|
|
Veteran
Posts: 165
 
Location: TN | My older mare was diagnosed with Cushings disease, vet hasn't suggested medication yet so what are your opinions either putting her on medicine or manage it with proper diet. |
|
| |
|
  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
 
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | THE has a good supplement for Cushings. Is that also something that can be controlled somewhat with diet? |
|
| |
|
 Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
 
| First of all, any age horse can get Cushing. I t is diagnosed more often in older horses. Pergolide is the drug that is used to treat it and is fairly expensive. I read a lot and found a book on herbs for horses. Believe it was published in England. There was a pony in the book that was a hairy little booger and after several months on the herbs they suggested he looked great. Unbelievable. I put my horse on those herbs they recommended and it did the same thing to him. I let a lady take him for her granddaughter and when she ran out of herbs she never told me. He went back to the hairy horse he had been because she did not want to be bothered with the herbs. Long story short it can be controlled with herbs and is cheap. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 155
| Can you give me the name of the book, or share your herb recipe? |
|
| |
|
Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| Junebug1 - 2017-09-24 8:41 PM
Can you give me the name of the book, or share your herb recipe?
I have no idea where that book is but will look on Amazon. I know what it looks like. I ordered the herbs on line. They were cheap and I will have to google them to figure out where. May have to look at at school tomorrow. My internet is horrible. I pay for it but it just is not happening at my house. No phone either. Bad bad bad!!!!!! |
|
| |
|
Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| streakysox - 2017-09-24 11:18 PM
Junebug1 - 2017-09-24 8:41 PM
Can you give me the name of the book, or share your herb recipe?
I have no idea where that book is but will look on Amazon. I know what it looks like. I ordered the herbs on line. They were cheap and I will have to google them to figure out where. May have to look at at school tomorrow. My internet is horrible. I pay for it but it just is not happening at my house. No phone either. Bad bad bad!!!!!!
HERBS FOR HORSES (Kenilworth press). Got it from Amazon. About $10.95. Will look for herbs on line tomorrow |
|
| |
|
Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| Cushings cannot be managed with diet alone. However, they should be put on a low startch diet. I have two horses with Cushings. One is 24 and the other is only 12. Pergolide has saved the 12 year olds life. She was chronically foundering in her front feet and had rotation. After putting her on it we rehabbed her feet and now she is completely sound! For one tab a month of Pergolide it is 56 dollars. The 12 year old is on 2 tabs and the 24 year old is on 1 tab a day. Between both horses I've had no side effects of the medication. The 12 year old has been on it for a year and then 24 year old has been for 6 months. We retest their levels every 6 months which is coming up soon. If it was my horse I'd use the medication. Show me studies of horses surviving for a few years on just herbs. I think they may help but would you give a sore horse previcox or devils claw. I look at it that way..... |
|
| |
|
 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| Hubby had a gelding develop Cushings. We tried Pergolide for him but he got even squirrelier than normal and went off feed. Since he was already not heavy enough, we put him on Thyroid and Chaste Tree Berry with my vet's supervision. We pulled blood at the start and his Cortisol level was 12+ ( this was after the time Pergolide). Six weeks of CTB and his Cortisol level dropped to 7 something. He did well until hubby lent him out and the guy never gave him the stuff I provided. When he came back 6 months or longer later his coat was a good 6 inches long. I could never bring him back at that point.
Not saying the CTB will work for every horse, just as the Pergolide does not work for every horse. But I have a 21 year old mare who I suspect is in the beginning stages and have her on both Thyroid (which she was already on) and a mix of herbs with CTB that also has stuff for Insulin Resistance in it. So far, so good. All my horses are on a low starch feed.
Note, Cushings in horses is caused by a tumor on the Pituitary gland and to my knowledge, cannot be controlled by diet alone. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | A low starch diet and limited access to grazing are very important for Cushing's horses. They are similar to EMS horses in this regard. However, Pergolide is frequently needed too because as previous posters have stated, it is not just insulin resistance (as with EMS) but also a problem with the pituitary gland specifically. Pergolide provides the missing hormones the pituitary gland is no longer providing sufficiently in Cushing's horses.
I would not be scared to try some of the herbs with diet just to see but Pergolide is the more traditional treatment. But start with diet and pain management (if laminitis is already a factor). |
|
| |
|
Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| streakysox - 2017-09-24 11:31 PM
streakysox - 2017-09-24 11:18 PM
Junebug1 - 2017-09-24 8:41 PM
Can you give me the name of the book, or share your herb recipe?
I have no idea where that book is but will look on Amazon. I know what it looks like. I ordered the herbs on line. They were cheap and I will have to google them to figure out where. May have to look at at school tomorrow. My internet is horrible. I pay for it but it just is not happening at my house. No phone either. Bad bad bad!!!!!!
HERBS FOR HORSES (Kenilworth press ). Got it from Amazon. About $10.95. Will look for herbs on line tomorrow
Starwest-botanicals.com seems to be the easiest to navigate
I did use the Chaste tree berry but used some other herbs too. I did not modify the horse's diet. My horse lived to be 32.
|
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1523
Location: Illinois | Mine was diagnosed with cushings 6 years ago and the only thing I changed was his diet, switched to low starch low sugar. I have to shave him twice in the summer, but otherwise he's done fine. It hasn't progressed any in those 6 years and he's 24 now. Some progress faster than others. If your vet doesn't suggest medicating at this point, then just try to follow a cushings recommended diet & see how things go. |
|
| |
|
 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | pergolide + diet change IMO.
Changing the diet helps combat the consequences of cushings but does nothing to halt the progression of the disease. Pergolide helps mitigate the overproduction of cortisol in the body. Nothing will cure cushings and stop the tumor from growing, but the combination of medication and diet will help prolong a healthy life in horses.
Edited by casualdust07 2017-09-25 3:39 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Maine-iac
Posts: 3334
Location: Got Lobsta? | I have a horse that was dx with Cushings at age 10. We thought we were mangaging it, but when he turned 20 we noticed his coat was getting bad. We changed him over to Pergolide and that was a big mistake for MY horse. (not saying it doesn't help other horses). He slowly started eating less and less and drop so much weight, was told its part of Cushings. After 2 years with treatment the rx ran out and it took a month for to get it in. WELL during that 30 days, he started eating again! I started the meds, and yup, he slowly started to go off feed. I stop the meds, changed his diet to RG and pellets,(called Win and he helped with the diet). He is 33 years young, super curly hair, but happy! Just watch their appetite when starting the meds. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 165
Location: TN | I started feeding her equine senior, her feet/legs haven't been affected, farrier keeping a close watch. She's 20, may try the herbs. Thanks everyone for their input. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 94
Location: Texas | My horse was 20 yrs old when he was diagnosed with Cushings. Fast forward two years later and he is doing great, feeling like his old self and we are able to ride again after having a hematoma, two large abcesses (bigger than my shoer has even seen before in his 45 years of shoeing horses) mild rotation all in the same hoof, oh and a colic as well. I couldn't afford the meds the vet recommended so I started researching herbs. Chaste Berry Tree/Vitex changed everything!!! I believe in this herb! I think this helped to heal my horse, along with changing his diet to low starch and restricting his pasture grazing time work wonders. Good luck with your horse..... |
|
| |
Folks on-line