CUSHINGS DISEASE.

This pony had suffered laminitis at the end of December the previous winter. Not the typical time of year for an attack of laminitis. That along with other typical signs of cushings (long coat, cresty neck, fat pads despite not being overweight) led the vet to diagnose Cushings disease. Blood tests were not taken as the vet felt that these can produce false negative results, and the diagnosis was made on the clinincal signs only. The vet prescribed the drug Pergolide.

The photo on the left was taken on 19/6/10. This was my second trim. The flared section at the bottom of the hoof indicates the hoof wall separation suffered during the laminitic attack the previous December. The horizontal rings in the hoof wall indicate that there are continuing minor laminitic changes happening. But the upper third of hoof wall is smooth and free of ripples. This growth coincides with the introduction of the Pergolide a few months earlier. This growth continued as can be seen in the second photo taken on 7/10/10. No changes were made to the ponies diet which indicates that the improvements are due to the Pergolide.