Hi K,

Yes, it's a bit overwhelming at first!  After a while, it does become a way of life though.  You don't have to make all the changes in one day, but concentrate on the most important stuff. Number one priority right now is getting her ACTH under control, especially with you all entering your seasonal rise. Rereading your initial message I noticed that you said this:  "She is supposed to be on 5ml pergolide per day and is now losing her appetite."

I don't think we addressed that issue in our initial responses to you.  Loss of appetite and depression can be caused from what we call the "pergolide veil" which some but not all horses experience when first starting on the drug.  Two things we recommend to help with avoiding the pergolide veil are:

1) weaning slowly onto the drug, starting with 0.25mg/day (so 1.25ml if your solution is 1mg/5ml) for 3 or 4 days and increasing by 0.25mg/day until you reach your target dose, and 

2) a product called APF.  This is an adaptogen and has been very effective at eliminating the pergolide veil.  I'm not sure in Australia if you would have it available at local tack/feed shops, but it can be ordered through many online catalogs and also on their website: http://www.auburnlabs.com/html/eqProdGen.html   Also may be available at the pharmacy where you buy your pergolide.

The liquid pergolide should  only be used very short term as it looses stability after 14 days.  There is lots of information for you to read about this subject in this file:  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Drugs%2C%20Pergolide%2C%20Cushings%20Disease%20Treatments/   Go to the 3rd file down "Compounded Drugs" and the 7th file down "Pergolide forms and stability".  Also read this post from Pauline, a long time Aussie member who is currently helping another Aussie newbie:  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/conversations/messages/191891   If Pauline doesn't chime in here, I am sure she won't mind if you contact her for local advice.  She is a great help and source of support for the Aussie members and has been dealing with PPID in her own herd for many years.

I can totally identify with the difficulty of removing Teshan from grass.  It can be one of the most difficult things for people to wrap their heads around!  Really--horses are supposed to eat grass, right?  Read this great post from long time member/vet Jaini  (warning--it's long!):  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/conversations/messages/165641 

Ok, your signature.  Are you posting through the yahoo site, or via individual emails?  If you are doing it from your yahoo email, here are the instructions:  http://email.about.com/od/yahoomailtip1/qt/How_to_Set_Up_Your_Yahoo_Mail_Signature.htm 

If you are posting through the groups, lots of people make make their signature in a document  (wordpad, note pad, etc) and put it on their homescreen so that it's easily accessible to copy and paste into your posts.  So far, you're doing great with your signature!  Kind of a pain to type out each time, and setting it up is a real time saver.  Once you get your CH done on Teshan, it should be easy enough to copy and paste the link into your signature.  If you have any trouble, just let us know and we can help you.  Let us know when you have your CH up!

March 2011
EC Primary Response
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ECHistory4/files/maggie%20in%20virginia/