Two vets - two widely different opinions!

[packwood]

One vet says our pony (aged 6) had Cushings so bad he needs to be pts. The other says its Equine Metabolic Syndrome and with care he will get right. Obviously I like the second opinion much better so have changed vets - but there is always a nagging doubt - what if the first one was right??? The pony is completely sound, bright eyed with a shiny coat and eating and drinking well. He is not overweight. He was fit before he had a slight bout of laminitis in one foot (or was it an abcess???) and is now walking out three times a day and desperate to do more. How can you trust vets when they have such widely differing opinions?

 

[Bigginge]

Although the two conditions have some overlapping symptoms (most notably laminitis) they are, as you probably know, quite different conditions. EMS is insulin resistance (a bit like type 2 diabetes) whereas Cushings is caused by a benign tumour on the pituitary. There are tests that can be done for both so if it is worrying you ask your vet to confirm EMS or rule out Cushings with these.

 

[Miss L Toe]

If the pony is happy and you are happy, stick with it and it seems all will be OK, I am surprised no one mentioned the testing procedures, and was there some particular reason why you doubted the first vet, although I can understand your need for a second opinion.
If it is EMS, my understanding is that you will need to be very careful with diet, but same can be said for any pony with a history.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Get your pony tested for either or both. to me it sounds like EMS. I have 2 ponies here - one with EMS and one with Cushings. Both ponies are very easy to manage on a lamminitics diet. I never backed the EMS pony, she was always a broodmare and may be again should I chose to put her in foal, so I couldn't really say as to the working life of an EMS pony but they should be ok so long as you manage them properly.

Oh and the EMS pony was diagnosed when she was 6 so it really can start early. She is 11 now and still driving me insane - she is a shetland lol!

The Cushings pony hasn't been tested for it but it is kinda obvious she has it, still has most of her winter coat, has had bad lammi in the past and generally looks twice her age. Whilst she is still happy go lucky running though my electric fecne - another shetland! - she will stick around.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

get your vet to run more blood. ideally first thing in the morning, after a night in with hay only the eve before. (ie so pony hasnt eaten properly since midnight). the tests are pretty conclusive as to whether your pony has cushions or EMS. neither conditions, with the correct management, require such a young pony to be PTS.