--- In EquineCushings@..., "carollineman" <Carollind@...>
wrote:
Hi Carol and welcome!

Not sure If I missed an earlier post regarding your equine if I did
then just delete this. Our case histories are under construction so
information pertaining to your situation will have to be posted for
now, in orer to help you.

The AAKG file are in the files section I sent ealier but, are listed
under Jiagolen No's the same as AAGK at
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/files/
or you can try
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/files/Jiaogulan%2C%
20Nitric%20Oxide%20Support%2C%20AAKG%20%26%20Supps/
However I am not sure of your situation, so if you could please give
us the details first. It is not advisable to add these items unless
you have the DDT in place first. We recomend that the DDT'S are
orgainized so we dont't just throw everything in as it could be other
issues require addressing that could resolve the problem prior to
arriving at this point. We need to deal with DDT diet, diagnosis and
trim. Can you fill us in on your specific situation thus far. If you
have x-rays, pics of hoofs and body shots please post these for the
hoof gurus.
Our files are packed with new information that
you can read and learn lots concerning I.R.and Cushing's The list
philosophy is DDT/E. Diagnosis by bloodwork, Diet being low
carbohyrdate/fat and trim a balanced foot, and exercise when horse is
able.
Have you had bloodwork done? This is the insulin,glucose tests for
I.R. and ACTH for Cushing's. Did your vet diagnose by clinical
observation. If blood work post units and reference values and if
clinical diaganosis can you give us some detailed information on how
the this came about and what are your concerns? How to do blood work
and what is required is in the files section also. Under blood work I
beleive. Post with questions if you require help as it can be a bit
confusing when you start.
For now I would follow the emergancy diet and cut out the grass,
senior feed, whole oats and rice bran. We recommend flax instead of
the rice bran as the fat content is very high for I.R equines same
with the other feeds. Some horse who are I.R can tolerate some
Alfalfa others can not. In the files are some low s/s feeds and hay
cubes for suggestions. The beet pupl is excellent provided the
molasses is r/s/r/ rinsed, soaked, rinced until the water runs clean
or purchased non-molassed beet pulp. We treat per diagnosis.
Medication for Cushings gold standard is Pergolide and Diet for IR.
It is not to hard once you get the hang of it. When you joined you
would of recieved temporary emergency diet and it works because it is
VERY LOW sugar/starch. No grass until you know what the tolerance
level is for your gelding. Some I.R equines can never eat grass or
Alfalfa again. Have a read at www.safergrass.org to see how dangerous
grass is this time of year. When the case histories are back up and
running fill one in for us all, this enables us to efficiently help
you. This will be located at
http://www.sportshorses.com/caseform.htm to enter when it is up and
running again.

Diagnosis: We deal with primarily two different metabolic disorders
on this list. The first is Cushings disease, which is a pituitary
adenoma. This is treated with drugs, the norm is Pergolide
The second disorder is insulin resistance or I.R. This is
treated with diet LOW S/S/ diet below 10 % and exercise if and when
your horse is able.

Diet: We recommend a low sugar/starch diet. This means no cookies,
no carrots, no treats or grains or senior feed. These are all high
s/s/ and often molasses and usually iron. If you don't
know the sugar and starch content, we recommend soaking your hay to
reduce the sugars. One hour cold water and thirty minutes hot water
to leach out as much s/s/ starch as possible. Try the temp emergency
diet until you can have your hay tested and can organize the correct
minerals to balance diet and know s/s in the hay.

Feed hay at 1.5 % to 2% of ideal body weight. You can purchase fish
scales at Wal- Mart to weight hay accurately. It's important that you
do nottry to starve your horse to lose weight as it is counter
productive to I.R. They also carry the Vitamin E Human gelcaps and
you need some flax and salt. Table salt is fine. Trim: It's important
to have a good trim - heels down, toes back.The hoof gurus can jump
in for more information. You will need to post picts for this and x-
rays if you have these also for advice.

The care and prognosis for horses that are cushings and/or insulin
resistant is a lot different from years ago. We've come a long way
in our understanding on how to care for and treat our horses.
Help yourself to the files read lots learn lots and fire away with
questions.
Angela
jarrahbrearebreazebridie