I now own 3 Cushings horses with 2 of them being diagnosed in the last 2 weeks! Who is using pergolide instead of Prascend, where do you get it and what are you paying?
Vet just got me a quote me last weekend. $299 for 160ct.
A few years ago my horse was up to 8 mg of Pergolide. Switched to Prascend and he was controlled on just 1.5mg during the seasonal rise. He’s now up to 2mg, probably year round now.
Prascend does seem more expensive but controls the ACTH more reliably. Pergolide is less stable and temperature sensitive.
I just wish BI would lower the price. My horse is 32 years old and may never be ridden again after a recent suspensory injury. It’s a very expensive drug for anyone to use on a horse that is a pet.
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I use prascend, the pergolide as it ages gets much less effective so not really useful. My mare is holding just on 1 tablet per day. There are other treatments my holistic vet believes in for some horses.
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Hmm…my Cushings horse is on pergolide from one of the vets I use BECAUSE she thinks Prascend is too expensive for most horse owners, and she’s probably right. The last time my Cushings horse (age 30) was tested, which was late July, he was well within the parameters, and that’s with his pills setting in a shed with temperatures that are probably the same, or worse, than hell. So, maybe he’s an exception, or maybe he’s borderline in the Cushings syndrome.
PS–I’m charged around $300 for 160 tablets. And I’m going to bring them inside the house right now.
160 tablets of Prascend is $287.95 at Valley Vet.
My gelding’s first symptom was laminitis so I would never mess around with the generic. He has been maintained for 4 years now at 1 mg.
Thanks everyone. I currently pay $279 for 160 tabs of Prascend. The old pony will definitely stay on Prascend as wicked laminitis was his first sign of Cushings. The other 2, just recently diagnosed, have no symptoms other than late shedding which is what prompted the testing. The horse had really bad numbers so I might stick with Prascend. The large pony had moderate numbers so maybe I’ll try pergolide if there is enough of a cost justification.
skyy - I sympathize as I have three on Prascend myself - total of 5 tablets per day (ouch). BUT I don’t have to worry about their levels changing due to med. variation during the majority of the year when retesting would be meaningless. Your thoughts on the Prascend/pergolide tradeoff seem very reasonable; just thought I’d toss in my 27,900 cents.
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The cost of the pergolide 1 mg is $52 for 60 tabs so it would save me $26 a month for the large pony. That’s not really worth it to me so it’s Prascend for everyone.
I’m pretty happy with the compounded pergolide my mare is on. Its about $70 for 90 1mg pills from Pet Health Pharmacy. I have to use compounded since I’m actually allergic to pergolide itself (anaphylaxis to pergolide powder). Nothing else in the powder itself I’d react to. Compounded capsule = no skin contact. Prascend is just too risky for me. She used to be on Zyrtec pills, until they started burning my skin.
