# Cushings in the pregnant mare



## Marchell (7 May 2011)

Has anyone got any experience of this combination. I have a mare here to foal, she arrived a week before her estimated due date of the 30th of march  well before she had shown any signs but to allow her to settle. This mare had been with us about two years previously and had been dificcult to get in foal with sub fertility problems.  The cause is now obvious, Even I diagnosed her with fairly advanced cushings before the vet saw her.  he is curly - I have clipped her, she has laminitis, she is in on bute , feet partially sorted by farrier within limits of being heavily in foal. She has diabetes, drinks loads, pees loads.  

Now she is now six weeks late, She was scanned for ovulation etc but we are now getting beyond the bounds of successful birth. I know the pituitary tumour will have an effect on the birthing triggers. 

has anyone here any knowledge of the effects of cushings on Maternal and foal survival . 

The owner is besides herself with guilt for covering the mare but the pregnancy seems to have fast tracked the cushings obvious external symptoms.


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## Marchell (7 May 2011)

Nobody?


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## ElleSkywalker (7 May 2011)

I did look into cushings in pregnant mares as vet thought my mare might have it, I didn't find any useful papers on it, just a few anecdotal references on mostly American breeding sites.

Most sites seemed to say to treat mare the same as normal mare & that the cushings should not affect foaling, BUT as these were unmoderated sites I would not want to act in their advice without further research.

Maybe u could contact the laminitis trust, they may know of cushings 'experts' who u could contact? There must be vets or people out there who have first hand experience of this & it might be a good place to start tracking them down? 

Hope u find some useful info soon & good luck


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## velv (8 May 2011)

Hi My pony mare was diagnosed with cushings half way through her pregnancy. It took her a long time to conceive but we put it down to her being a maiden mare and 18. When she finally conceived all was going well until the end of summer when she went very lame (never had laminitis before). We got her tested for cushings as last few winters wasnt loosing her coat into spring, and diagnosis cushings. The Vet at home prescribed pergolide one tablet every day, however I consulted the vet at Twemlows where she was put in foal and she said to give her as little as possible. Within a week she was fine again and only on half a tablet every 2 days! I restricted her grass but have had no problems since. 

She was due to foal 13th April and was showing very little signs at this point, therefore we decided to stop the pergolide and 2 weeks later she had a beautiful colt foal. There seems to be no problems with the foal or mum and she is now being put back on pergolide. Shes is lactating fine, but there is some evidence it can halt lactation.

Regards the foal there was no evidence on whether it was safe (I have looked everywhere!) but in my case everything was fine.

Sorry for the essay but hope it helps..... I would definitely consider pergolide and not bute, and my mare went from hardly being able to stand to galloping round the field in a week!


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## velv (8 May 2011)

p.s dont read all the forums out there which are really negative and suggest there is very little chance of foal survival because it sent me a bit crazy with worry, and in the end the pregnancy went very smoothly.


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## Revena (8 May 2011)

Try speaking to global herbs, the supplements are designed by a vet and I know that they have some form of pain relief which is safe to give to pregnant mares.  They also have products for cushings, I don't know if they are safe to give to pregnant mares or not, I do know that they are effective.  They have an excellent helpline and will be able to advise you.  I may be wrong but I think the advice is given by a vet?


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## koeffee (8 May 2011)

No help but horrible for the mare and owners, Dewi came to my mare 10 weeks ago as we thought she had cushings and laminitis, but fortunatly bloods came back ok for cushings, but has terrible laminitis, im just trying to keep her comfy and keep condition on her, i still have 5 weeks to go, she is very depressed and miserable.


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## Marchell (8 May 2011)

Thanks for the encouragement Velv, my vet is very reluctant to prescribe pergolide for her at this stage as it is basically not 100% tested on pregnant mares.  I have in the past koeffee had a mare here who developed laminitis late pregnancy who improved hugely after giving birth , hormone related apparently.  I gave her to friends for their daughter to ride as she had done this two years on the trot and had previously been a good riding mare, what did they do the following year against my advice ?  yup covered her with a great big clumpy coloured stallion.


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## velv (8 May 2011)

Marchell said:



			Thanks for the encouragement Velv, my vet is very reluctant to prescribe pergolide for her at this stage as it is basically not 100% tested on pregnant mares.  I have in the past koeffee had a mare here who developed laminitis late pregnancy who improved hugely after giving birth , hormone related apparently.  I gave her to friends for their daughter to ride as she had done this two years on the trot and had previously been a good riding mare, what did they do the following year against my advice ?  yup covered her with a great big clumpy coloured stallion.
		
Click to expand...

Yes I was worried about pergolide as not tested but the vet at Twemlows was very happy to give it to her and on such a small dose is doing wonders. I agree no to start it at this stage as it may interfere with lactation but I would definitely consider it after she had foaled! I hope everything goes well, keep me updated with her progress and try not to worry!


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## Amaranta (8 May 2011)

A friend of mine had a 6yo mare with cushings, I had not even realised until then that it was possible for one so young.  Her vet actually advised to put in foal, and indeed whilst she was pregnant the symptoms did subside apparently.  She delivered a live foal but sadly almost immediately went down with laminitis and was eventually pts, her foal did survive and is now a healthy 5yo.


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