wood, he's not shown any problems at all, you wouldn't even know he had is (he's on prescend), he's perfectly sound and lives out on a grass paddock 24/7. He doesn't hold weight as well as he used to but then he is about 27. I know it'll get him in the end though :( Its not all doom and gloom necessarily as some can live life for quite a few years after really well and have no issues along the way. Neither of mine have/had any temperament change. The shetland I chose to PTS by injection, she dropped to the floor the second the needle went in and there was no blood, IMO a much easier way to do it and extremely quick.
 
OP just wanted to say how sorry I am re. Dan. I too have lost a horse to cushings/lammi - and know how hard it is to make a decision.

Whatever happened after he'd been euthanised, he would have known nothing about; and you chose the method that you believed would be the kindest, quickest, and most effective, on the day. What happened after must have been horrendous for you, and I'm just wanting to send you hugs, and stand with you, on a horrible horrible day.

You've done the right thing for your old friend; the time was obviously right, for you both - and you've given him the most precious thing you could ever give him and that was the blessed release of a merciful passing.

RIP Dan.
 
Old Bat said:
I've resurrected this thread because it struck ay chord at the time and I've always remembered the good advice in it on Cushings which helped me with my decision yesterday. Little retired pony was diagnosed at a very early stage 3 years ago, as she was weeing and drinking a lot and just starting to hold onto her coat. She's been managed on Pergolide and subsequently Prascend and has never shown any laminitis. I always said that the day she developed laminitis would be the day she went as we didn't want her quality of life compromised and she owed us nothing.

Last week fat pads started appearing despite our strict grazing and soaked hay regime which has managed her well in previous years. Yesterday she came in with laminitis in all four feet so I buted her to wait for vet and mini to come home to say goodbye. Vet came early evening and by then she had started mild neurological symptoms, looking sedated, tremors in her head and numb ears. She then switched and attacked her stable mirror which had been her best friend for years. Vet said was absolutely the best decision so she went so peacefully by injection with a last mouthful of good grass to see her on her way.

Thank you for the thread, it helped me not to keep her suffering for too long.
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Sorry to read of your loss, thank you for sharing, it helps us all to be reminded of the effects of a conditions which seems to affect so many as as mentioned above lami is often talked about not the effect on the head which must be so painful when it happens.
 
Very informative and will certainly make me think carefully about the medications and future well being of any cushings horse I may have
 
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Lost my big TB to this at nearly 23yrs! He had been acting strangely his last year, one minute hyper and then quite quiet! He suddenly got laminitis in all four feet and the vet said he needed to go into hospital, but could not say if he would get over it and what his quality of life would be like!
I decided to let him go as he had always been such a spirited horse and I did not want to watch him decline, just so I could keep him! It was the hardest thing to do and still upsets me greatly, five years later.
I still wonder if I should of carried on , but after reading this, I think I did do the right thing for my lovely boy!
 
I am so relieved I found this thread!! My 27yo boy Romeo had to be put to sleep yesterday from Advanced Cushings. He was only diagnosed properly 6 months or so ago, but he was coping well so we put him on Chaste Tree Berry to try that option first. I noticed 4 months ago he was displaying odd behavioural issues and wasn't enjoying his once in a while rides anymore (he was already practically retired), and became jumpy at things he usually wouldn't mind. Fast forward to a month ago and his eye sight was going as he became a very spooky horse and towards the end it became so bad that he refused to leave his paddock and his paddock mate (who became his seeing eye horse almost). He had no immunity to worms so they were always an issue despite being wormed, that was our biggest battle. Yesterday when I drove up and saw him he had severe conjunctivitis (again, cushings destroying the immune system) and bad diarrhoea and we all knew it was time for him to go on, as he refused to even be taken out of the paddock to be cleaned up. His quality of life had diminished and it killed me to see him like that. I am devasted, but this thread brought me a lot of relief reading other peoples stories, as I feel like I couldn't find any other forums that also spoke about behavioural problems linked to the tumours getting so large that they push on the optic nerve causing blindness, and also that it creates so much pressure it in turn causes behavioural issues. My vet said that once mental/behavioural issues occur with advanced Cushings, it is game over as that means the tumours have become too large, and not even Pergolide would help him.

He just went downhill so quickly in a 3 month period, the tumours must have grown larger at a very alarming rate, or he just decided he couldn't put up with it anymore and finally let us know he was in pain. It killed me to make that decision as he was still quite happy to eat and get a cuddle. Cushings is really a wretched disease, I hope there is a cure one day.
 
Very sad to hear of our beloved horses PTS...
For all information that is currently and clinically Correct, please all of you see The Laminitis Site, you will find the facts of PPID (as it is now known) plus EMS/IR and laminitis of course.
There is a link to a FB page where all queries/worries can be answered plus there are files on the above...
 
Sad to hear of everyone's losses!

My 18yr old horse was diagnosed just over a month ago, his level was around 260 and after a month of pracsend has dropped to around 220. So we have upped the tablets and will have another test in a month.

The difference in him is amazing after one month though! He gradually lost weight and muscle and became lethargic and just a lot slower in himself which I put down to old age, but after the pracsend his weight and muscle looks amazing, his previously non existant coat has grown beautifully and he is back to his old lively self! He is a lot happier on it so I'm hoping we will have a good few years yet!
 
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