Equine Cushings

Equine Cushings is a syndrome that is being seen more frequently in equine practice. It is a condition of the older horse and with improved care and welfare, horses are living longer. This, with the better recognition of the symptoms has resulted in an apparent rise in its incidence.

Group of Normal Older Horses.

What is Cushings?

This is a condition in which the horse's adrenal gland is over stimulated to produce the steroid cortisol. In the horse this is usually due to the over production of ACTH, a chemical messenger produced in the pituitary gland that stimulates the adrenal. The increased ACTH production is normally a result of an adenoma (benign) type tumour in the pituitary gland.

What are the clinical signs?

The variety of symptoms may vary from case to case but the following are some of the common presentations.

Failure to shed the coat; it becomes shaggy and long.

Increased thirst.

Increased frequency of urination.

There may be a reduction in the muscle mass, especially in the croup area and the horse may develop a pot-bellied appearance.

Appetite may be increased even though loss of weight is apparent.

Due to the increased production of cortisol, the immune system becomes depressed, with a consequential increase in infections, e.g. Skin infections, respiratory infections.

The increased circulating cortisol also poses a significant risk towards the development of laminitis.

How is it diagnosed?

Your vet to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms carries out routine haematology and biochemistry blood tests and urine analysis. If these tests prove inconclusive specific blood tests are used to confirm a diagnosis. Blood cortisol levels are measured and various suppression and stimulation tests are then performed.

Can Cushings be treated?

Due to the nature of the condition, adenoma of the pituitary, treatment may be unsatisfactory. Various drugs have been used such as cyproheptadine, pergolide and bromocriptine with varying results. Your vet should advise you on their usage.

In general there are several things that should be done to improve your horses health.

Greater attention to health care is important due to the increased susceptibility to infections.

Regular worming is important as the level of parasites may be increased with the immune suppression.

Dental care is important.

Important that your horse is on good quality feed and nutrition.

Body clipping may be necessary during the warmer months.

Prolonged antibiotic courses may be required if concurrent infections are present.

Magnesium supplementation has been recommended because it appears to be a risk factor for insulin insensitivity.The optimum Calcium: Magnesium ratio should be 2:1 in the diet.

Complimentary therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy and herbal medicine have also appeared to help.

In Cushings there is over production of steroids and the correction has to occur over time because the body is in a sort of imbalance, but if you think about it, in disease the body has a new balance, be that fluid balance, heat balance, energy balance, so when we introduce something new to the body these balances will all be upset. If something was done for example that stopped the adrenal gland from producing steroids the source of our Cushings problem, the body wouldnt be able to cope with the sudden change. You might even get collapse, all the body systems would be each rushing to reach a new balance or equilibrium. So therefore changes have to happen slowly , in a way we try to nudge the body back to a healthier balance. This is the herbal approach that the company has taken to the correction of this problem. For example, if we get the kidneys performing better, fluid balance will be regulated, dryness we hope will be lessened in the lungs, joints mobility improve as joint fluid less dry,and so many systems benefit.

In the Animal Herb Company, we have had considerable success supplementing our cushings cases with chinese herbs. We have prepared a case report of one of those cases for our readers.

This formula is one of our custom made formulations and may be purchased on request.

Cushings Case Report