older horse diagnosed with cushings

[shadesofbay3]

my vet tested my 23 year old mare for cushings last week and she came back positive, not on the base line test, but on the more sensitive test.

she only tested her because of her age; she isn’t showing any symptoms at all, which is good.

we are going to start her on 1/2 prascend a day.

she is at a really nice barn and is semi retired but i am wondering what else i need to do. my vet told me there was pretty much nothing else i should do right now and we would recheck her levels in the spring but upon doing some more research i found i should possibly be changing things like:

-feed (low sugar and starch)
-pasture - making sure she isn’t in lush pasture
-possibly soaking hay
-adding supplements?
-monitor feet and teeth

she is currently getting 1 pound 2x a day of pro elite senior. since she isn’t symptomatic right now should i just monitor and retest in spring? looking for advice until i can call vet again on monday

[SusanO]

Cushings and Insulin Resistance are not the same thing. A horse can be both, either one only or neither one. However a low sugar/ starch diet is not a bad thing, nor is limiting lush pasture. Definitely monitor feet and any infections the horse gets. Also be aware that sometimes Cushings horses are not able to regulate their temperature well - both getting cold even though they have a long coat and dissipating heat. My Cushings pony is getting more and more heat intolerant.

It sounds like you are on top of things.

[Calvincrowe]

My 23 year old retired jumper was also diagnosed this spring with Cushings and IR. He had some signs but most telling have been the two episodes of laminitis. We didn’t have to change his feed much, but he has to wear a muzzle if he’s on grass of any kind. His companion also has Cushings so I’m pretty aware of what needs to happen feed-wise. You are on the right track-- low sugar hay and low carb grain. I use soaked beet pulp to carry the Metaboleeze and Heiro that my guy gets, no grain. He, too, is on half a prascend daily, which gets stuff in a bit of carrot and hand fed to ensure he eats it.

I body clip mine as his coat was super thick and he was sort of shedding. He has become less heat tolerant, so stall fans and shade in the summer is how we deal. His companion is especially heat sensitive. Good luck, it’s not a death sentence and can be managed well.

[shadesofbay3]

how would i know if she is IR? the only think my vet mentioned was the cushings… would that have shown in the test or is that a separate test?

[ladipus]

@shadesofbay3

how would i know if she is IR? the only think my vet mentioned was the cushings… would that have shown in the test or is that a separate test?

You would get bloodwork testing for insulin, glucose, leptin and cortisol…acth is what tests for Cushings …A low starch/sugar diet is what’s recommended- 2 of mine that are Cushings only get Prascend , Triple Crown Senior /Buckeye Gro N Win , go out on pasture and eat a low sugar hay…my pony who is severely IR and Cushings gets Prascend , Metformin, Thyro L, Equioxx& Gabapentin (he had a laminitis flare up a few months ago) he eats only Ontario Dehy Timothy Balance Cubes and gets low sugar hay and gets turned out on a dry lot.

[PaddockWood]

You’ll want to taper up on the Prascend to avoid her going off her feed. Start with a 1/4 tab for something like a week?. Ask your vet. Most of us with success putting our seniors on Prascend with no problems did start with a 1/4 tab and move up slowly.

http://www.thelaminitissite.org/arti…ascend-tablets

[ljc]

I’m on year 3 of dealing with two Welsh ponies (ages 22 &23) who were both diagnosed with Cushings. I had one tested for IR but didn’t do the other because I decided to pretend they both had it and feed accordingly. Both ponies wear grazing muzzles on turnout (but when I’m hand grazing them they get to eat grass for those moments). Mine each get 2 mg of Prascend (we started at 1/2 mg but have had to increase). Thank god neither had an issue with Prascend. I had an OTTB who started on Prascend, refused to eat anything (even after I stopped the Prascend) and ended up in the hospital with kidney failure. I nearly lost him. They each get bodyclipped every eight weeks. They eat a combination of Teff and orchard grass, with a handful of alfalfa on top). They each get two cups of Triple Crown lite mixed with beet pulp shreds. I also feed quiesssence (a magnesium/Chromium supplement).

Your guiding principle should be low sugar everything.

Good luck. It’s not a death sentence! My two are gorgeous and look like a million dollars.

[Garnet_Z]

Like others have said, it’s not a death sentence. Some horses respond quite well to treatment with Prascend. Mine has been on it for nearly five years and each year his blood work comes back normal. He sheds out normally and (so far) has had no foot problems like laminitis.

My horse isn’t insulin resistant, but horses with Cushing’s can be prone to that. My horse eats grass hay and senior horse pellets. I don’t feed him grain. He’s in a paddock that doesn’t have much grass, but I do put him in a small pen with grass for fifteen minutes or so as a treat when I go see him.

[shadesofbay3]

this is a really dumb question i know, but what is the differencr between grain and pellets? i have always used the two terms interchangeably but knowing there is a difference …

[Garnet_Z]

Some of the people at the barn I board at seem to use “grain” and “pellets” interchangeably too. For instance, the barn workers call my horse’s pellets his grains. I use grain to refer to straight grain (like oats, corn, barley, etc) and pellets to refer to processed horse feeds. Pellets are usually fortified with various nutrients and many are going to have some sort of grain as an ingredient, plus other ingredients such as soybean hulls, alfalfa meal and/or oils. For a horse with Cushing’s disease, you want a pellet with a lower % of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC). Such carbohydrates include starches and sugar. Structural carbohydrates would include cellulose. A pellet with a low NSC % is likely to have a higher proportion of ingredients that are high in cellulose (hulls) and a lower proportion that are high in starches/sugars (like corn).

This is an example of a pellet that is very low in NSC (11%): https://hoffmanshorseproducts.com/Pr…alancIR-Ration

My horse was on those pellets until he decided he didn’t like them any more. He eats a different brand of senior feed that is higher in NSC but he gets less of that stuff (which he loves).

[BoyleHeightsKid]

Dr Kellon’s ECIR group is wonderful, get to know them
https://www.ecirhorse.org/

and Katy Watt’s site www.safergrass.org
she also has a group on facebook of the same name

Great resources, great people. You will learn a bunch and they are very helpful. You will learn that lush grass isn’t necessarily the dangerous kind.

It’s great you’re on top of this now before she started showing any symptoms. Maybe you can get ahead of it and stay ahead of it.