Chaste Tree Berry supplement for Cushings

[neversaynever]

[QUOTE=newhorsemommy;8709926]
I’m going to start with a half dose and build-up. Bute doesn’t seem to bother his stomach, so I’m hoping it won’t be an issue.

I’m not sure the previcox is working as well as it should, and Bute (which works really well for him) is difficult to feed in a boarding situation since he hates it. So my hope is that possibly he’ll actually eat the Devil’s claw and that it might actually show some effect.[/QUOTE]

Have you tried the powdered bute from Wedgewood? It’s flavored. I topdress on my horse’s ration balancer.

[newhorsemommy]

[QUOTE=neversaynever;8711110]
Have you tried the powdered bute from Wedgewood? It’s flavored. I topdress on my horse’s ration balancer.[/QUOTE]

The last kind I got from the vet was molasses flavored and he hates it. Thinking back, when he had laminitis it seems like he ate the orange-flavored bute without too much trouble.

[fjordie03]

My horse has Cushings and cannot tolerate Pergolide at all.

We tried it for a year but could never get him to the full dose (one tablet) because he would stop eating altogether and stand in the paddock like a zombie when taking the full dose of Pergolide. We held him at a 1/2 tablet for 10 months and that still ruined his appetite and made him a zombie and was doing very little to control the disease progression.

So we had to try Chasteberry as it’s the only other option. He’s been on Chasteberry for about three years and I will honestly say, Chasteberry did seem to improve his symptoms the first year, but for the last two years I suspect it’s not doing a thing to help him. I body clip him in March to clear out his winter coat and then monthly during the summer and he’s still very intolerant of the heat. My vet has not recommended retesting ACTH because it doesn’t matter - we can’t use Pergolide. I wish there was another option as he’s only 20 and a saint of a horse.

[newhorsemommy]

[QUOTE=fjordie03;8712055]
My horse has Cushings and cannot tolerate Pergolide at all.

We tried it for a year but could never get him to the full dose (one tablet) because he would stop eating altogether and stand in the paddock like a zombie when taking the full dose of Pergolide. We held him at a 1/2 tablet for 10 months and that still ruined his appetite and made him a zombie and was doing very little to control the disease progression.

So we had to try Chasteberry as it’s the only other option. He’s been on Chasteberry for about three years and I will honestly say, Chasteberry did seem to improve his symptoms the first year, but for the last two years I suspect it’s not doing a thing to help him. I body clip him in March to clear out his winter coat and then monthly during the summer and he’s still very intolerant of the heat. My vet has not recommended retesting ACTH because it doesn’t matter - we can’t use Pergolide. I wish there was another option as he’s only 20 and a saint of a horse.[/QUOTE]

There are other medications available. They aren’t used as often because the pergolide is more effective, but to the best of my knowledge they are available. A google search should bring them up pretty easily.

[INoMrEd]

[QUOTE=newhorsemommy;8709927]
I feed a “heaping” teaspoon, which is probably closer to two teaspoons.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for your response Newhorsemommy!

[Ghazzu]

[QUOTE=fjordie03;8712055]
My horse has Cushings and cannot tolerate Pergolide at all.

We tried it for a year but could never get him to the full dose (one tablet) because he would stop eating altogether and stand in the paddock like a zombie when taking the full dose of Pergolide. We held him at a 1/2 tablet for 10 months and that still ruined his appetite and made him a zombie and was doing very little to control the disease progression.

So we had to try Chasteberry as it’s the only other option. He’s been on Chasteberry for about three years and I will honestly say, Chasteberry did seem to improve his symptoms the first year, but for the last two years I suspect it’s not doing a thing to help him. I body clip him in March to clear out his winter coat and then monthly during the summer and he’s still very intolerant of the heat. My vet has not recommended retesting ACTH because it doesn’t matter - we can’t use Pergolide. I wish there was another option as he’s only 20 and a saint of a horse.[/QUOTE]

ask your vet about trying cyproheptadine.

[pony_baloney]

I started using this in July and this is the first summer in years that my horse has a normal, summer coat. (I give Prascend as well).

Just wondering if continuing to use the CTB in Smart Pituitary into fall will prevent him from growing his winter coat. He’s 31 and I’d like him to stay warm without resorting to multiple layers of blankets. He’s usually a woolly yak in fall when fuzzy in summer.

I like what’s in the Smart Pituitary supplement besides the CTB—the amino acids, omegas and immune builders but can’t find another single supplement that combines all those things.