[ptownevt]

My gelding, Storm, has just been diagnosed with Cushings. He was tested because of a very dramatic weight loss over the past 3 months, about 200 lb. I got the pergolide yesterday and put his first dose in his beet pulp/grain mixture. He ate it okay. Tried the same thing this morning. No way! No how! I tried again tonight, syringing the 1 ml. directly into his mouth. Apparently the taste was so bad he couldn't eat. He did not eat his dinner. That's two meals he didn't eat today. I did go out about 9 tonight with another dinner that he did eat. Storm is way too thin and it is way too cold for him to be skipping meals. (He is blanketed.) His appetite is good, it is just the pergolide. I don't really know what I am going to do tomorrow. Any ideas?

[LMH]

Going off feed is common when a horse first starts Pergolide. I have been told to temporarily reduce the dose and rebuild.

I would discuss this option with your vet.

[CosMonster]

I'm glad it turned out to be Cushing's and not something untreatable.

What I had good luck with with my guy was to give him the peroglide in a syringe, then feed him his grain immediately afterward. He was a pill about it for the first couple of days but after that he learned that he only got grain after he took his medicine, so now I don't even need to put a halter on him. That's been easiest for me personally.

[EquestrianRunner]

I havent had any personal use with Pergolide, but I know a pony at our barn, used to get it and it was a capsle so it didnt have any taiste. this was a few years ago though.

[chizmom]

I had a wonderful old gelding on pergolide for several years. My vets were able to get it ground and flavored with peppermint. I think this came from a compounding vet pharmacy in California. Chico wouldn't eat his feed if there was any medicine in it. The peppermint flavor did the trick. I'm sure it was more expensive than plain pergolide, but it was worth it. Ask your vets.

[Woodsperson]

I use capsules and it is just mixed with the feed.

[foggybok]

As mentioned, Pergolide can make them go off feed. Cut the dose and build up from there.

You can buy flavored pergolide from Wedgewood Pharmacy. They have flavored treats, powder, liquid and all kinds of flavors. My horse ate the treats with no problem (but she did lose her appetite at first...)

[marta]

you can get the best price from thriving pets.
i put the capsule in my hand with a bit of senior feed and she east it right up.

beware of the 'wafers' they have a short shelf life.

oh, and while pergolide can suppress their appetite occasionally, that does not appear to be the case with your horse who is just refusing the feed w/ pergolide, correct?

[tcgelec]

I use the pergolide liquid suspension, apple flavored, from Wedgewood Pharmacy. I put it in a heaping tablespoon of applesauce and mix it and put it in a 30cc dosing syringe. Haven't had to use a halter to administer in many years. In the winter, I heat up the applesauce in the microwave for 10-15 sec before mixing. I do the meds first thing in the a.m., before feeding.

The vet gave me some of the wafers as a free sample so I could test and evaluate them, when they first came out. Buddy wouldn't eat them, and I had the same problem with short shelf life.

[eventgroupie2]

I use the Wedgewood "Gourmeds" - apple/molasses flavor. I break each tablet into four pieces and Willie eats it in his dinner without a problem. I don't understand the "short shelf life" comments- are these the "wafers" you are referring to? The bottle of 100 I just ordered is good until 11/30/2010 which is 10 months from now.

[fivehorses]

I get my pergolide from Prescription Specialities. The make it into a powered form...any flavor.
My horse went off the liquid suspension, and then has been gobbling up the stuff from prescription specialities.

I would lower the dose, or stop giving it to him till he is back eating. Then slowly start him back up.

As an aside, my cushing horse went off his pergolide just this decemeber. So I thought we'd take a few weeks off. This has not happened since he's been on the powedered stuff but happened often with the liquid suspension.
Well, he totally went off grain even after 3 weeks of no pergolide.
I suspected ulcers, and he's been on ulcergard now for a few days, and is back to eating. I probably will start up the pergolide after a week on ulcergard. he will be getting the full ulcergard regimen. It is something else to consider. Sometimes things are not so clear.
Good luck.

[fivehorses]

Somewhere there is a study about the shelf life of all the various forms of dispensing pergolide. I only have used the water suspension, the oil suspension and now powdered.

Water suspension as I recall has a shelf life of like 15 days, oil is much longer and why they can do a 90 day supply and powered has the longest....ask your pharmacist, they absolutely should know, and if they don't ask them to find out or find one who does know.

[marta]

I use the Wedgewood "Gourmeds" - apple/molasses flavor. I break each tablet into four pieces and Willie eats it in his dinner without a problem. I don't understand the "short shelf life" comments- are these the "wafers" you are referring to? The bottle of 100 I just ordered is good until 11/30/2010 which is 10 months from now.

i guess there is some question re shelf life of pergolide in the wafer form b/c of the way it's processed? as the other poster said, shelf life (effectiveness?) differs depending on its form. i was strongly discouraged from using the wafers (and to top it off my mare wouldn't eat them ).

thriving pets sells capsules with powder pergolide in them. very affordable, very easy to administer (i suppose you could just throw the capsule in the grain but i prefer to hand feed it to her to ensure she eats it).

[dwblover]

Smartpak makes a peppermint flavored pergolide powder that my BO's horse seems to love. The mare was not a big fan of the liquid pergolide.

[AKB]

Our picky eater grudgingly eats the apple flavored pergolide SmartPaks. He used to spit the liquid all over me (which I do not like because it can cause heart valve problems in people). The SmartPaks are neat, tidy, and taste good enough for him.

[GatoGordo]

Can you try doing his pergolide after he eats his grain? You can also wait 20 minutes or so and rinse his mouth out with a dose syringe and water.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

There are 3 horses at my barn on pergolide. We use the liquid suspension - one will eat it right in her grain, the other two get syringed after they're done eating. They won't eat their grain if they have the pergolide first.

[betsyk]

I give the apple flavored stuff to a friend's horse. Feed him a cookie, and while he's chewing, tuck the pergolide into the corner of his mouth. He doesn't spit out the cookie the way he will if I do it when he has a mouthful of hay.