[ryu2832]

I would get him tested, and if he needs perscription meds got for it--but from that list of symptoms he seems like a good candidate for Chastetree berry.

It will help with the muscle wasting, excessive water drinking, and the shedding problems.

Best wishes for your guy.

[prberry88]

Thanks everyone, I'll call the vet and schedule an appoitment.

ryu2832- I've heard of Chastetree berry but I don't know much about it. Could you, or anyone, tell me a little about it?

[Ryle]

I would suggest that you join the EquineCushings group on yahoo.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings

They can help you with appropriate testing, treatment options, managements options, etc. They also have tons of informational files for you to read. Be sure to start with the newbie folder or you will quickly become overwhelmed.

[prberry88]

Originally Posted by Ryle

I would suggest that you join the EquineCushings group on yahoo.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings

They can help you with appropriate testing, treatment options, managements options, etc. They also have tons of informational files for you to read. Be sure to start with the newbie folder or you will quickly become overwhelmed.

Thanks so much Ryle. I just joined, looks like quite a bit of info on there, lol.

[IIIBarsV]

I have a Cushingoid mare... we never got her tested but she shows all the classic Cushings symptoms, including the "mystery" illness that stumped 6 vets and 4 specialistics, aka primary psychogenic polydipsia (excessive water drinking that gave her diarrhea and is much like a stable vice).

We've had her on Chasteberry for a little over a year now. When we first started her on it last January, the first thing we noticed was a decrease in the water intake (at that time we still didn't know what we were dealing with in terms of the water drinking, and didn't really find out that it was the cause of the diarrhea until December 07). Then she started shedding out in April instead of June, and even lost the long wispy hairs. Considering she was also pretty thin, it was not surprising that she started shedding in April instead of Feb/Mar like the other horses. I believe if her health had been better she would've begun shedding out earlier.

She has seemed not as prone to laminitis over the last year, but I can't say for sure if that's due to the chasteberry. Either way, when they busted the fence down and got into the big, grassy hay field and refused to be caught for 3 hours, she didn't develop laminitis or signs of it at all- just a worse case of the runs.

Actually, it was probably the diarrhea that did it- due to her body's need to expel the excess water, she was getting no real time to digest anything, which was resulting in the weight loss. But if the grass was pretty much in and out with little digestion, maybe the full extent of it didn't really have a chance to cause her any problems. Huh. Have to watch that one more closely.

Anyways, we have the polydipsia under control now and she's gone from a 0/10 to a 3/10 on the body condition scale. Her winter coat is very wispy with no real thick undercoat, but it's been shedding out about a week after the other horses started shedding (early due to the weird weather). We upped the Chasteberry by about 80% two months ago, and now that she's actually digesting what she's eating, it may be really doing it's job now.

She is only 12 this year. I plan to keep her on the chasteberry as long as possible. When she's older she may need to go on Pergolide, but we'll wait and see.

It is, I should note, not affecting her heat cycles (which were nonexistent due to severe malnutrition for the last two or three years), because she's had one little heat in January and is currently in a raging heat right now. I don't know if the chasteberry would affect her fertility or do damage to a foal, but I don't know many people who would breed a Cushingoid mare anyway. I'm tempted if her health improves (this was a champion mare), but you can be sure I'll wait until I have scientific facts as to how genetic or heriditary Cushings disease is before I even toy with the idea.

Either way, the disease is totally manageable in the 21st Century. Just requires a bit more work than your average horse.

[ryu2832]

Originally Posted by prberry88

ryu2832- I've heard of Chastetree berry but I don't know much about it. Could you, or anyone, tell me a little about it?

In the herbal world it is considered an 'adapotogen', in this case it supposedly helps normalize the endocrine system. It can help relieve symptoms, like the excessive thirst, shedding, and muscle wasting--gerenally make the horse much more comfortable. It will not normalize Insulin levels, and if it actually effected T4 production levels I would be surprized. Which is why I always encourage the vet still be involved--even is all symptoms go away.

You can buy whole unground berries and grind them in a coffee grinder. Most people I have heard of start with 1 teaspoon ground berries twice a day, and adjust up or down from there. The water drinking should be the first symptom to get better, when the horse goes back to drinking a normal amount of water (usually within a few days) you're at the right doasge. They should start shedding out in a couple weeks.

I've heard great things about the Equine Cushings group.

Best of Luck!

[angie j]

OK, so I just tell the vet I want him tested for cushings and IR? Also, just so I can know what to expect, how pricey are these tests?[/quote]

I'm gettting my mare done today. The quote is around $230 for both tests.

From the research I've been doing it sounds more like IR... but the symptoms sometimes overlap, and, oftern they have BOTH, so, it's better to get both tests done and save yourself a second Vet call.
OH... and make sure they do an ACTH test for Cushings rather than a Dex Supression test, as, it's suspected of bringing on founder.."oh, no"!!!
Good luck.

Angie J

[prberry88]

Thanks for that story IIIBars, I'm glad you were able to get everything under control with her and that she is doing better. I hope she continues to do so.

ryu2832-Awesome, thanks for the info. I found an online distributor and I will be ordering some after I talk to my vet.

angie j-Ok, thats good to know, thank you very much.