PTS because of cushings??? :'(

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LittleMouse

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Hello...sad post. Our vet thinks our mare has cushings, she is 15 and showing quite a few symptoms. Having the blood test done and mum says if it's positive she will have her put down as we can't really afford ongoing treatment and dont want her to suffer. She has not had the best early life (were pretty sure she was a gypsy trotting horse) and has lived with and unknown with a broken tooth for who knows how long. Despite this she is the sweetest natured horse I have ever met. We hav had her about 2 years and you can't help but love her. I don't want her to suffer but will be devastated if she's PTS as will her horsey friends :( wht happens if it's not treated? Xx thanks for reading xx
 
You are looking at approx £1 per day for pergolide which is the usual treatment for cushings, but it might be useful to speak to someone who can suggest some homeopathic treatment.

It is my understanding that cushings horses are more likely to develop laminitis so if you haven't got her onto a starvation paddock or muzzled, then do is asap.

If not treated they can become immunosuppressed and subject to a variety of parasitic or infectious agents such as helminthiasis or pneumonia. Many cases show muscle loss and become polydipsic and polyphagic; they may be diabetic.
To the trained observer, these cases can be diagnosed on clinical appearance and history alone. They may become diabetic, either diabetes mellitus, (sugar diabetes) or diabetes insipidus. They therefore drink excessively, and if stabled you will notice their bedding is quickly soaked.

They show filling above the eyes. This is fat deposition in the supra-orbital fossae. [Normal horses have depressions above the eyes, you can see these depressions moving when a horse chews].

They become depressed and ill-looking, with dull eyes and they lose the shine on their coat.

They all develop laminitis eventually.

Their body shape changes so that they lose muscle mass, developing a dipped back, poorly muscled neck and quarters with a pendulous abdomen. There is a re-distribution of fat depots. The horse looking thin ("ribby") but gaining a rather "blocky" appearance. This is particularly evident if it has been dieted in the mistaken belief that it's laminitis is due to obesity.

Their resistance to infections or worm burdens is reduced.

I don't think she will die if left untreated but she will eventually go down hill as described above. But I'd be asking your vet this question, and ask him how much treatment will cost and over what timescale and what her prognosis is, that way you will have a better understanding of costs.
 
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Ditto applecart.

Are you sure you can't treat.
My horse has recently been diagnosed cushings and is on 1 prascend a day.

You can purchase this over the internet, best I have found is 86p a tablet.
Factoring in an annual prescription charge this is £27 a month. Not a dissimilar amount to many tack shop sold suppliments ....
 
Our old girl who we lost this year at 28 :( had cushings for the last 2 years of her life and may have had it for longer as she had held onto her coat in the summer for a couple of years prior to diagnosis. Like applecart says pergolide cost us approx one pound per day. It made a huge difference to her and she looked fabulous for the next 2 years. The blood tests were a little expensive but our vet was very sensible and did them only as needed. She was also insulin resistant. We kept her weight down and fed a sugar free balancer with fast fibre in the winter. We added unmolassed sugar beet in the really bad weather. She did come down with lami for the first time ever this May and we PTS in June very very sadly. Had she been younger we might have persevered but for us it was a quality of life issue and she did not tolerate being on box rest and away from her herd. She had melanomas too so we felt she had had enough.

I think if your girl has cushings you could try some pergolide and a good sugar free diet and if you watch her weight she should do well.
It might be worth talking to your vet as ours did a "special rate" for horses that needed long term pergolide which approximately halved the cost. I think it was only for people who had been clients for a long time but it was a helpful service.
If you cannot afford the drugs then conservative management would surely be worth a try? Good luck x
 
That seems to be a bit of a drastic thing for your mum to say...if the treatment is as people say...£1 per day, is there not a paper round or little weekend job that you could do to earn the money to pay for it? Sorry, I do not know your age so this may not be possible.
But to earn £30 per month would not take a huge amount....just a thought. Fingers crossed for the right outcome for your horse.
 
my tin hat is on;

i would not use pergolide i have seen horrendous side effects twice with ponies at work, these are the only 2 ponies i have experienced with the problem and i know many people have great sucess with them. my vet has said he would not treat with pergolide too, but we are very much alike i would only retire a pony/horse if it could live turned out in company medication free (apart from bute or similar) and discomfort free
 
What side effects?
My horse has just been diagnosed and Peroglide prescribed.
I had a pony with Cushings 15 years ago when they used to prescribe Cyproheptadine, the side effects of that are what i believe killed her in the end :( but I understood that Peroglide was supposed to be much better?
 
Oh dear, I do feel for you.

Your mum is prob thinking about the costs.
Yes, Prascend/Pergolide is 'only' £1 per day.
But, you will still be paying out for the vet visit & subsequent blood test - and ongoing around 3 months later to see how the bloods are & if the dosage needs to be changed. I know each time my vet came out, it was around £100, with visit, bloods & 'consultation/examination' - all of 5 mins in the yard - but that is what I expected.


My old lady (Little Fuzzy RIP) was properly diagnosed last December at 27. I say 'properly' as she had not shed her coat that summer, and major body changes had taken shape. I had already restricted her diet & called vet in to confirm via the bloods.
She cheerfully took the daily pill (no messing, bless her) but late Feb she really was not a happy bunny and was suffering reactions - I knew it was time to let her go, so I took the choice to let her go on a lovely sunny day.

No need to make hasty decisions today or tomorrow - just talk this through as pony could well have a good qual of life for a few more years.

Good luck, hope you come to a decision you & your mum agree on
 
patterdale said:
What side effects?
My horse has just been diagnosed and Peroglide prescribed.
I had a pony with Cushings 15 years ago when they used to prescribe Cyproheptadine, the side effects of that are what i believe killed her in the end :( but I understood that Peroglide was supposed to be much better?
Click to expand...

one had the shakes/staggers, liver and kidney damage, loss of appetite, depression

the other came out in large pustules and abscess' that oozed green gunk and were painful-the vet had never seen it before

also as another comment has pointed out it does not always work to control the condition for long, both the above ponies were PTS within 10months of condition being diagnosed

I have also known lots of ponies over the years who have had the condition managed with reducing/adjusting diet etc over many years
 
Maybe try chasteberry as a supplement if u can't afford Pergolide. just see how she goes on that & let her be for a while. There is a yahoo Cushings group (Google it), which i would recommend u join & ask for advice on there. Good luck.
 
Our pony developed Cushings at 16 (she is now 22) and she was put on 1 pergolide/prascend a day. We have her tested each October to ensure she is on the right level of medication (winter is danger time as the hormone levels drop) and last year had to have her meds increased to 1.5 tablets.

She was still ridden until a couple of years ago, then retired with unrelated back problems. She is kept on a high fibre sugar-free diet and is on a small paddock during the summer so she doesn't get lami or get too fat! She is in at night all the year round. She is well, healthy, shiny and happy. Some ponies get a bit depressed for the first couple of weeks on the drug but this is temporary - for us it has been a wonder drug and, so far, has kept our lovely girl witth us for six years.

I know £30 is a lot if you don't have it but, as suggested, perhaps you could do a bit of part-time work like baby-sitting to raise a bit of extra money?
 
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