Dr. Erica Lacher explains what Cushing's is in horses, why we call it PPID, and how it effects horses. Additional topics include testing, symptoms, and treatment of Cushing's.
I had a mare diagnosed with/Cushings, here were her symptoms 1) winter coat in summer 2) laminitis 3) change in temperament from dead calm grandma/husband horse to nervous 4) bagged up and actually had milk although not pregnant Despite all the pergolide, special shoes and pads, herbal supplements NOTHING helped much 😢
I have a horse in Florida now, trying to diagnose if it’s Cushing’s…..have read (and you said here too) that time of year effects the test results….,could you please elaborate Soring Hill Vet Thanks!
Fall (August 15th to December 15th in the Northern Hemisphere) has higher than normal values for ACTH testing. We also find that horses who are borderline positive during the rest of the year will be VERY positive during Fall. This makes Fall a good time of year to test as long as you understand interpretation of the results. We consider around 100 to be the high end of normal for Fall testing, whereas we consider 30 the high end of normal the rest of the year.
Dr. Lacher is such a good speaker! Thank you for the PPID information.
I had a mare diagnosed with/Cushings, here were her symptoms
1) winter coat in summer
2) laminitis
3) change in temperament from dead calm grandma/husband horse to nervous
4) bagged up and actually had milk although not pregnant
Despite all the pergolide, special shoes and pads, herbal supplements NOTHING helped much 😢
I have a horse in Florida now, trying to diagnose if it’s Cushing’s…..have read (and you said here too) that time of year effects the test results….,could you please elaborate Soring Hill Vet
Thanks!
Fall (August 15th to December 15th in the Northern Hemisphere) has higher than normal values for ACTH testing. We also find that horses who are borderline positive during the rest of the year will be VERY positive during Fall. This makes Fall a good time of year to test as long as you understand interpretation of the results. We consider around 100 to be the high end of normal for Fall testing, whereas we consider 30 the high end of normal the rest of the year.