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Cushings disease

5K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  RedHorseRidge 
#1 ·
Hey,

My sister has a Morgan that appears to have cushing's disease. She's very skinny and has lost weight and muscle. However, she absolutely does not lack in energy. She also seems to be shedding her winter coat just fine. Her teeth have been floated about a year ago (The weight loss began before that and her teeth were actually really good) and she needs worming but we have been pretty good about keeping up with that. She is in her twenties, so I know it's not uncommon for old horses, but we've never had any experience with this so I was hoping ya'll could recommend some treatment.

Also, what food should we be feeding her? She has been getting alfalfa hay, beet pulp, Senior feed, and corn oil.

I was just hoping some of you that have worked with cushing's could let me know what worked for you!

Thanks in advance!! :D
 
#2 ·
1. When is the last time a vet saw the horse? there could be something else wrong, other than Cushings.

2. What brand senior feed? If it's full of molasses that is not good for a metabolic horse or a PSSM horse. Ditch it.

Ditch the corn oil. I know you're using it to try and get weight on the horse but ditch it until a vet tells you what is wrong.

3. it doesn't matter if her teeth were done about a year ago. I have experienced senior horses teeth be fine today and need floated in just three months.

Have a vet look at the horse and pay for blood to be drawn and tested. Once you have a diagnosis, then folks can make suggestions based on our experience:)
 
#3 ·
Agree that the horse needs more workup if it hasn't been done. Just weight loss does not sound like Cushing's. There are a number of things that are signs of Cushing's.

Usually it is not so much weight loss at first, but rather loss of topline (the spine sticks up) while the horse develops a pot belly appearance.
The coat grows gradually longer each year and gets progressively harder to shed out. Sometimes it gets curly.
Either excessive sweating or lack of sweating.
Drinking lots of water and urinating lots.
Prone to infections and laminitis.
Abnormal distribution of fat, with accumulations in the crest of the neck, tail head, sheath and above the eyes.
Lethargy and lack of energy.

Although insulin resistance often goes along with Cushing's, there are some horses that do not have insulin resistance and do not need a low NSC diet. My mare is one of the rare ones that does not have insulin resistance, and she can be turned out on grass without a grazing muzzle. Until you know that is the case for sure, any horse with Cushing's should be on a strictly low NSC diet with carefully controlled access to grazing.

My vet diagnosed my mare based on her loss of topline, pot belly, long hair coat that was slow to shed, drinking lots of water, lethargy and lack of sweating when exercised.

Cushing's is caused by either extra growth of tissue in the pituitary area or else a pituitary tumor. This affects the cortisol (stress hormone) levels and other hormone levels in the body, which makes the horse have all the symptoms. Only one treatment has been found so far, which is a medication called Prascend. My mare takes a half tab daily. The pill slows the progression of the disease and without it the disease will continue to progress, faster in some horses than others. Since my mare started the medication a year ago she is shedding better, has lmore energy, sweats well when exercised, has a good topline and less of a pot belly.

For just weight and muscle loss I would not suspect Cushing's right away. I'd wonder about dental issues, loss of ability to get nutrition from food in the intestines as the horse ages, Vitamin E deficiency (especially causes muscle loss), or just not getting enough calories due to management issues.
 
#4 ·
Hi, Firstly, have you had the vet check her(I sure hope so, if it's been going on for more than a year)? Has the vet has said 'she appears to have cushings'?? How does she appear to have it? What 'symptoms' are you seeing? Are there any other problems aside from chronic weight loss? Are you going to get her tested? If you haven't yet had the horse checked out by a good equine vet, please do ASAP.

IF the horse has PPID(aka Cushings), or EMS(aka insulin resistance), one great source of further info & support is Dr Kellon's Equine Cushings & Insulin Resistance Group Dr Bruce Nock is another to look up, having done lots of research into it.

Depends why she has PPID & what body issues she has, what her diet & management is as to specifics of treatment. Diet and nutrition, and reduction of stress are big ones. Dental & hoof maintenance often needs doing more often because of the disease too. The drug Pergolide and... (forget the other common) have been found to be effective at relieving symptoms and slowing/halting progression of the disease, but it is currently held there is no actual cure for it, just management.

If she hasn't had teeth floated for a year(normal schedule), she's likely due, esp as old & very young horses tend to need more frequent dentistry. A good dentist should advise you of a good schedule.

If she's due for worming, that's one more reason for 'failure to thrive', along with makeing sure she'd **effectively** wormed. Just because you give her some kind of paste every 6 weeks or so doesn't mean it works well enough. Especially considering chronic weightloss, I'd absolutely be doing a fecal test and getting the vet to advise on an effective treatment strategy.

Is she getting hay? Or only the feed you mentioned? Free choice grass hay should be her primary diet if she doesn't have adequate grazing. Pref tested low sugar. And for that matter, if she does have adequate grass, if that's too rich(cattle fattening improved pasture like rye grass etc), high NSC could be a problem there.

You don't say how much or how frequently you're feeding, which makes a difference too. Little & often is far better than 1-2 large meals daily & infrequent large/rich meals can actually contribute to weightloss. You also don't say what the 'senior' feed is either. Could be anything from healthy to junk food, so can't advise there. Ditto Walkin on the corn oil too.

Nutrition is probably imbalanced, if you've never had the diet analysed & you're not feeding appropriate ingredients to balance her basic diet. This can also contribute to weight/health probs.
 
#5 ·
The drug Pergolide and... (forget the other common) have been found to be effective at relieving symptoms and slowing/halting progression of the disease, but it is currently held there is no actual cure for it, just management.
Hi @loosie , the drug is called Prascend.

OP, I'm going through some similar issues with my 22 year old Morgan mare. @gottatrot could have been describing my horse when she wrote about what she experienced with her mare:
My vet diagnosed my mare based on her loss of topline, pot belly, long hair coat that was slow to shed, drinking lots of water, lethargy...
When my vet was out a few weeks ago for spring shots, he pulled blood to run a PPID test. Here's more info on testing for PPID:
https://ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/docs/eq...ings_tests.pdf

Of course, all blood tests have the possibility of false positives/negatives. My horse had the "Endogenous ACTH" test performed; it is commonly used, but does require careful treatment of the blood sample (cooling, centrifuging, and cold shipment) for accurate readings. My vet has done hundreds of these things so I trust the sample was handled appropriately.

Another common test is a dex suppression test, which requires blood draws twice, before and after administration of dex to test cortisol levels. I've read in some places this one is more accurate than the one we had, but other places say the opposite. One thing that sort of drives me nuts about where I live is that people are always trying to save you money, whether you want them to or not- so when I asked the vet about testing this way, he discouraged it so I wouldn't have to pay two farm calls. So you might consider that.

I got our test results back a couple of weeks ago- they came back with her ACTH levels in normal ranges and unchanged from her blood work last year. In other words- Cushings negative. I pushed the vet on whether we should do any follow ups or additional testing, and he really didn't think so- he thinks she's just starting to show her age, but isn't sick.

My vet seems unwilling to start Prascend without the positive blood tests, but I know a lot of others will just start based on the visual symptoms described above. I'm still not sure I'm making the right decision by not starting her on it, but for now, I'm working on diet changes (her teeth are starting to show some "cupping" so we moved her up to a senior feed that is theoretically a little easier to chew & digest) and a more regular exercise schedule and seeing how that works.

Bottom line though, I'd agree with others that it's time for a blood test and teeth check and working with the vet to figure out what's going on with your horse.
 
#6 ·
I don't think the OP's horse sounds typical of Cushing's and also advise getting a full blood test done. It could be an overactive thyroid but it could be lots of things or a combination of things

Egrogan - My mare had typical Cushing symptom's but also came back negative on her first test even though my Vet was convinced she had it, the only thing that was irregular on that report was a very low thyroid so she was put on a supplement for that which other than resolving her lethargy issue did nothing else at all. She didn't have IR but even kept on a strict low sugar/low starch diet she had uncontrollable laminitis attacks. A year later my vet sent off another test to a different Lab and that one came back positive so she was started on Pergolide (Prascend) and no more laminitis. She's on half a tablet as a whole tablet was starting to send her crazy and hyperactive.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for all your replies. I'll look into getting blood work done. She also does tend to drink a lot, but she's always been that way.

Walkinthewalk, The vet was over early this year because she had to get some stitches. He saw that she was skinny, and suggested corn oil. She is getting Purina equine senior feed or sometimes Nutrena Safe Choice senior feed. Are those full of Molasses?

Loosie, When we had the vet over for her stitches, we the vet thought she may have cushings but wasn't convinced.

I definitely see what you all mean when you say it might not be Cushing’s at all. I understand there are many other signs that would be accompanying the disease if she had it.

I'll look into getting her teeth done and will worm her. But again, the weight came off before the teeth were done last year. (When we were told her teeth looked great for her age) And her worming has been up-to-date for the most part.

She is fed twice a day and get's the grain at least once a day.

Thank-you everyone for your help! I really appreciate it.
 
#10 ·
Is it possible that it is just lack of protein? I was reading about it, and it sound like that may have something to do with all of this. I was realizing that she didn't seem to be getting all the protein that an average horse should be getting. It's between 10 and 12 percent of a horses feed should be protein, correct? If this is partly why she is skinny or not, I think I will still start giving her more protein. what do you all think? Do you know of any good seiner horse feed high in protein that I could give her?
Thanks.
 
#12 ·
If you want to try some extra protein then try alfalfa pellets (the small ones), start with a small amount - just a handful to get the horse used to the change and to see how it effects her and increase gradually to meet your horse's daily requirements in addition to whatever else you're feeding They're considered to be a 'safe' feed (in the correct quantity) for horses that might be prone to laminitis, they're one of the things suggested for horses prone to ulcers and they're good for weight gain.
Some horses can get 'hot' on alfalfa but the majority don't
 
#13 ·
Our elder mare (26) has Cushings. We found a senior feed specifically designed for her situation (older with metabolic issues) that has been working very well for us (we only have to feed 4# per day). So far, we haven't had to give her any medications and have been able to address her issues with feed and exercise.

I second the alfalfa pellets if you need more protein/calories.
 
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