Mine had no issues shedding and great coat too. Cushings was the last thing on my mind as he totally didn’t fit the stereotype. My vet said they’ve been seeing more cases where exercise intolerance is an early symptom.
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I just spend $13,000 to get an answer on my mare’s mystery aliment. We tested for PSSM 1 and 2, EPM and cushings, all negative. Vitamin e level was normal. Did a muscle biopsy for MFM and a tail head biopsy to test for VEM. MFM was negative but VEM was positive. Apparently she was deficient in vitamin e at some point in her life and it created the VEM. We didn’t have any problems in Maryland because the vitamin e supplementation plus pasture was enough but when she went down to Florida and was dry lotted she fell apart.
So even though her blood levels of e were in the normal level that isn’t enough for horses with her condition. She is in 10,000iu of Nano e until we go for a recheck in October. Hopefully we can start cutting her down a but afterwards. The good news is my horse is better than ever and it’s only been about 6 weeks.
I would keep a MFM biopsy and VEM tailhead biopsy in the back of your mind if you don’t figure anything else out. It was inexpensive in comparison to all the other stuff we did and tested her for so well worth it, especially with the great news of her diagnosis.
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Make sure you’re using the concentrate … I feed 8000 units daily to keep my horse at ‘normal’.
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Agree.
How long did it take on prascend to see a difference?
Probably a good 6-8 weeks…he was also very heavy when we tested (though his insulin tested normal)…his weight came down when he started the prascend, and I am sure that also factored into him being able to handle the exercise better.
Interestingly, we started him on 1/2 tablet. He was on that through the fall and winter. Then in spring, he stopped eating and it seemed almost like a prascend veil. A few days later he spiked a temp and had something similar to a case of anaplasmosis. He got very difficult to get the prascend into him after that (before he was pretty easy about it). I had to stop it for a week…then I went to 1/4 tablet.
This summer, I’ve had him just on the 1/4 tablet and he’s back to eating great and looking fantastic. His weight is perfect, even on grass 24/7. I sort of think he self adjusted his dose of prascend.
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She (?) is using the water-soluble form, which is the most bioavailable. What are you using that it takes 8000IU?
I feed the Elevate concentrate; 3/4 scoop am and pm.
Ok, so you’re using the Maintenance product, which is the powder. If you have to feed 8000IU of a very pricey E, then I would strongly suggest looking into Emcelle, the cheapest of the water-soluble forms, more bioavailable than Elevate Maintenance of any other regular E, and cheaper per IU than the Maintenance.
Elevate Maintenance is $.38/1000IU on Chewy right now for the 2lb, non-auto ship. I checked Valley Vet for the 10lb and it’s still $.39 so no savings. Chewy’s auto-ship would be only a penny cheaper
Emcelle is $.24/1000IU through Custom Equine Nutrition
If it were me, I’d switch, and use 6000IU of the Emcelle for $1.44.day, vs 8000IU of the Elevate Maintanence at, minimally, $2.96/day. Then re-test in a month or 2
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I think the Elevate Concentrate is the Wiser Concepts version. It provides 5,000iu per scoop.
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I can tell you that the anhidrosis itself can 100% cause these symptoms. It’s not just about not sweating while working but it really affects how they feel in general. My pony has struggled with it. I recommend joining the anhidrosis fb group. There are so many ideas to try I found one that finally worked for her. It’s a weird one if you’re curious let me know I can share. But I can say she went from lethargic, completely unwilling to work at all even when it’s cooler to trotting around game for anything.
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Can I ask how you describe exercise intolerance?
For my guy…it was a lack of power…no pep…a bit more labored breathing. He was in a very consistent program, riding 5-6 days a week…40-45 minutes of PSG level work (obviously with walk breaks, warmups). He would do his warm up…and just feel like you were at the end of a hard 45 minute work out, instead of just at the beginning. I noticed he was a bit noisy with his breathing and there was more effort to his breathing (and no hx of that or being a roarer). When doing his higher level work, like pirouettes or tempis, he just didn’t have the normal power/effort he usually had. He’s always been a pretty peppy horse, not one that was lazy or needed constant leg…and suddenly it was a lot more work to keep him going.
Thank you! Your experiences have been really helpful in interpreting what’s going on over here. We started Thyro-L for weight, and then blood work suggested maybe PPID so on 1/2 tab of Prascend -it’s only been a week so far.
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I’m obviously going to keep with the tests next week but I think you’re right. Today it was 72 with a nice breeze, I rigged up a bucket with a rag on a string that I could dip in and soak him with water during our walk breaks. I did that and he worked 35 min (pretty hard hill work) with zero issues. Then when I got off I soaked him again from the ground and by the time we got to the barn (a little bit of a walk but less than .25 mile) he was breathing normally.
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Oh, you’re right, totally different product!
Still more $$. 2lb is minimally $.34/1000IU through Allivet and that’s with an auto-ship, and $.43 for one-time buys.
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Have you scoped for ulcers?
I haven’t cuz he really doesn’t have any other symptoms that makes me think it. But if they next couple tests reveal nothing I’ll add it to my list
Napping or not wanting to go forward is a less known symptom, worth checking out for sure!
My anhidrosis horse does best on beer! For cooling, I use a spray bottle with a mixture of water, alcohol and mouthwash. This evaporates and cools more quickly than plain water.
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