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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
 
| Sorry for the sad post. This is the gelding I rescued over two years ago. (He was my niece's barrel horse who her dad left tied to a tree for five years and fed bagels and bread to. Super nice little White Lightning Ike horse. You all gave advice on rehabbing and found him on allbreed for me.)
Well we got him all fed up, got his teeth done, back on track for vaccinations and worming and healed up the abscesses. He went on lease to a good friend for a year while we found a house with property because I didn't want to pay board x 2. He's been my barn babysitter for a year now and I've noticed a huge change.
He is literally wasting away. I've been working with my vet and winwillows on nutrition for him, had his teeth re-done, quit letting the kids ride him so he can rest, and the weight just keeps coming off. I hate watching it. He's super lethargic, too.
Have any of you put down for Cushings? Advice, please! I've never had a horse with this. |
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 Maine-iac
Posts: 3334
 
Location: Got Lobsta? | My 30 year old horse has Cushings. He was on 2 different meds but it made him sick and he lsot a lot of weight. We now have him on Nutrena Special Care and Smark Pak Pituitary. He has put a lot of the weight back on. The vet was just here to do teeth and was alarmed I took him off the meds. He did say that its common for horses with Cushings to lose weight and sometimes they can't recover from it. I am so sorry you and your horse are going through this. Sounds like you are seeking out good advice. Good luck |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| Have you tried Pergolide or Vitex? We had great luck with those for my Cushings' horse. She gained back some weight, her coat improved, and she lived many more years. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 700
Location: Driving, Grooming, or Saddling for a Kid! | This is my daugthers old barrel horse at 20 that had Cushings. We had him prescind (sp?)
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The Expert Expert
Posts: 3455
Location: Western performance horse Hades | Needs to be on pergolide ASAP. Prascend is the brand name. You need to know her ACTH levels first and then find out the correct dose. We have a senior citizen that gets to 2 Prascend daily and she's like a different horse.
Edited by zipper 2014-10-20 1:58 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
| zipper - 2014-10-20 1:55 PM
Needs to be on pergolide ASAP. Prascend is the brand name. You need to know her ACTH levels first and then find out the correct dose. We have a senior citizen that gets to 2 Prascend daily and she's like a different horse.
I'll ask about that. My vet is coming out to do blood work on him soon. Do you mind me asking how much it runs? Do you get it through your vet? |
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Veteran
Posts: 174
Location: Wisconsin | You have to get the pergolide through a vet or you can order it online with a vet's prescription. I get mine through my local vet. A package of 60 1 mg tablets costs around $123 (this includes tax). You will know how much you need to dose after you get your test results back. When our pony was first diagnosed, we gave him 1 mg tablet a day (this was about 2 years ago). We are now giving him 1-1/2 tablets per day. He is doing great but I usually have to up his dose in the fall.
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The Expert Expert
Posts: 3455
Location: Western performance horse Hades | HorseMommyFiveO - 2014-10-20 1:02 PM zipper - 2014-10-20 1:55 PM Needs to be on pergolide ASAP. Prascend is the brand name. You need to know her ACTH levels first and then find out the correct dose. We have a senior citizen that gets to 2 Prascend daily and she's like a different horse. I'll ask about that. My vet is coming out to do blood work on him soon. Do you mind me asking how much it runs? Do you get it through your vet?
I get it at cost because my husband is an equine vet. It's $140 for 60 tabs, but we price match with clients that can find it cheaper online. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | How Old is horse .. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| We had our old mare with Cushings on Sr feed, and grassy hay. Also had her on a supplement called Remission. Need to cut out the sugary feeds and cut out alfalfa. |
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| If you cannot afford the Pergolide or it doesn't work well, you can try feeding Chaste Tree Berry. It worked quite well on hubby's gelding who got squirrelly and went off feed on Pergolide. His cortisol levels dropped from over 12 to around 6 , so I know it was more than just me thinking it helped. Ask your vet about adding Thyroid to his diet too.
Best of luck. |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Bob at THE has a special formula for Cushings and it is very cost efficient. It also contains Chasteberry
"Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction, better known as Cushing ’s disease, is a painful, debilitating and potentially fatal condition for horses. It is caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland in the horse’s brain and leads to uncontrollable level of hormones in the body. The symptoms of this include heatstroke caused by an inability to shed fur, laminitis episodes, anemia, colic and impaired liver function. While there is no cure for Cushing’s, the symptoms can be managed using our proprietary Cushing’s Formula, which may help to increase blood flow and provide vital nutrition to the affected areas. " |
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| Do you have him on any medication? I have a 29-year-old Cushings horse. He is on pergolide and is feeling great, I've attached a recent pic below. He doesn't shed as well so we body clip him a couple times a year. He's happy and healthy. We have him on grass hay and feed him a good amount daily, he isn't on pasture or grain. I wouldn't give up on your horse until you try medication and see if it helps.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
| Bibliafarm - 2014-10-20 6:31 PM
How Old is horse ..
21. He went 5 years tied to a redwood tree with only bread to eat and no vet or farrier care. Even though he never colicked it was still hard on him. Good thing he's a Driftwood. :-( |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
| Thank you all. We don't want to give up on him - we rearranged our entire lives just to save him. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2154
Location: USA | I used to board and they had a mare with Cushings. WHen I moved my horses home, they gave her to me since I helped take care of her and they couldn't afford to do so anymore. Anyway, I put her on pergolide and she did really good for awhile. Then being the picky horse that she was, she quit eating it. I then put her on chaste tree berry and she did good on it too but eventually wouldn't eat it, so I'd go back to pergolide. I kept her on a low starch feed, cool calories and grass hay. Had her feet done every 6 weeks with the rest of them and she got her teeth done and blood taken at least once a year. Eventually she wouldn't eat anything that had her meds in it. I then gave up and didn't give them to her. She did great for several years until she passed away a few weeks after she turned 30. Vet said it wasn't the cushings, it was just old age.
21 is young. Chaste Tree Berry is cheap. I think I got an 8lb bag for about 30 bucks and it lasted FOREVER! I used the pergolide powder. It was easier to be able to sprinkle it on the feed. I feel your pain as I know Cushings is frustrating. What does great on one horse may not on another and it's a trial and error thing. You say your horse is wasting away but how is his attitude? Is he still perky? Does he have a light in his eyes still? If so, it's not his time. Keep working on him til you find out what combination works for him. Good Luck! |
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Regular
Posts: 82
| Don't want to hijack your thread, but does anyone know if you can give chaste tree berry with meds? Our 30 year old pony gets so much worse in the fall (typical hormonal changes for a Cushings horse I understand). Just wondering if we could add the berry in the fall to help her. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| There is a liquid pergolide, my aunt has a few horses on it with cushings, she administers it via syringe once daily.
She also adjusts the dosage depending on their levels and the time of year.
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