How long did you treat your horse's cushings

[PortRoyal]

My 20 year old retired guy was recently diagnosed with cushings. While it is very common in older horses, I can’t help but feel like this is the beginning of the end for him. He is going on 6 years of retirement due to severe arthritis and fusion in his left hock. He has a hard time getting around but we’ve kept him comfortable with daily previcox. My parents and I have all made the decision that when he starts going further down hill, that’s when we would put him down. I am also going to college next year, and neither of my parents are interested in horses, so he would get little to no attention as he is boarded.

I don’t know if this makes any sense, but there’s a little backstory for you guys anyways. So please tell me, how long did you treat cushings? Is it wrong to feel like treating it is only drawing out the inevitable longer?

[Highflyer]

We had a pony that went for almost fifteen years after diagnosis (and got hurt in the field and had to be put down from unrelated cause)-- he was healthy otherwise, though. If you catch it early, it can be managed for a long time. But it’s not always cheap or easy to manage and some horses don’t respond as well to the medication. I don’t think putting a horse with soundness issues and Cushings down is a bad decision.

[Laurierace]

You treat a horse with cushings the rest of their life, however long that may be. Death is inevitable for all of them regardless of their condition so I don’t think you are delaying the inevitable by treating him. You do have to add his response to the medication into your equation of when enough is enough however. Sorry you are dealing with such a grown up decision at such a young age.

[Bluey]

We have an 18, soon to be 19 with Cusings and he will have to be on Pascend forever.
He had gained a tremendous amount of weight very fast and that made us suspicious he had Cushings, that the vet and testing confirmed, now 2 1/2 years ago.
He will have to be under a strict weight control and dietary management program for the rest of his life.

Your horse has other health problems that are seriously impinging the quality of his life already, but Cushings may not necessarily contribute to that.

With his other problems, the time to make some decisions for him may be getting closer.
Sorry that you are now there, your vet can you give you advice there best.

[Gainer]

I treated my Cushings mare for 17 years. It really wasn’t a big deal and she lived to the ripe old age of 33. She also had arthritis and other issues, but lived a long, happy comfortable life.

However, based on your description that the horse will more or less be abandoned at a boarding barn once you leave for college, euthanasia may not be a bad thing. If you’re at a boarding barn that will take excellent care of him despite an absentee owner and you are willing to make sure he gets proper care, then by all means treat the Cushings.

[Scribbler]

If you want to give the horse the best possible retirement, don’t go to a boarding barn. Find a place that specializes in retirement and senior horses, which might be a smaller semi-private place. It might not be that close to where you or your parents live, which doesn’t matter if you aren’t riding. It might not have any riding facilities, which don’t matter. You want a place with some pasture access, drylots for winter, some shelter, and other old horses to hang out with. Ideally run by someone who isn’t primarily interested in profits and is happy to go out and give meds every day, to your horse and their own horses. They may be caring for a couple of their own retirees, and be happy to take on another, but not want to board any young, lively, horses that will chase their own old guys around!

Arthritic and senior horses do better where they can move around all day, and where they have companions to keep them interested in life. Since he will need daily prascend forever, though, you can’t just put him out in a field. Senior horses also do much better when their human caretakers are people who like, appreciate, and enjoy care-taking older horses, rather than being stuck in a riding barn where no one takes any notice, because they can’t be ridden.

You have some time to shop around for such a place.

[Mango20]

Mine lasted for 14 more years after treatment started at age 19. He surely had Cushings but was untreated before that (I didn’t have him). He sound and healthy up until a few weeks before the end.

[HealingHeart]

Could or would he be a suitable free lease horse 4 someone. Talk to your trainer, BO & others…, maybe he is the right horse 4 a trailride partner or low level work… options here

[Garnet_Z]

My 16 year-old horse has Cushing’s disease. It is managed with Prascend, so he does need to be given a Prascend pill daily. It costs me about $80 per month (I am in Canada).

Prascend can be very effective for some horses, so the Cushing’s disease may not negatively affect his life. Some horses do lose their appetite on Prascend but mine did not. There are other options for treating Cushing’s but I get the impression that Prascend is usually the first choice for treatment.

I would think your horse’s prognosis really depends on how he responds to Cushing’s medication. The arthritis and hock fusion are likely the more serious issues. Note also that horses with untreated Cushing’s disease can be very prone to issues like laminitis, infections, and suspensory ligament desmitis (inflammation).

Edit: Also, Cushing’s disease can’t be cured so treatment is necessary for the life of the horse.

[ladyj79]

[QUOTE=HealingHeart;8902009]
Could or would he be a suitable free lease horse 4 someone. Talk to your trainer, BO & others…, maybe he is the right horse 4 a trailride partner or low level work… options here[/QUOTE]

Op says he retired at 14 due to severe arthritis.

[ReSomething]

We treated Snort for the 7 years we had him and he undoubtedly had it before then. He died at aged 29. That being said if you are off to college and can’t see him and your parents don’t care about horses and you aren’t able to find a good retirement barn, I don’t know if I would really fault you if you chose to euth while he is still feeling good and you are able to be around.

I took Snort on because my trainer knew he needed more than she could afford to give a free loader and he still was very interested in life and had no major ailments. If he’d had any other overt major ailment we might not have gone that route, as it was we did put him on Previcox a few years ago which made him more comfortable.

[bt1]

When it comes to cushings it is absolutely managing rather than treating, it will never go away, it will get worse, meds may slow the progression of symptoms but will not stop them. With arthritis on top of it…ideally find him a comfortable retirement situation. Not medicating for cushings, spoiling him while you and euthanizing when his quality of life starts to decline for whatever reason is a fair option. It seems like you are thinking very maturely and considerately…sorry you are not getting better news.

[AKB]

Our guy lived for 8 years after starting Cushing medication. Older horses do need to be watched closely. It isn’t safe to just leave them at a boarding barn with no one in charge of them. Where do your parents live and where is the college you will be attending? Could he be moved to a retirement facility near you, so you can check on him weekly? Will you have a car? Have you considered going to a state university that would be less expensive and allow you to have a car? Sometimes, you have or make decisions that are responsible, even though it isn’t fun.

[S1969]

Not treating for Cushings is inhumane. It is a treatable condition (not curable), and not treating it can have serious and lasting negative effects on the horse. So, there should be no discussion of treating it or not treating it. If the horse has Cushings, you either treat, or euthanize.

Whether or not you should euthanize is another story altogether. I’d be curious what the ACTH results were, and whether any of the horse’s other issues might be compounded by Cushings, particularly laminitis. You might be surprised that if treated, the horse could rebound to appear a lot more healthy than before.

I agree that I would not put a retired horse in a boarding barn unless they also had retirees. It might be possible to find better care elsewhere for less than the boarding rate at many barns.

[Dbliron]

OP, I opted for euthanasia, and I don’t regret it. I travel a lot for work, and I did not want to come home after 4 or 5 days away to a horse in the throes of laminitis. My horse was having great difficulty with thermoregulation as well, and sweated profusely when the temperatures dropped at night this past summer. My DH covers the barn while I’m away, and I didn’t want him to have to deal the meds and the possible fallout if he missed something. My horse had done a great deal for me, and I owed him a gracious end, so that’s what I went with.

You are trying to give your horse the best care, and he’s already having trouble getting around, so euthanasia might be the very best thing you can do for him at this point.

[JB]

The sooner you start the Prascend, the quieter the symptoms will be, as you really do slow down the progression. Many horses have lived YEARS all but symptom-free when started at the first sign of the issue.

Not treating for it is asking for earlier and possibly more severe symptoms, including a monster Summer coat, the inability to really regulate body temperature, and abscessing and laminitis.

Let his other issues dictate what you do with and for him, but definitely start the Prascend asap if he’s going to be around for longer.

[merrygoround]

I will second JB’s comments. I’ve known Morgans on Pergolide and now Prascend for 6 or 7 years.

[Dressagelvr]

With good care, horses can live comfortably with cushings for 10+ years.

I put down my oldest guy at 32. He’d had cushings since his teens. He was comfortable right up to the end.

[Hayburner]

My 29 year old has been on Prascend for a good 6 years and is doing very well on it.
I have had to up his amount to 1 1/2 pills per day. They are higher maintenance when they have Cushings. My guy probably is arthritic but he doesn’t seem ouchy. He looks a but funky when he moves about, but I blame that on his breaking his pelvis about 1 year before he got Cushings.

If your horse is really struggling to get around, you need to decide what is best for him.

[Ljf141]

Hello, I know that this is an old post, but I am in need of some advice. My quarter pony gelding is 28 years old and has had Cushing’s for about 8 years and possibly longer due to the fact that he foundered severely in his late teens. It has been easily managed until this year. He has gained a heavy pot belly and slowed down a lot. I know he is old, but what are some other things I can do for him. He wears a grazing muzzle when out on pasture, he gets clipped up, and next to no grain. His hair is falling out in patches leaving almost no hair in its place.I recently had someone tell me that their horse had strongyles even hen they were on a routine deworming program. Should I have his manure checked?