My 30 year old quarter horse was recently diagnosed with Cushings after a minor bout of laminitis. We tried to start him on prascend (1 tab once/day) and he turned into a zombie and wouldn’t eat his grain. We’ve cut the dose back to a half tab and he’s better but still not eating great. My vet suggested taking him off of it completely for a few weeks until he gets back to his old self and then try again. I’ve been doing alot of reading and it sounds like horse experience fewer side effects if you start out on a quarter tab for several days and increase the dose by a quarter tab for a few more days until you reach the desired amount. What’s your experience with the prascend veil? Any other suggestions?
I would suggest starting with a small dose (1/4 tab) and build up from there. I have not experienced the full “zombie” effect but my pony did go off his grain. However, he did continue to eat his hay normally so I didn’t do anything and eventually he snapped out of it. In my guy’s case, it was literally a case of life or death - so he had to have it.
If your horse isn’t dangerously thin and/or is still eating hay, I would try going to the 1/4 dose versus going off completely. The horse probably has other symptoms other than laminitis that you can’t see.
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I slowly tapered up and had no problems. Prascend has really helped my guy - he’d been laying down, no energy, dull eyes, infections, etc and since he’s had no issues with any of that. I agree, why not go to 1/4 tab and slooooowly taper up and see how it goes.
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Agree with the others - start at 1/4 tab and work your way up. My mare started on 1/2 and maintains on 3/4 tab (we test her at least once a year though sometimes twice).
My mare is NOT a big eater at all but maintains her weight fine on free choice hay (she eats a bare minimum though). It’s a struggle to get her to eat grain (she gets TC Senior - minimal amount needed to get her Horsetech High Point Grass supplement into her and her Bioflax Ultra). It’s a process getting her to eat - I’m not too worried at this point because her weight has always been fine.
Read the box please and adhere to the handling precautions Ӣ
Good Luck ~ Jingles & AO ~
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My horse went off his feed when I started him on Prascend, and he was starting on a half tab. I did stop giving it to him for a couple of weeks then tried again and he was okay. He is now on a full tab per day. He has periodically gone off his feed for his entire life so we dissolve the pill in 4-6cc of water and syringe it into his mouth. 4-6cc is too small an amount for him to be able to spit out.
The vet from Boehringer-Inghelheim (sp?) recommended dosing alternate days for very low doses. So half a tab every other day, then up to half a tab every day, before trying the full tab again.
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I heartily agree with starting your horse on 1/4 of the 1 mg tablet.
my 24 yr old TWH had numbers three times higher than normal, so the vet started him on Prascend three days later, which was the soonest they could get Prascend to the office.
He wanted to start my horse on 1/2 tablet but I had read so much about the Pergolide Veil, I was afraid to do that. The vet let me start him on 1/4 mg daily, with a re-evaluation in a week to ten days.
My horse adjusted immediately, reacting exactly as he should with no negative side affects. Eight days later, I upped his Prascend to the 1/2 mg the vet initially wanted him on BUT I quarter the pills, so he now gets 1/4 mg tablet twice daily.
he has stopped the excessive shedding and while his hair is wavy, his Waliking Horse self no longer looks like a Curly Baskir when it rains:)
A serrated steak knife works best (for me:) to quarter what is already a small pill.
i put the 1/4’rd pieces into a hole I cut until a piece of apple to be sure my horse actually gets the piece.
my horse was diagnosed IR in 2012, so he is already on a strict, low NSC diet.
The pergolide “veil” is a real thing. My vet told me to expect it when I started my gelding on it. We started on a half tab and worked out way up to a full tab over the next three weeks.
It really is a life line for PPID horses, and worth sticking with.
Sheilah
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Since you already know that your horse is susceptible to Pergolide veil, while you titrate him up to a higher dose, I’d also recommend starting him on APF. It’s been a good solution for a lot of Cushings horses who lose their appetites on Pergolide. I kept mine on it for about 6 months after he went off his food and have never needed to put him back on it.
For those that need to cut pills more than they are scored to be cut, use one of these:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apex-Ultr…iABEgJNw_D_BwE
They work well.
We started our then 16 year old, soon to be 22 on half a pill and never had any problems, he always eats well.
For him, his sheath is what tells us how much to give him.
If it starts to swell, we know to add and once it goes down, we can go back to his previous amount.
He is also on a thyroid supplement, that is what really helped him finally lose weight from blimp to normal.
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I really cannot believe there are vets out there still prescribing one full pill, right off the bat. When we suspected my horse was cushingoeid, jr. vet said she’d start on 1 full tab, despite him being WNL at the time of testing… and likely to be a very low positive when he did finally dx and positive. We argued over this.
Since (and before) then, it’s been introduced super slowly:
1/4 tab every other day for a week for the super conservative.
Then 1/4 daily for a week
Then 1/4 Tab alternating with 1/2 tab every other day for a week.
Etc… Until you reach the recommended dose.
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My horse started Prascend in September 2019 and was prescribed 1 pill as a starting dose. He was retested in December and have now increased to 2 pills per day.
Does anyone know the cost of Prascend in Canada? If it is less expensive, I would be interested in purchasing there.
Thank you all for your recommendations. My horse stopped taking the prascend on Christmas and within 3 days was totally back to normal! I am going to give him a few weeks off then try it again, starting with the quarter tab and increasing it gradually. I hope that does the trick.
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I tried to put my now 19-year old gelding on Prascend last January. He went totally off his feed, became very depressed, was totally not himself so I took him off it. Some horses do not respond well to this drug. I never looked back. He is doing well, he is IR (we tested him again at the same time and his numbers had not changed). I clip him more often than I used to but keep him in moderate work.
thank you for saying that. I have been feeling guilty taking my mare off it, but she was depressed, zombie like, and would go off feed for extended periods of time. My vet assured me it was okay to take her off it (we tried everything over time), so I guess some just don’t handle it
OP: more often than not I have seen it work really well!!!
I have a 25 yo on Prascend and she does quite well with is (she has Cushings). She has been on it for a while, a half dose every day. My vet said that some horses just do not do well on it. There is supposedly another drug you can use - lesser known - and a vet friend who works at a university was going to look into it for me but I have not heard back from her yet. Does anyone know what this might be?
Pleazse let me know what the alternative drug is when you hear from your friend. It sure seems like prascend is not for every horse so I hope there’s something else out there that works. Thanks.
^^^ This:)
Your vet should never have had you start out with one whole tablet daily. Don’t give up on the Prascend just yet.
If you read my previous post, my vet wanted me to start at 1/2 tab daily and I wouldn’t even do that. I started at 1/4 tab daily for eight days and during that time my horse stopped his massive shedding, while trying to grow winter hair.
I then upped him to 1/2 tab daily BUT he still gets 1/4 tab at each meal which is what the vet wanted to begin with.
My horse has completely stopped shedding, I no longer have to clean his eyes every day and the stress wrinkles over his eyes have relaxed.
He is I also in IR remission. I am able to twist a hole in a small piece of apple and stick the 1/4 tablet in the hole. I add a couple more small pieces so he has something to grab onto as he is not the best when it comes to eating from the hand.
I don’t disagree that there are horses whose systems don’t agree with Prascend but I think there’s a lot more of them that would do better if they were started on tiny doses and work their way up.
My horse’s ACTH numbers were 93 FWIW. He is doing great on 1/4 tab two times daily. The vet will re-evaluate him in March via the ACTH test and his annual hands on physical.
Cushings (PPID) does NOT go away - it is only arrested and its progress slowed down with the meds. That slowing down depends on each horse and how soon the disease was discovered. Some horses can live a healthy life for years.
Please get your horse back on the Prascend – don’t wait for someone on a forum to suggest an alternative. I am a huge supporter and user of alternative and hollistic meds but not this time. Prascend works, it simply has to be administered in smaller doses initialy, so the horse can build up a tolerance:)
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That.^
I don’t think the OP’s horse got a fair trial, as told.
Our horse was on half a pill for three years before he needed to be upped part of the year to a whole pill and has been on a whole pill only this last year all year and is in excellent health, according to our vets.
While in some horses Prascend may not work at all, I would say those would be rare, is a well tested and tried medication to do what is intended to do, to help balance proper metabolism along with suitable dietary and exercise management.
