Dan

[greydales]

This winter he lost a lot of condition, which he usually does but normally puts enough back on to look okay during the growing months. He wasn't eating and looked quite depressed, and when I inspected him found he had another maggot infestation in his tail! Luckily I caught it in time before it spread and now he is eating again. However he still looks very poor despite being on good grass, also he hasn't shed all his coat so I suspected cushings. I had the vet out who did a blood test that confirmed he has it. She did say she didn't think that the level of cushings is enough on its own to make him look that thin, so I am first of all going to worm him and feed him up on Ready mash for a month to see if it makes any difference.

If any of you have had horses/ponies with cushings, is it easily managed with pergolide? I have that option if he doesn't pick up after being wormed and given supplementary feeding, but the vet did say my money might be better spent on more thorough blood tests to discount any other conditions. Can they continue for quite a while with cushings? He is 26 now and obviously I want him to have a good quality of life.

[emmadales]

Gill, sorry to hear dan has cushings. My mare got cushings and was on medication for about 18 months. I cant remember which drug it was. She did fine on it to start with and looked well on it but gradually started to go off again. A new mare was put in her field and i do think part of the downhill was due to stress. Many manage with cushings for years.

[Debbie]

Nancy's Topaz has been on the meds for Cushings for most of her life and has thrived being on the meds. I think the medication does a really good job of improving their quality of health.

I do agree with your vet, though. It might be money well spent to check basics like liver and kidney functions to rule out underlying infections that could be bringing him down.

Best wishes for some plumping for Dan!

[flintfootfilly]

I'd opt for a comprehensive blood test whatever, and then you can weigh up whether there's anything going on that might be more significant than the Cushing's. Through my vets, a comprehensive test (including liver and muscle enzymes, blood counts etc) comes out at around £80 plus the vet callout and can prove invaluable.

My only experience of Cushing's is Megz who falls in the (quite large) grey area in the ACTH tests. I chose to put her on pergolide because she had become a shadow of her former self in terms of her demeanour - she would stand for long periods of time looking as though she was sedated, nose nearly on floor, and was just a bit flat generally. Her outline changed to be more that of a Cushing's horse with sway back, ewe neck and generally look saggy. After a matter of days on pergolide, I noticed a huge improvement in her demeanour. The vet did too. She became quite cheeky and playful. Gradually I think her outline is becoming better too. Also she had become quite footy each summer for the last 2 years, and the crunch for me was when she was footy on the yard through the winter and beyond. I chose to have her shod in front around the time she started on pergolide, and she is moving more freely now, though in that respect I don't know how much is due to the shoes and how much is due to the pergolide. I can say, though, that her feet are growing through better now - the horizontal event lines which she had on her front feet have been replaced by smooth, normal growth, and that I attribute to the effect of the pergolide.

If it was my pony I'd opt for bloods first (and be sure to ask for a copy of the full blood report so you can look at exact values yourself and "for future reference" - some vets don't comment on things which are only marginally high or low, but they may still be significant) and if nothing else crops up, I'd have a pergolide trial.

Hope he perks up.

Sarah

[harveydales]

Sorry to hear this about poor Dan. Quest had cushings towards the end and I did have him on the tablets (was it pergolide?). I don't know whether it extended his life or not but people say that without the tablets they become more susceptible to all sorts of infections; minor skin problems tend to become mush worse so I decided to put Quest on the tablets. In his case he suffered with laminitis so that was another reason to put him on the tablets. QUest did become increasingly thin, his coat changed and, in hindsight, he did look older than his age. But he didn't get any nasty problems and it was an unrelated colic which caused me to have him pts. He was always a cheerful, sociable, active soul though, right to the end, and I like to think the Cushings tablets helped. I think Quest had a good 5 years with diagnosed cushings.

Re worming - I did find Quest reacted increasingly badly to wormers - they brought on laminitis for him and I was advised to worm as little as possible and rather be scrupleous with poo picking and land management. I had to be careful which wormers I used but I can't remember now which ones affected him badly. In Dan's case I think further blood tests would be a sensible appoach. As you say, quality of life is most important and it isn't always easy to see gradual deteriation when you are with them every day but you will know when it is time to say goodbye - hopefully not for a long time yet. Looking back at photos of old Winnie, I do wonder whether I let him go on too long but he was suprisingly spritely and actve, clearly enjoying life, right up to the last couple of weeks.

Good luck and keep us posted. These oldies hold a special place in our hearts.

[Fi]

Hi, sorry to hear about Dan. My Sam's got Cushings and has been on the pergolide (Prascend) for about 4 years now, it has definitely improved his quality of life and extended it by that amount of time so far. You might find (as I did with Sam) that the infections go hand in hand with the Cushings, because it supresses the immune system. The vets said Sam had a urine infection but this cleared on its own up when he started on pergolide.

[valerie n scout]

Am sorry to hear about Dan Gill, he's a lovely chap x

[heathera]

We had Bonnie, our Shetland pony, on Pergolide for about ten years. In the end it was general all systems failure that caused him to be PTS when he was over 30yrs old. We did notice a difference within days when he went onto it. Over time we did have to increase his dose, we kept an eye on him and the vet came out and adjusted things whenever we felt Bonnie was going downhill again.

I'd definitely have more blood tests done to rule out other things but I'd also just put him on the pergolide to help the cushings anyway.

[dollylanedales]

Oh, sorry about the lovely Dan.....fingers crossed he can be helped have a good quality of life.

Prince, our Shetland developed Cushings in his mid twenties. He had bouts of laminitis in his younger days with another owner. Vet did not think he was that bad, so we carried out without any meds. Then he got a really, curly coat, and it went a strange copper colour. He did lose weight, but not sure if this was all down to the Cushings, given his age.I think from the onset, he carried on 3 years.

One of the driving Haflingers got Cushings last year along with laminitis. She is on meds, and is now retired. Her coat is very curly, but the condition is now under control and she seems much better. She is 20. She is not carrying the weight like she used to - like Dan, a lovely chunky sort of pony.

[tinkerdorisalison]

Hi Gill, nice to hear from you , but sorry to hear about Dan. I think i would be thinking about further tests if it were me, especially with regards to how far his melanomas (sp) might have spread.

Hope you can get him comfortable and back to his happy self. xx

[knight1]

Gill, so sorry to hear about Dan's diagnosis with cushings. But Debbie's right, Topaz did very well on pergolide for nearly ten years so take heart that it is very possible for them to have a good quality of life with the excellent management you give him. Topaz was insulin resistant as well but the pergolide and careful feeding kept her pasture sound and quite her cheeky self, despite the laminitis damage to her feet from the cushings before we figured it out. Sounds like you have a good vet to work with and figure out a treatment & management plan that will give Dan a good quality of life. It's true that they do often have more & harder to control infections but we managed with this too. Very best wishes for Dan's health issues, he is such a special pone.