Floofball
Well-Known Member
Hi hive, just researching following my lad becoming really quite poorly on a Pergolide trial (now discontinued). My vet found that 3% of human patients suffered from renal/kidney issues and UTI’s but there are no instances recorded (that we can find anyway) of horses suffering these effects. My vet is going to report it but would be interesting to see if anyone else’s have had any problems with their waterworks while on the drug.
My horses symptoms were:
Slowing down and walking quite stiffly behind.
Lifting his hind legs and looking at his sheath area.
Appearing very itchy/irritated around sheath area
Frequent urination but only small amounts
Tender over his back where kidneys are.
What happened next………..
Vet out and sheath cleaned, no beans found
Becoming increasingly uncomfortable/colicky - vet out again, same day.
Kept in with pain relief and started antibiotics (Pergolide stopped as he’d been on it less than 3 weeks and symptoms were unusual) and noticed overnight very little water drank and only tiny spots of wet in the bed.
Next day - Endoscope - inconclusive so pee samples taken direct from the bladder.
Bloods taken as pee samples obviously not right (think brown sludge!)
No more pain relief as concerns about kidney involvement.
Bladder flush performed the next day, expecting a very full bladder but only about a pint of fluid drained.
Day in the vets for monitoring and electrolytes given.
Much comfier after the bladder flush - the sludgy wee must’ve been burning on the way out!!
Kept in to monitor water intake/output and antibiotics and electrolytes given, supplements stopped.
Results showed no stones, no infections, nothing untoward with liver and kidney function, just depleted in electrolytes and super concentrated wee. The theory now (I’m assuming here) is the Pergolide acted as a diuretic and made him pee for England and he just couldn’t/didn’t replace enough fluids.
He is slowly improving
If anyone has experienced anything like this while on Pergolide it would be great to know and pass on feedback to my vets as they’re quite stumped.
My horses symptoms were:
Slowing down and walking quite stiffly behind.
Lifting his hind legs and looking at his sheath area.
Appearing very itchy/irritated around sheath area
Frequent urination but only small amounts
Tender over his back where kidneys are.
What happened next………..
Vet out and sheath cleaned, no beans found
Becoming increasingly uncomfortable/colicky - vet out again, same day.
Kept in with pain relief and started antibiotics (Pergolide stopped as he’d been on it less than 3 weeks and symptoms were unusual) and noticed overnight very little water drank and only tiny spots of wet in the bed.
Next day - Endoscope - inconclusive so pee samples taken direct from the bladder.
Bloods taken as pee samples obviously not right (think brown sludge!)
No more pain relief as concerns about kidney involvement.
Bladder flush performed the next day, expecting a very full bladder but only about a pint of fluid drained.
Day in the vets for monitoring and electrolytes given.
Much comfier after the bladder flush - the sludgy wee must’ve been burning on the way out!!
Kept in to monitor water intake/output and antibiotics and electrolytes given, supplements stopped.
Results showed no stones, no infections, nothing untoward with liver and kidney function, just depleted in electrolytes and super concentrated wee. The theory now (I’m assuming here) is the Pergolide acted as a diuretic and made him pee for England and he just couldn’t/didn’t replace enough fluids.
He is slowly improving
If anyone has experienced anything like this while on Pergolide it would be great to know and pass on feedback to my vets as they’re quite stumped.
I may try the paste in the future but I would be very wary. He’s slowly improving, drinking and peeing normally now but still very ‘flat’. Vet and physio both think he just needs more time as he’s presenting as weak and a bit wobbly after any exertion. He’s being allowed a bit more grass and unsoaked hay, along with his electrolytes to try and boost him up a bit. I have also put him on a chaste berry based supplement. Nothing on his bloods out of order apart from depleted electrolytes but if he doesn’t pick up soon I will investigate possible muscle/azotouria/ataxia etc. Thanks again for the reply 
