Cushings disease, what is at play here?
Cushings disease is a little bit of a special interest for me. I myself own two horses with the disease. I have also come across a large number of horses with varying severities of this disease in my practice over the years.
What is “cushings disease”?
This is the lay term for the technical disease; Pars Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction aka PPID.
What horses are at risk?
As a general rule older horses are more at risk. Especially horses over 15 years old. This does not exclude younger horses. If a young horse presents to me with laminitis or any other clinical signs aligning with the disease, you bet we will be discussing it!
What are the outward (clinical) signs?
- Laminitis (sometimes this is our first indicator)
- Muscle loss (atrophy)
- Abnormally long coat (this is also a “first indicator”)
- This does NOT mean that horses that do shed out or horses that have a “normal” hair coat cannot have cushings
- Delayed or absent seasonal shedding
- Behavior changes
- Ulcers
How do I know if my horse has cushings?
There are a couple of clinical signs that give us the suspicion of the disease.
- Sore front feet – suscpicion or diagnosis of laminitis
- Anhydrosis – inability or decreased ability to sweat
- Hypertrichosis – extra long coat with decreased or lack of shedding out appropriately
- Decreased immune function – a horse that gets sick often or seems to have constant infections
There are a few different ways your veterinarian might make this diagnosis. A blood test is the standard way to diagnose. Sometimes a series of tests is required if the first result is “borderline”.
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How should I manage the nutrition of a horse with cushings?
Dietary considerations for should look like a low sugar, and low “simple” carbohydrate diet. Lots of grass hays (I will go into this later) and grass hay pellets. I usually recommend NO grains, thats correct, not even the “low starch” ones.
The reason for this diet change is not necessarily specific to PPID. This is because many horses with PPID also have Equine Metabolic Syndrome or laminitis. Both of these diseases absolutely require a LOW sugar and LOW non-structural carbohydrate diet.
I do like to add a vitamin/ mineral supplement to the diet with the grass hay however.
Horsetech.com makes a AZ COPPER COMPLETE that I really like, downside to this supplement is the volume needed to be fed. It also contains flax meal, which I have discovered many horses are actually allergic to.
California Trace also makes a great vitamin/ mineral supplement that is a smaller scoop and much more easily fed.
What are the pharmaceutical/ prescription therapies?
Pergolide (Prascend) is the labeled treatment for cushings disease. I am not going to talk about it much here. It is not my favorite drug, unless absolutely emergently necessary.
What are the natural therapies?
Vitex (Chaste berry) is a natural alternative for management of cushings disease. This herb supports the endocrine regulation of the body. Many times I will also recommend other herbs to support the rest of the horse. Within this disease there are many other systems that require support. The immune system is one of these. Depending on the other disease processes that might be present, other herbs may be warranted.
If you would like to put together your own supplement for a cushings horse I recommend this formula, or something close:
Add equal parts of these herbs together and feed 2 TBSP twice a day.
Visit my online store in the next few days for links to purchase a supplements I have put together.
I also really like this supplement from Equine Medical and Surgical Associates. Many of my clients have reports that their cushings type horses, especially with laminitis have greatly benefited from it.
For immune support my absolute favorite is Immubiome Immune – if you use my code LVS you get a small discount and I also get a small commission at no additional expense to you.
Can cushings disease be cured?
Not at this time. There is no known cure, this disease is only managed.
Some other sources with information on PPID
- AAEP article
- Michigan State University article
- If you would like a very technical article from the Equine Endocrinology Group, an authority on PPID (cushings), you can find that here
