Prascend how do you administer?

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Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:43 pm

Going to start one of my horses on this tomorrow. How does everyone give the pill? Just put it in feed or in a treat? She gets a bunch of stuff like oil and a small amount of unsweetened applesauce with some supplements all mixed into the feed. Also some red cherry flavored liquid chasteberry. I have heard of some people putting pills in a fig newton, haven't tried that yet.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Hayburner » Sat Apr 07, 2018 2:44 am

Since my old guy is on Triple Crown Light, it's a pelleted feed so he would leave the Prascend. I put it in a small piece of apple and he eats His dosage of 1 1/2 pills and also an Equioxx pill.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Abby Kogler » Sat Apr 07, 2018 3:02 pm

I give it separately, just in my hand, with a small amount of grain (Carboraider Complete or Triple Crown Sr) and he eats it out of my hand. Its never been any issue. I don't want to put it in his bucket of supps, this way I know he actually eats it.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Dapple Field » Sat Apr 07, 2018 9:07 pm

For our pony, i just put it in with his tiny bit of grain. It's a deep feed tub so little chance of him tossing it out. I think the first few times I put it in a slice of apple just to make sure he would eat it.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Sat Apr 07, 2018 9:40 pm

She licked her feed pan clean. She's not one to drop food and I think the pill dissolved in her stuff she gets. My husband thought we maybe should stop the chasteberry but I have heard of people giving both. I am assuming this prascend may take a little while to work?

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Fatcat » Sat Apr 07, 2018 11:39 pm

I put it in a fig or Apple bar (like fig Newton)

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:13 am

My horse loves bananas. He gets 2 Pracend. I slice two small pieces of banana and stick the pill in the center. I've done this with other meds as well. The great thing about the banana is that he pretty much swallows it whole since it is so soft. To put the pill in something that requires chewing, he might get a bad taste and not eat it.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:49 pm

Melody - My horse showed a dramatic turnaround in 60 days after starting pergolide.
The medicine is too important and expensive for me to risk dropping it in the feed pan. I feed it by hand.
Some horses don't mind the taste, but many hate it. And it can give them a sour stomach. Mine will frequently go off his feed.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:57 pm

I hope she doesn't go off feed. She usually starts doing that anyway in the summer because of her anhydrosis. That along with EPSM and cushings is hard to deal with. Anhydrosis got much worse since we added cushings to the mix. That's why I use a little bit of unsweetened applesauce. She will eat just about anything I put in her feed but doesn't like the ONE AC. Seems to eat it with applesauce. Had an acupuncture vet finally come out because someone on here said it helped their horse with anhydrosis and cushings but this vet was afraid to do too many points on her. Just did a few that were supposed to help immune system. So far the pill seems to dissolve in the mess she gets and she is licking her pan. She usually does not drop food as her face never leaves the feed pan until she is done. She turned 21 today, with all her problems I never thought she would make it this far.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Tue Apr 10, 2018 7:41 pm

Melody, I have read (on Dr. Kellon's Cushings Group) that it is very common for horses to go off feed, but this is temporary. Mine did not go off feed, but he became extremely lethargic almost like he was tranquilized. It subsided in short order. I just increased to two pills within the last couple weeks with no negative side effects.

I had not read about Pracend giving horses a sour stomach. Palogal, are you giving Pracend pill or are you giving one of the compounded versions?

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:50 pm

The prascend pill. This is day five and she doesn't want to completely finish her breakfast. This could be the pill or time of year. She is in heat too. Seems lethargic but heck, that's her most of the time anymore. It's going to be hard to tell what's going on with her many problems. I left her in her stall for a little while this morning to see if she will finish. She ate over 2/3 and licked the pan where she ate. I guess I will have to resort to the fig newtons or apples to make sure she gets all of the pill from now on.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:45 am

musical comedy - I started 2 yrs ago with the compounded version and it worked very well. Then I got the second batch and I believe it was bad. He soon started to have problems and his ACTH started to rise. A different Vet strongly urged me to switch to Prascend and I did. He believes this is not a disease you can rely on a compounded medicine. Now I agree. Last winter he went completely off is feed for 3 months. This winter he's eating fine.
I also now give him some alfalfa hay with feed. It helps buffer the stomach.

Melody - My horse had a bout of anhydrosis last summer and I gave the ONEAC in a syringe with sugar free pancake syrup and water. He loved it

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Fri Apr 13, 2018 4:43 pm

It seems to be a no go on fig newtons. I offered her one and her brother that was standing next to her. He is not picky. He kept trying to like it, would take it and spit it out. She was not having it. Apples seem to work. I wish someone made a real tasty pill pocket like they have for dogs and cats. Not finishing her feed still but it got real hot and super humid. More like June. Our dewpoint right now is 67. That has always bothered her. Sophie has had chronic anhydrosis since she was really young. She usually eats the ONE AC mixed in her food but I might have to try and syringe it in her mouth. Nothing is easy with this horse. I am afraid it could be her last summer if something doesn't start to kick in. She looses over 100 pounds the last couple of summers and I can't keep her comfortable no matter what we do. That said she ran up to the barn this morning with her brother. Tomorrow we get cold again so will be interesting if that makes a difference.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Fatcat » Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:21 pm

Melody wrote:It seems to be a no go on fig newtons. I offered her one and her brother that was standing next to her. He is not picky. He kept trying to like it, would take it and spit it out. She was not having it. Apples seem to work. I wish someone made a real tasty pill pocket like they have for dogs and cats. Not finishing her feed still but it got real hot and super humid. More like June. Our dewpoint right now is 67. That has always bothered her. Sophie has had chronic anhydrosis since she was really young. She usually eats the ONE AC mixed in her food but I might have to try and syringe it in her mouth. Nothing is easy with this horse. I am afraid it could be her last summer if something doesn't start to kick in. She looses over 100 pounds the last couple of summers and I can't keep her comfortable no matter what we do. That said she ran up to the barn this morning with her brother. Tomorrow we get cold again so will be interesting if that makes a difference.


Sometimes it takes a few times for them to acquire a new taste. Every time I change treats I get the "phooey!" Response :lol: Try apple bars and give them a few that are not pill filled first.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Sat Apr 14, 2018 4:58 pm

We are having a hard time finding the apple fig newtons. I guess she doesn't mind the pill in a piece of real apple so I guess we stick with that for now. Maybe I can find a recipe for some kind of apple bars I can make myself. When she was younger she would not eat apples at all. Took her a while to like them. Now my half Arab has decided she doesn't like apples anymore. Picky horses. She had a hard time yesterday, was hot and very humid. Dewpoints close to 70. Now today we seem to be back to winter. Hope this pill works with her.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:49 pm

Palogal5 wrote:musical comedy - I started 2 yrs ago with the compounded version and it worked very well. Then I got the second batch and I believe it was bad. He soon started to have problems and his ACTH started to rise. A different Vet strongly urged me to switch to Prascend and I did. He believes this is not a disease you can rely on a compounded medicine. Now I agree. Last winter he went completely off is feed for 3 months. This winter he's eating fine.
I also now give him some alfalfa hay with feed. It helps buffer the stomach.
Palogal, when he went off his feed for 3 months, was he on the Pracend or the compounded?

My horse has always been fat and laminitis has always been a concern. He was moderately IR. This year he is losing lots of weight. The weight loss started when I put him on Pracend. When the ACTH dropped, so did the Insulin, so I'm thinking his obesity had to do with the IR and the Pracend put in under control. I could never figure out while he was so plump when he didn't eat enough calories to warrant it.

I'm am starting to question the ACTH readings. One I'm pretty sure was in error and I think it was my vet's fault. Possibly didn't process the blood properly or get it to the lab quickly enough. On 2/21/18 ACTH was 51. I increased to 2 Pracend on 3/15/18 and tested blood on 4/12/18. Came back 32.2. So...the additional pill only brought it down from 51 to 32.2. High range is 35. I'm not sure whether to increase it or not. Vet seems to be ok with it because it is not above the normal max, but I know that Dr. Kellon thinks Cushings horses should be low in the range to prevent laminitis.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Fatcat » Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:42 pm

Melody wrote:We are having a hard time finding the apple fig newtons. I guess she doesn't mind the pill in a piece of real apple so I guess we stick with that for now. Maybe I can find a recipe for some kind of apple bars I can make myself. When she was younger she would not eat apples at all. Took her a while to like them. Now my half Arab has decided she doesn't like apples anymore. Picky horses. She had a hard time yesterday, was hot and very humid. Dewpoints close to 70. Now today we seem to be back to winter. Hope this pill works with her.


I just found these, the Equine version of Pill Pockets. They might be worth a try:

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/pill- ... avor-14365

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:28 pm

Thanks! I checked them out and just ordered some. I have two other horses on previcox so if Sophie doesn't like these I am sure someone will. I knew there had to be something like that or someone should invent it. Thought we were over the off the feed thing because yesterday she finally licked her feed pan clean twice. Today we are back to not wanting to finish. I cut out some of her supplements, cut the feed down and added some timothy/alfalfa pellets we had on hand. Don't usually feed that to anyone but my husband had gotten some to try and get our old llama to eat better. The llama won't touch them but Sophie is eating some. Sophie is getting the pill in the apple pieces but I hope this smartpak thing works.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:23 pm

musical comedy - He was on the Prascend when he lost his appetite. His ACTH had gone up to the low 60's and we tried to raise his dose to 1 1/2. He stopped eating so we dropped it back to one. Later, we tried again to raise the dose and he did it again. So back to one pill again.

Now, I have no choice. His ACTH in January jumped to 200! Because of his history only raised it half a pill. Retested in March and it was 120. Had to raise it to 2 pills. I'll retest in May and suspect I'll have to go up again. This disease seems to be raging out of control in this horse. He's only 14 yrs old and I'm at my wits end with it. I could write a book about the saga of the last 4 yrs.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Thu Apr 19, 2018 3:13 pm

Palogal5 wrote:musical comedy - He was on the Prascend when he lost his appetite. His ACTH had gone up to the low 60's and we tried to raise his dose to 1 1/2. He stopped eating so we dropped it back to one. Later, we tried again to raise the dose and he did it again. So back to one pill again.

Now, I have no choice. His ACTH in January jumped to 200! Because of his history only raised it half a pill. Retested in March and it was 120. Had to raise it to 2 pills. I'll retest in May and suspect I'll have to go up again. This disease seems to be raging out of control in this horse. He's only 14 yrs old and I'm at my wits end with it. I could write a book about the saga of the last 4 yrs.
So you are on two pills now again? And he's eating? My guy is showing lack of interest in his senior and leaving a little bit of it.

Dr. Kellon's site says to increase slowly, 1/4 pill at time. I didn't do that. I went to 1 and then 2. Gee, I really feel for you with a 14 year old with this problem. Is he sound and rideable? Any laminitis? My guy is sound, but retired and never had laminitis. Having dealt with founder, I am petrified of seeing it again.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:57 pm

He's only been on 2 pills since March. I raised him 1/2 a pill at a time.

I live in daily fear of laminitis... so far so good. He Has had 3 abcesses since Oct. Prior to that he'd had one abcess in his life due to a hot nail.
I've barely been able to ride him since Oct. because of the abcesses. Then in February he broke out in an epic case of rain rot. Head to tail. 100% of his body. So , couldn't ride because of that. Got it under control and last week it's come back in places. Based on how he's behaving and how the new hair is coming in I'm sure this disease is not being managed.
Now that grass is coming in I"m not so worried if he quits eating his feed. He doesn't get much anyway. I only want him to get the Smart Pituitary (double dose) and ground Flax supplements.

Looking back,, I'm sure this horse would have tested positive as a 10yr old. I think this disease was coming in his future, but he had colic surgery 4 years ago and I think the stress of that shifted Cushings into overdrive.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:00 pm

Also, I have to worm him more often. He now has a high fecal egg count every time. Clearly his immune system is not functioning.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Thu Apr 19, 2018 7:10 pm

Palogal5 wrote:He's only been on 2 pills since March. I raised him 1/2 a pill at a time.

I live in daily fear of laminitis... so far so good. He Has had 3 abcesses since Oct. Prior to that he'd had one abcess in his life due to a hot nail.
I've barely been able to ride him since Oct. because of the abcesses. Then in February he broke out in an epic case of rain rot. Head to tail. 100% of his body. So , couldn't ride because of that. Got it under control and last week it's come back in places. Based on how he's behaving and how the new hair is coming in I'm sure this disease is not being managed.
Now that grass is coming in I"m not so worried if he quits eating his feed. He doesn't get much anyway. I only want him to get the Smart Pituitary (double dose) and ground Flax supplements.

Looking back,, I'm sure this horse would have tested positive as a 10yr old. I think this disease was coming in his future, but he had colic surgery 4 years ago and I think the stress of that shifted Cushings into overdrive.
Gee, I'm really sorry and I can really relate because I've had more than my share of horsey sicknesses.

I was going to write that it sounds like his immune system is comprimised and then your posted the same.

Why do you suppose he is getting the abscesses if he doesn't have laminitis.

What are you treating the rainrot with? I have not had that on the whole body, but I have had the 'scratches' on the cannons which I believe is the same species of fungi/bacteria. My opinion is that once some horses it is never irradicated. It lies dormant and then pops up again. You have to be proactive and treat before you see it come back.

I don't think many people with younger horses get ACTH tested. I'll bet that are some positives out there and they don't know it yet.

Is Smart Pituitary something you can give in addition to the Prascend? I'll check it out. I don't think you're supposed to give Chasteberry with Prascend.

Please provide updates here because I and probably others are interested.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:44 pm

I don't know why abcesses are common with this disease. Just one more fun thing that comes with it. This disease is so insidious. I liken it to Diabetes in humans. It affects everything in the body.
I've tried many things for the rain rot. Baths with medicated shampoos, Equiderma, etc.. Now I'm using a powder called Coat Defense that is helping.

I can guarantee you there are people out there unknowingly dealing with Cushings. My horse is not unique. I had to force my Vet to test him. He did not look the part at that time. No classical symptoms, but he was behaving like he had had a nervous breakdown. I was going on intuition. And, the fact that one of my best friend's horse got diagnosed at 10.
Unfortunately, now that he's been on pergolide for 2 yrs. he is now showing ALL the classical symptoms. Go figure...

I give the Smart Pituitary in addition to the Prascend. My Vet had to call SmartPak to ok the double dose. I was hoping it would help with the skin problems and give the immune system a boost.

Thank you for your interest. Trying to manage this horse and researching Cushings has become a full time occupation :(

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:46 pm

Also, I just learned that Prascend is doing a study and offering free testing. If anyone is interested ask your Vet about it.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:54 pm

Palogal5 wrote:Also, I just learned that Prascend is doing a study and offering free testing. If anyone is interested ask your Vet about it.


Free testing? I might have to ask my local vet, the vet that wanted us to try Sophie on this drug said she would be OK with us not testing. This on again off again with the feed will drive me nuts but at least I know why she is doing it. Last night she licked the pan, this morning left about a third. My girl also has scratches from hell. We have been dealing with it forever, many many years. I have a huge list of things I tried on her. Had it cultured from the vet. A very resistant bacteria. We have it more under control now then it's ever been. Just using Equiderma Zinc cream every other day.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Fri Apr 20, 2018 6:17 pm

For scratches on the pasterns, Panlog clears it for me always. It requires a prescription. Have to keep picking the scrabs off.

For the kind of body rainrot that Palogal has, I would try an antibiotic. Not SMZ's, but something stronger.

I was talking with my friend last night about subjects related to this. She was telling me when she bought her ottb, he came with
severe rainrot. Before she could get a chance to treat it, he injured himself in turnout (laceration) and had to go on antibiotics. The
rainrot resolved and never returned.

Rainrot is bacterial, not fungal. It is Dermatophilus Congolensis. That's why an antibiotic would work.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Josette » Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:39 pm

When I started my 17 yr old on Prascend he started to have colic issues - 3 episodes. No prior hx of colic while I owned him. He was started on quarter tablet and then gradually increased to half tablet - ACTH was as high as 90 and then retested at 29. So now he gets a daily dose of Succeed paste and so far it appears to have resolved the GI issues. He also gets Thyro-L twice daily which was started prior to the Prascend. He had no issues with the thyroid medication so I concluded the Prascend triggered his colics. (Vet came out and tested him for ulcers too - negative.)

I give the Prascend half tablet in a small apple slice. I saw mention of the Smart Pak Pill Pockets but the ingredients contained molasses. That somehow seems like higher sugar content then an apple slice IMO. Has anyone run that past their vet for use with Cushings or Metabolic horse?

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Wed Apr 25, 2018 3:56 pm

So the smartpac pill pockets came yesterday. My picky mare absolutely loves them. She wants more than one. This will be good, she gets picky with apples. Still on again off again with feed. Cleaned her feed up twice yesterday, this morning ate the pill pocket, then just kept begging for more, not interested in feed much but eats hay.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Wed May 16, 2018 4:32 pm

Now miss picky has decided she doesn't like the pill pockets anymore. Won't eat her feed either if I put any of her supplements or oil in it. Will only eat it plain. Only thing I can see so far that the pill is doing is maybe helping her deal with hot humid weather better than the ONE AC did. They both work on dopamine levels. Might have to try the apple slice again tomorrow. She gets picky and what she likes one day will not touch the next. How long will this prascend keep them off feed? I thought it would be more temporary. She is eating plenty of hay and on pasture at night. Weight seems good but I worry about her not getting her vitamin E and other stuff.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Wed May 16, 2018 7:56 pm

Melody wrote:Now miss picky has decided she doesn't like the pill pockets anymore. Won't eat her feed either if I put any of her supplements or oil in it. Will only eat it plain. Only thing I can see so far that the pill is doing is maybe helping her deal with hot humid weather better than the ONE AC did. They both work on dopamine levels. Might have to try the apple slice again tomorrow. She gets picky and what she likes one day will not touch the next. How long will this prascend keep them off feed? I thought it would be more temporary. She is eating plenty of hay and on pasture at night. Weight seems good but I worry about her not getting her vitamin E and other stuff.
They are not supposed to be off feed very long if the dosage is right. If it were my horse, I would temporarily discontinue the supplements and oil. What kind of grain do you feed? I might try dipping the pill in some molasses and then sticking it somewhere; either in the grain or some other treat.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby khall » Wed May 16, 2018 8:54 pm

I put my mare's prascend in her feed by itself. All other supplements go into separate feeding (AM for supplements, PM for prascend). Have no issues with her eating the prascend feeding, sometimes have issues with other supplements.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Palogal5 » Thu May 17, 2018 12:20 pm

Try Sugar Free pancake syrup.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Fatcat » Thu May 17, 2018 3:50 pm

I just had a talk with my vet yesterday about this topic. He said what he's does is gradually titrate up the dose. Half pill for a while then whole pill. He said that seems to help with the non eating issue. He did say that he has a few horses that just don't tolerate a full dose and don't eat well. In those cases he combines a lower dose of prascend that they'll eat (1/2 pill), along with a chaste tree berry supplement like SmartPituitary.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Thu May 17, 2018 4:28 pm

I started the pill in early April, just one a day per vet orders. She is around 1,280 pounds. We have a scale. She is on Muenster Senior feed, it's all extruded. Tested out great for low carbs. I have stopped all supplements and oil for the past four feedings now she has eaten all her feed in normal time. BUT will not eat the pill! Pill pockets were a special treat in the beginning, now she won't touch them. My husband crammed it in her mouth yesterday. Today I went back to the apple slice and she won't touch it. Ate all her feed leaving the apple piece. I tried getting it in her mouth and it isn't going to work. Just wasted that pill. If we try the pancake syrup I guess you mean dissolve it and put it in a syringe? I have some right now in the fridge. She will eat carrots but not sure if it would work carving a hole in a carrot. Is this pill extremely bitter? My husband did think about just throwing the pill in the feed and see what happens.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Fatcat » Thu May 17, 2018 4:34 pm

Melody wrote:I started the pill in early April, just one a day per vet orders. She is around 1,280 pounds. We have a scale. She is on Muenster Senior feed, it's all extruded. Tested out great for low carbs. I have stopped all supplements and oil for the past four feedings now she has eaten all her feed in normal time. BUT will not eat the pill! Pill pockets were a special treat in the beginning, now she won't touch them. My husband crammed it in her mouth yesterday. Today I went back to the apple slice and she won't touch it. Ate all her feed leaving the apple piece. I tried getting it in her mouth and it isn't going to work. Just wasted that pill. If we try the pancake syrup I guess you mean dissolve it and put it in a syringe? I have some right now in the fridge. She will eat carrots but not sure if it would work carving a hole in a carrot. Is this pill extremely bitter? My husband did think about just throwing the pill in the feed and see what happens.


Is she eating well otherwise? If so, maybe try rotating the treats you put the pill into. She sounds like a highly suspicious girl, and is sure you're probably trying to poison her ;)

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Thu May 17, 2018 5:03 pm

She eats as long as I don't add anything. She is fine eating her hay and grazing at night. Her weight seems OK, was worried because she drops 100 pounds in the summer with breathing hard because of chronic anhydrosis. So many problems with her. Last year she stayed inside during the hot days with four fans, two water buckets (double size stall) and double dose of ONE AC and I still had to hose her three times a day. She drug me in the wash rack and she use to hate going in there. Oh and Guiness Stout which did nothing but she loved it. So far this year since on the pill she seems to be tolerating the heat better. So we have to keep trying to get the pill in her daily. I am not sure what's going to happen if I can't get her to eat the feed with oil. I threw in the E the past few feedings and she ate that. I have been able to keep the EPSM under control all these years with oil and E and it has always worked. The vet that wanted us to put her on prascend is fairly young with not much experience with this. She did consult with another vet supposedly an expert in cushings. Just frustrating when this mare won't cooperate in all we do for her. She is a sweet horse but stubborn for sure.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Thu May 17, 2018 6:42 pm

Melody wrote: The vet that wanted us to put her on prascend is fairly young with not much experience with this. She did consult with another vet supposedly an expert in cushings.
Are you sure she has Cushings? Have you had her acth tested since starting Prascend?

It does sound like she is suspicious about the treats now that a pill was in them. I suspect Prascend is bitter. That is why I use bananas rather than apples, carrots, cookies, etc. If you put a pill inside something they have to chew, then they get the bitter taste. Banana slides right down. Most horses love bananas once they understand what they are.

I don't think the suggestion for pancake syrup was to add it to water. Rather, just coat the pill and put in feed or a treat. However, I'm afraid one bite of bitter and the mare is going to be suspicious of any food that it's in.

You may have to go with syringing it in.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Thu May 17, 2018 7:43 pm

She is definitely a cushings horse. My regular vet said so and this other vet that wanted her on the pill, she said Sophie looked to be an advanced case. This is her sixth year she has had it. This year we finally had to body clip, the hair wasn't coming off fast enough. She did OK even with the llama shears, figured that would have scared her but she stood pretty good. That vet said she was OK with us not testing. I don't know, wouldn't testing tell what the levels are and what eventually the dose should be? Never tried bananas on a horse. She is a weirdo, took us years to get her to eat an apple. She always will take a carrot but there again, she would have to chew it and it might taste bitter. We will figure it out one way or the other I hope.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Thu May 17, 2018 10:35 pm

Melody wrote: That vet said she was OK with us not testing. I don't know, wouldn't testing tell what the levels are and what eventually the dose should be?
You need to see the ACTH levels on the blood work to be sure you have the right dosage. Some horses are on more than 3 pills. My horse is on two pills and still just barely below normal levels. How old is your horse and has she had laminitis?

With the oil for EPSM/PSSM, do you really think it helps? I''m skeptical about it.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Fri May 18, 2018 5:09 pm

She is 21 this year. Has had the EPSM since she was 5. Now cushings since she was 15. Her Mom had cushings but at a much older age, closer to her late 20's. She almost made it to 31, one month shy. The oil and E has definitely helped. Took a while to work out the dosages she needs. I have always followed Dr. Valentine and she has never steered me wrong. Always spot on and answers my questions for free even though I offered to pay a consultant fee. So my husband got a small drill bit and drilled a little hole in a nicker maker and put the pill in that. Has worked twice so far. She is eating her feed with just one scoop of E. Will start to slowly add things and a little oil soon. Will try half a cup to start. She was only getting one cup twice a day of oil. She had bad muscle spells before we got her diagnosed and figured things out. That was only thanks to someone on the old UDBB constantly putting up the rural heritage site. I got no help from the vets. I will see if the younger vet can swing by on his way to work one morning and draw blood. He doesn't live too far from us. It would be interesting to know her levels. Our vets usually don't do a lot of testing unless you ask, not sure if it's the rural area and they try and save people money or they don't think testing is necessary.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Fri May 18, 2018 5:09 pm

Oh, she has never had any problems with laminitis knock wood real hard!

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Srhorselady » Sat May 19, 2018 4:26 am

I have had 3 horses with Cushings over the years. I have used powdered flavored Pergolide with all of them successfully. I lost one at 33 and the second at 25, but he had multiple other issues. Now I am dosing a finicky eating 30 year old thoroughbred. I have to change what I am feeding him frequently or he quits eating. My vet always starts her Cushing horses on a half dose of Pergolide for 3 to 6 months to avoid the possibility of them going off their feed. Then we test a second time to check their reaction to the dosing. While the test is not cheap she says that for some horses half the normal dosing is effective. Unfortunately for this horse we had to go to the normal full dosing. However we just tested again after almost a year at this dosing and he was at the high end of normal. I have used Apple flavored (he didn't like it), alfalfa flavored (the mini really liked this), and the current horse loves the peppermint flavored pergolide powder. I use an empty electrolyte syringe and create a parfait with berry flavored no sugar applesauce. None of the horses like regular applesause. I buy the squeeze packages and layer the pergolide between two small layers of the berry applesause. After a couple of dosings I don't even put on a halter to give it to them. They like it. I HAVE given it in food, but my finicky one doesn't always finish his supplement mixture so this way I know he gets his pergolide.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Sat May 19, 2018 4:19 pm

Did not know it came in flavored powder, good to know. She use to be OK with unsweetened applesauce, I usually mixed her ONE AC in a little bit during the warm months. Otherwise that was the one supplement she did not like. I took her off that right now but I fear I have to start again. Hot with high dewpoints today. She is standing with her nose in the water trough. Still better than she use to be, so the prascend is helping with that. I will talk to the regular vet and get his opinion on testing. It's just a blood test now right? Is there a need to pull blood before her breakfast or does that matter?

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Sat May 19, 2018 10:08 pm

Melody wrote: I will talk to the regular vet and get his opinion on testing. It's just a blood test now right? Is there a need to pull blood before her breakfast or does that matter?
Yes it's just a simple blood test. Insulin is part of the test. Mine was $135. For ACTH it doesn't matter when you take it. For the Insulin, it does. If your horse is not IR, it doesn't matter. You may find this link helpful.

https://www.ecirhorse.org/pergolide.php

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby sugar plum » Fri Jul 27, 2018 12:18 am

My twenty-five year old Warmblood (lease)was started on Prascend last weekend. 1/2 tab for first fourteen days, then 1 Tab. He's tolerating meds very nicely so far, just add to his supplement baggie containing Corta-Flx pellets and his Probiotic. Add some Coco-Soya and he gobbles it down with his grain. Only concern is getting him to drink more water. Right now, has two salt blocks in his stall and two waterbuckets.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:24 am

sugar plum wrote: Only concern is getting him to drink more water. Right now, has two salt blocks in his stall and two waterbuckets.
Just the other day I saw a new product advertised in the USEF Magazine. It was something you put in the water to entice the horse to drink. Apparently it tastes good. Unfortunately, I tossed the magazine and didn't write down the name of it since my horses are great drinkers. Perhaps check around and see if you can find it. It may work for you. You might also consider feeding some soaked beet pulp to get more liquids in him and/or wetting your grain in a mash if you feed senior feed.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby sugar plum » Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:12 am

Thanks, musical comedy. Will research.
https://horsequencher.com/

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby Melody » Fri Jul 27, 2018 4:31 pm

Thought I would give an update on Sophie. The way we got her to eat her pill every day with no problem, husband drills a little hole in a nicker maker treat. Works great, she has no idea the pill is there. One of the biggest improvements in her with this pill, she is finally sweating this year.She has had chronic anhydrosis most of her life. Doing nothing else but the pill for that, no more ONE AC which did work for years but quit working once she got cushings. Last year was a nightmare, keeping her in all day long, four fans on her and still hosing her three times a day, never getting her breathing all the way to normal. Now with this pill, she can go out even on really bad days and sweats great. I did get her blood pulled on Wed. morning so we will see how she is doing when the results come in. Never would eat the oil so we got a supplement from our feed company. She seems to be doing OK on it. Has 30% fat, not up to the amount she was on one cup of oil twice a day. She has lost a lot of weight but maybe not a bad thing. No more fat deposits anywhere or cresty neck.

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Re: Prascend how do you administer?

Postby musical comedy » Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:04 pm

sugar plum wrote:Thanks, musical comedy. Will research.
https://horsequencher.com/

That's not the product. I have tried the horsequencher though and my horses didn't like it. Yours might though.


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