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Prascend and coat growth

Nancy & Vinnie & Summer
 

Hi there, has anyone experienced an increase in coat growth when starting prascend?

This year Vinnie has put on quite a bit more coat than he normally does and I wondered if this could have anything to do with starting prascend? His acth is in normal range when we tested in June but it was higher than it had been the last two tests so when I noticed his body starting to look more metabolic in late July we decided to start him on a low dose of prascend through fall rise.

I am not sure if it was timing but he dropped a ton of coat in early August and then started putting on his winter coat late Aug early Sept. 

My acupuncturist said that she had noted that with several horses this year having more coat than normal and noted that with the smoke cover being so bad here in no cal it could have made the days seem shorter earlier in the year than normal, hence increasing coat growth.  This sort if makes sense.  But I was wondering if anyone noticed heavier coat growth when starting prascend?

Thanks Nancy 
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Nancy and Vinnie and Summer
Oakley, Ca
Joined Nov 2018
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Nancy%20and%20Vinnie 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=245855

Summer
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Nancy%20and%20Vinnie/Summer 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=249104

Lynn
 

Hi Nancy - when Relevante was diagnosed with PPID (it was February 2018) he looked like Chewbacco....his hair was literally almost two inches long. When I started him on Prascend his symptoms began to recede. I did have to clip him that May but in late fall his winter coat grew in normally and shed normally the following spring. Since starting Prascend and then converting to compounded pergolide (because we had to go to 2 mg) his coat has been normal at all times of the year. I hope these observations help. 
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Lynn
Beavercreek, Ohio
March 2018
Relevante Case History
Relevante Photo Album

Ω

Lynn
 

I meant Chewbacca as in Star Wars - there are actually photos in his album of the long hair, swollen sheath etc.
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Lynn
Beavercreek, Ohio
March 2018
Relevante Case History
Relevante Photo Album

Ω

Nancy & Vinnie & Summer
 

Lynn, Vinnie was the opposite,  super tight coat and super shiny.  That has been historically his coat since I have owned him.  Even this time of year we showed the last arab show of the year locally and his coat was tight. It is about 3 times longer and about 2 times thicker than his normal winter coat.


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Nancy and Vinnie and Summer
Oakley, Ca
Joined Nov 2018
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Nancy%20and%20Vinnie 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=245855

Summer
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Nancy%20and%20Vinnie/Summer 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=249104

Nancy & Vinnie & Summer
 

Lynn
 

Hi Nancy, when i first got Relevante his coat was tight and shiny - it almost looked like glass. We had a wonderful summer of trail riding. That September he experienced laminitis (unbeknownst to me a precursor to Cushings). As his winter coat began to grow in I didn't think much about it at first until it didn't stop growing - he literally looked like he had a fake fur coat on. That's when I had him tested for Cushings and it came back positive. As soon as he was started on Prascend his visual symptoms began to improve and once I clipped him that first time his coat when back to tight/shiny and I have never had to clip him again. His coat right now feels like velvet and is shiny. Perhaps one of the experts will chime in - I hesitate to venture an opinion beyond my concrete observations with my own horse.  Relevante has been on Prascend and then compounded pergolide without interruption since diagnosis. Does Vinnie only take Prascend through the rise (in other words he is given it on an as needed basis?)
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Lynn
Beavercreek, Ohio
March 2018
Relevante Case History
Relevante Photo Album

Ω

Nancy & Vinnie & Summer
 

Mary Marshall
 

One note about coat growth.  I have a very very easy keeper who we have just started on Thyroid L and Pracend. He is 20.

Last October I switched his diet from grain to a no-grain, no sugar diet.  Twice a day he gets 1 cup of Alfalfa pellets, was getting 1/4 cut of soybean meal (we have recently stopped that). Hay 3 times a day and grass turn out as he pleases.
What I wanted to share is that he is would normally be a wooly bear but this year has maintained a beautiful coat and it never sun-bleached at all.  It's near the end of October in South Carolina (I suppose it's near the end of October elsewhere as well) and his coat is not nearly as dense as in past years.
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Mary Marshall
Aiken SC
Joined-10/17/2020

Kim Leitch
 

My mare, Grits, has always had a thin winter coat and is the first of my horses to shed each Spring. Based on TRH stim test, I started her on Prascend in August. She now has a thick winter coat, and I had to clip her chest last week (I’ve never had to clip her before). Prascend is the only change in her care.
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Kim 10-2014

Clover, SC

Grits and Dually: IR; Bella: PPID, IR; and Eeyore (deceased, but not PPID related)

Case History https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Kim%20and%20Grits%20-%20Eeyore%20-%20Dually

Photo album Grits https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=1314

Photo album Eeyore https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=6586&p=Name,,,20,1,0,0
Photo album Dually https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=9046&p=Name,,,20,1,0,0
Photo album Bella https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=64978



Lynn
 

Reading about these different experiences raises an interesting question [sorry Nancy...it is not helping to answer yours]. I always thought that a long curly coat was a symptom of uncontrolled Cushings and that with the proper dose of pergolide, diet etc., that those visible symptoms (i.e. curly coat, weepy eyes, swollen sheath etc.) resolve. That was my experience. And like Mary, people also have commented that Relevante's coat doesn't "bleach." They are interested in the fact he remains dark despite being outside in his paddock (which i also attribute to his balanced, tight diet).  But Nancy and Kim seem to be experiencing the opposite in terms of the woolly coat. Hopefully one of the experts will chime in.
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Lynn
Beavercreek, Ohio
March 2018
Relevante Case History
Relevante Photo Album

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Nancy & Vinnie & Summer
 

Kim, I wonder if it has to do with the borderline cases?  What your acth in normal ranges? 

Vinnie too will.need a clip this year i think, first time ever un my 11 years as his mom.
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Nancy and Vinnie and Summer
Oakley, Ca
Joined Nov 2018
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Nancy%20and%20Vinnie 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=245855

Summer
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Nancy%20and%20Vinnie/Summer 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=249104

hdavis
 

My mare Riosa tested no PPID based on her ACTH but we started her on Prascend in March due to a weekend case of laminitis and super high insulin.  What I have noticed since being on the prascend thus fall is her coat is the same as other non PPiD horses - dense and full but not super long like before. Before Prascend she had a coat that was super long and full which started early in the fall and lasted all winter. I was actuality thinking perhaps she doesn’t have enough coat to keep her warm this year as it is so much shorter than previous years...but comparing it to other horses that are non PPID I would say it is normal. So hearing similar comments about coat length and differences from before and after Prascend is interesting.   Thanks for the info.
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Heather
August 5, 2017, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Riosa 
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Heather%20and%20Riosa

https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=8819 


Storm

Case History


 



hdavis
 

Nancy & Vinnie & Summer
 

Tracy
 

This is all interesting.  Salsa has been on Prascend now for a year.
I have pix of him darn close to one year to the date in my photo link below.  He looks better this year in September - but I think not 'optimal'.
He has always started a winter coat very early (had him since he was 8).  I posted about symptoms vs bloodwork recently b/c even though ACTH early this month from Cornell was at an acceptable level (especially for around the height of the rise) - I've noticed certain symptoms at predictable times last year and this year (July and September to be exact).
Next year I'm going to increase the Prascend before mid July for the rise and see if he is less "footy" in July and then in September avoids a week or so of increased thirst/urination and a delay of that winter coat coming in.

Salsa may fit in "lab range normal" - but I don't think he is "optimal".  Those are two different things.

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Tracy and Salsa (1999 model year Paso Fino)
Middle TN USA, September 2019
Case History  https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Tracy%20and%20Salsa
Photos https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=95827

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