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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
 
| I have a 20 yr old rope horse .. Have had him 4 months now . He recently started losing his appetite .. He eats a little of his feed then just stands in the corner leaving more than half of it.. He can't eat hay very well at all, so he's on a complete senior feed. Also, his lamanae is starting to separate on this front foot .. Anyone ever have this happen ? I'm not sure what could be his deal. He was way underweight when we bought him , now he is looking good & back to weight. He doesn't have a long wavy coat , that is what pushed me away from cushings ? Can a horse have cushings without the long wavy coat? |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
  
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I'm no cushing expert, but I believe they can have Cushings without the long hair. T.H.E. has a supplement now for it. If you are interested pm me and I can get more info from you and see what Bob says would be best. The laminae seperating would bother me a bit. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Yes they can, I have seen perfectly normal looking horses with cushings.
The vet can do a blood text, they give a steroid iv then 6 hours later draw blood and test cortisol level.
Pergolide is the px drug |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Ok , I'm thinking he may have it then .. Will have to get the vet out I'm sure. I will hold off on shy supplements .. It's the hubby's horse & he diesht believin the supplement thing lol really hoping the THE calming supplement works on my horse so I can prove to him they work lol ! I know high NSC isn't good for cushings horses either .. He is on purina senior right now & I know that's high in NSC % .. I have my horses on Triple crown senior . But again , hubby is bull headed .. So he didn't want to switch . But it may come down to that for the horses sake. What do you all think on that ? |
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 Regular
Posts: 91
Location: NW Missouri | Prascend, we have one with Cushings and since starting him on Prascend have seen a dramatic turnaround, NO sweet feed, No alfalfa, we are feeding Safe Choice complete, mixed grass hay, he is not a big hay eater so this winter I have been adding beet pulp to his feed and his pill once a day. He is a completely different acting/looking horse than a year ago |
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 I'm Here!!
Posts: 4583
Location: Is it Summer Yet? | He have diarrhea? I put one down last spring, losing weight like crazy, bad bad diarrhea, vet said cancer or irritable bowel syndrome. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| He doesn't have diarreha . He is totally normal other than not eating his feed all at once . He does finish over night & through the day . So he isn't completely off his feed. |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Did your mare start eating finally ? and now this one isnt ? she took all night to eat as well or didnt want it..
has his teeth been done |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| When you get the vet out I would get the teeth looked at as this could cause him to be off of his feed.
If at al possible I would take the horse off of the NSC, have hay in front 24/7 if he is not eating that, I would look at Timothy cubes soaked, and try to get flax seed, coconut oil, flax oil, whichever you can get as Cushing horses do better on oil. You can even use a 60 cc syringe and squirt an oil in his mouth.
Probiotics may also help his appetite, ulcer meds could help too until you find the problem.
If he does have cushings they do founder very easy and fast, so if I were you I would get him off of the feed he is currently on |
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 Member
Posts: 32
| We have had 2 old guys, both Cushings types. Prascend, HEIRO and laminae support from silver lining herbs. Both did very well. Still using the 23 year old. The 32 year old had to be put down 6 months ago due to a respiratory infection. Get started asap or you will have continual foot problems from the laminae separating. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Yes biblia . My mare is eating great now ! Idk if its due to the FORCO or she just started liking it lol. My husband is a farrier . 6 weeks ago the horse didn't have any issues with his feet . He just shoed him , that's when he noticed the lamanae separating . He started go slow down his eating about a month ago but I just thought he was being finicky .. Until the lamanae came up .. Now I'm wondering if it isn't something more . His teeth were apparently done in the fall the previous owner told us . It could possibly be teeth , but I have my doubts . Will get them checked though . He can't live on hay bc he balls alot if it up & spits it out .. So I think he's losing alot of teeth .. But maybe they are bad :/ |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | If he is loosing teeth, he will really need the remaining ones taken care of. They have no surface to wear them down and he will have a long one where the top/bottom opposite one is missing. We had a broodmare that lost weight and when we took her in she was missing a molar. It was making her ball her food and making chewing difficult. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Gotcha! We will have them check . But the thing is he has always balled up the hay since we got him back in October . That's nothing new . When we bought him he was in a field with little grass & a round bale which he couldn't eat very well.. So he was a bag of bones .. We put him on purina senior , & he is a healthy weight now .. Not skinny or losing weight. So he started this not eating feed well within the last month. |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Fancy Lass - 2014-02-27 9:13 AM Gotcha! We will have them check . But the thing is he has always balled up the hay since we got him back in October . That's nothing new . When we bought him he was in a field with little grass & a round bale which he couldn't eat very well.. So he was a bag of bones .. We put him on purina senior , & he is a healthy weight now .. Not skinny or losing weight. So he started this not eating feed well within the last month.
That is strange. I didn't read all the suggestions but maybe do a blood panel. That may give you a good place to start. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Yea , will probably need to.. I just don't like that lamanae separating like that .. I'd like to know why . I was just trying to think of possibilities |
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