Testing for Cushings is not moot!!! Getting his ACTH levels under control is what will stop any laminitis flair ups... That is done by giving the medication prascend and diet.  After you can have your friend rehab his feet.... I'm so sorry this is happening but the if this horse has Cushings,(which is more then likely the cause) you need to treat him on order for him to stop having laminitis issues!!!!!!!!  I'd hate for you to ignore just getting him tested and have to end up putting him down. Take this any way you want but like I said my mare had rotation and had several episodes where she would just lay down and could hardly get up because she was in so much pain.  After we tested her and got her on prascend she NEVER had another case of laminitis. We went into rehabbing her feet with my Farrier and she was an awesome sounds trail horse.... She was always just a trial horse tho.   We just had a yearly ACTH Cushings test done to recheck if we needed to modify her prascend dosage....  If you don't like my advice I'm sorry but from someone who has dealt with this I wish I could pay to test your horse myself!!! 

PS..... If you can, sell the soft rides to pay for the Cushings test!!! Just bed him deep. The Cushings AND Insulin test is way more valuable to your horse then soft rides at this point!! 

I appreciate all the advice here, I really do. I do have a call into a different vet that I can get to come to me so the horse doesnt have to travel. I'm hoping next week. I'm putting in for care credit .. I do, fortunately have good credit, so maybe I can get more done for him. I've been told so many different things from different people I'm beyond overwhelmed,  underslept and OVERSTRESSED. I swear every person I consult with, professional  or just a regular Joe who has been thru this tells me something different.  I heard the treatment for cushings is often worse than the actual disease from a few people I respect and know they know their business. Then I've heard like you just said, .... I had 1 vet tell me the horse will get better or he wont, theres nothing you can do and if he does indeed get better, its not going to be because of anything you've done or haven't done... it stuff like that, that makes me sick. 

I understand what you mean!  I actually have two Cushings horses.  They both have done Very well on prascend. The 12 now 15 year old mare I was taking about gets 2 tabs a day and my 26 year old gelding gets 1 tab a day. The 26 year old still goes on weekly rides. You'd never guess he is that old. I've never any issues! Never had them loose appetite, seem lethargic or depressed... 

No... its not.. you haven't seen the pain he was in before we put these on him. The boots have lifted his heel up a tad and hes walking better without curling his lip now ... albeit hes walking very slowly but I'd say his pain has lessened because of the boots. Im not taking those away from him.  I completely understand your point and I agree with you. If I can get this guy out here next week I will ask him to do it and go from there. What i am saying is it wont reverse what's happened but if it will prevent it from progressing then I am for it. 

I'm also going to mention back in 1999 I had a mare that was 19 and had Cushings. I watched her suffer from laminitis... And a she had a long hair coat I had to clip a few times before she died. We eventually put her down. A compounded version of prascend, which the actual drug name pergolide was available at the time but we didn't know about it. Prascend was not. To this day if I could have given her even the compounded med I would have.... And way Early on. She'd have lived a longer life and been rideable. So after dealing with the heart break of her, I had no doubt I wasn't at least going to try prascend.

I just saw where you said you had care credit. I said that out of frustration of reading about your story.  What does he mean the damage already done? If its Cushings,  Prascend and diet will stop any further episodes of laminitis. If a horse has laminitis and actually rotates and founders, if it be caused by a toxic weed, high fever, trauma, Cushings or insulin resistance you have damage you will need to rehab.  It's not that treating Cushings will fix his feet.... It will fix further episodes of laminitis so you can actually rehab your horses feet.

Ok so I found the vet who will take my care credit, I got approved for a good amount that'll cover tests and possibly more xrays if needed and medication. Hes going in tomorrow morning for blood etc etc. I hope and pray he will haul ok. I didnt want to but I cannot wait for the mobile vet... hes at least 2 weeks out... I'm sick of losing sleep over this ... my poor kids haven't had supper made for them before 10pm all week because I've been out with the horse! My trailer has a ramp and lots of shavings so hopefully he will be ok with his boots on and going slow. That's what I was going to ask... what medication will they prescribe if he does have cushings ? Pergoglide? I know my sister got some meds for her cushings horse and it was $120 for 3 months worth... her horse isnt laminitic but skin n bones and hairy... she cant put weight on him. But she said he was otherwise ok. 

what I have seen with you all along,is somehow YOU MAKE THINGS WORK OUT:)Remember,the THREAD is a discussion,and you have gotten ALOT of good advice from folks that have been there and done that.I deal with a cushings pony:( I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been posted.Its frustrating,heartbreaking and VERY STRESSFUL,but just remember,everyone has done things that work,and don't work.You are doing your job by learning everything you can to help your boy,and I commend you for that.HANG IN THERE.

Thank you. I'm stretching myself thin with this but he deserves it. I'll find a way to get it done. It may take some time and little by little but he will get the best chance possible for recovery in my care. I'll make sure of it. I've even been put in touch with another vet that will come to my house and do chiropractic and acupuncture on him when I can afford a little extra ... if we decide to go that route... shes worked on lots of laminitis cases as well and comes highly recommended. I'm looking around to see if I can split a farm call with someone ... shes supposed to be really amazing. I've fixed his diet and hes not happy but he eats it lol! Plain soaked beet pulp with a tablespoon of salt, some magnesium and some chia seeds mixed in... and soaked hay fed throughout the day in small meals in slow feed net. I went ahead and put my good horse on this diet as well... minus the soaking of the hay... hes mad but he can get over it... hes overweight. I also was given a good free choice loose mineral mix to offer them.. theyve been steadily eating it and I just refill their mineral feeders once a day. It's called rush creek minerals 1:1 it came highly recommended. It's not convenient but it is what it is and I'll do it. .... so... am I hoping for cushings positive? Not particularly,  but it would sure explain why this happened and at least I can treat the cause .... 

That's great news. I hope everything goes well. We are all praying for you! Get the Cushings insulin resistance combo test. Some horses have both and some only one of the diseases.  If your horse has Cushings they will prescribe Prascend which is the name brand name for pergolide.  Your sisters horse probably had Cushings for a while before being put on prascend and exhibited those symptoms before he was even put on the med. The sooner you catch it the better you can slow the progression of it. Your sister may even want to do a yearly retest for Cushings to make sure her horse is getting a high enough dose of prascend. Most vets recommend you test yearly to monitor ACTH levels for Cushings over the horse's lifetime.

Yeah hers is weird .... he wasnt exhibiting any major signs of cushings.. just became a very hard keeper but hes in his very late 20s and been used hard most of his life...she just had him diagnosed this past October so it's pretty recent. Shes been pouring the feed to him with no avail... I'm going to put her in touch with a vet I met during this "thing" I'm going thru that's had really great success treating cushings and rehabbing one... I guess shes lucky hes only skinny and not in pain like mine is.  I will say my horses appetite is getting better. Hes stopped sulking about beet pulp and eating it first now instead of hay .... he has himself a little system I noticed this evening... he will eat a few bites of the BP, then walk over to eat some hay for about 5 minutes,  then cruise over to the mineral bucket and take some bites and then back to his BP  lol! Whatever works... I'm just glad hes eating and taking in nutrients.. he needs that to be able to heal. Hes scheduled for 830am blood draw so hes fasting per the vet till we do that.  We backed the trailer up as close as we could to the barn to lessen his walk... I'm going to bring some pre soaked hay with me so he can eat on his way home. Hopefully it wont take too long to get results back and we can move forward  .. 

Sending good thoughts to you and Chuy

We got back from the vet. I saw a completely different vet this time at the clinic..  she was so much more thorough with us than the last guy. She only did a blood draw but spent over an hour with us talking about laminitis, cushings and IR. She seems to think hes IR but cant rule out cushings .. she suggested we start him on prascend anyway just to begin the process... it wont hurt him if hes negative. I'll get my results back next week. We are also going back next weekend for more xrays to see what's going on. Hopefully he will start feeling better! She said I'm going everything right with his diet and to keep it up. Anyway its done...  hes back in his stall resting and eating.  I feel so much confident in this vet and her advice, shes very educated on laminitis,  she isnt a 1 size fits all type and I appreciate that. I wish I would have used her the first time. We would have gotten way more helpful information than what the last dude said. It was nice to have a vet that actually listened to me and let me talk and ask questions and give me options instead of just following one certain protocol. My cushings/IR test was $167.00 she found the least cost laboratory to get it to for me as well. I definitely appreciate that extra mile. Well I think I let out a big sigh of relief for now... hes not out of the woods by any means but I feel better after talking to her and knowing we have a chance to get him better 

She also said taking his shoes off was the right thing to do, at least until we get him all figured out. That made me feel better because it just seemed logical to do so but the first vet told my farrier it wasnt necessary and they both made me feel foolish for wanting to take them off... so I called the friend of mine that's the other farrier came and did it for me. He also agreed to taking them off was the right thing to do. He may need special shoes in the future,  and that'll be ok too.  So on my little journey, I've learned so much and discovered so many things! I wanted to share this beet pulp I found, by the grace of God... I was telling the vet about it because she asked me what I was feeding him... a lady that lives up the road from me has IR and cushings horses she takes care of she just opened a little feed store from her home and gets this stuff called speedi-beet .. its awesome! It's not traditional beet pulp ... these are tiny flakes and only 5% sugar with zero starch or GMOS ...  it soaks up in 10 minutes and I only need a few handfuls each feeding to mix in their supplements. I love this stuff!  I have no idea where she gets it from but I just bought the small bag to try ... this will last me at least another week or maybe more. I'm definitely going to use this as my base to my new improved feed program. 

Thats such awesome news!!! I'm so relieved for you! Prayers things improve.  If your horse doesn't have a metabolic issue I'd just be so stumped in everything I've ever experienced and learned in my life! Lol...  Did your vet recommend a chromium and magnesium supplement? When my 12 year old mare was diagnosed with Cushings and insulin resistance they recommended I add the chromium and magnesium because it helps support blood sugar levels for the insulin resistance. I fed a smart pak smartmetabo supplement and obviously gave Prascend. Praying!!!!

She didnt mention any supplements but that never surprises me. I've done my homework lol! I talked to platinum today after we got home and I'm going to put the horses on PP to mix in their beet pulp ... their stuff is flax based and lowest NSC I can find. I'm also getting their metabolic support supplement that is magnesium and chromium. I've also read extra vitamin E will be very beneficial to him during the healing process. I'm searching for one that will fit the bill ... I want pure non synthetic vitamin E with no added sugars or anything. Just when I think I've found one it's got some other junk in it I dont want or sourced from china...  no offense,  but no...

Thank you all for comments, well wishes and advice and most importantly prayers! 

That's so great!!! Continued prayers!!!!

I haven't had to give him any bute today.. I gave him a little yesterday morning after the farrier left.. but hes been pretty good today, even after the trailer ride to the vet. I'd say he had a good day today! This afternoon jacob and I went into his stall and groomed him up.... gave him lots of love and he seemed to enjoy being brushed on. I really hope we are over the hump or at least getting close to it. Hes very alert and eating well, walking a little better too.