Talk About Laminitis Better Understanding. Better Care.

Prascend® is a prescription only medicine.

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To register your practice's interest in using our Free* Cushing’s testing scheme and find out more about our support toolkit, please contact us at

Equine.BRA@boehringer-ingelheim.com

 

Identifying and managing the underlying hormonal conditions in your laminitis cases can help to avoid the costly and painful impacts of this progressive disease, safeguarding the health and welfare of horses and ponies under your care.

Experts agree that all laminitic cases should be tested for Insulin Dysregulation (Equine Metabolic Syndrome, EMS) with an insulin test and all laminitic cases over the age of 10 should have a Cushing's test. 

Veterinary practices who partner with Talk About Laminitis can offer all appropriate patients a free* diagnostic test for Equine Cushing’s disease. 

 

Providing Free* Cushing's tests for your patients

1. Register your practice by contacting us on Equine.BRA@boehringer-ingelheim.com

2. Either you or your clients can generate a free* ACTH testing voucher by visiting the 'Free* Tests' tab of this website.

 

Clinic Support

To support your clients in identifying if their horse has laminitis and encourage them to book a visit with you for a free* test if appropriate, you can use our practice support toolkit which includes:

1. A Laminitis Checklist – this can be sent out to your clients in order to educate them on the signs of laminitis.

2. Facebook Posts and Email Templates – these are designed to raise awareness of the signs of laminitis and the link with hormonal disease, and to encourage your clients to book a visit with you. 

To access our support package, please contact us on Equine.BRA@boehringer-ingelheim.com 

If you have any questions for our team of veterinary advisers, you can contact us on vetenquiries@boehringer-ingelheim.com or call us on 01 291 3985

 

Veterinary CPD

Enhance your expertise in equine endocrine disease by subscribing to our quarterly EndoQuine Bulletin. Authored by veterinary experts, it is designed to keep you at the forefront of veterinary knowledge in this area.

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Prascend® Treatment

Prascend® 1 mg tablets for horses are indicated for the symptomatic treatment of clinical signs associated with PPID (Equine Cushing's disease).

Recommended dose:

The starting dose is 2ug pergolide/kg body weight once dail, and should then be titrated according to the individual response determined by monitoring. Daily starting doses are recommended as follows:

Horse body weight Number of tablets Starting dose Dosage range
200-400kg 0.5 0.5mg 1.3-2.5ug/kg
401-600kg 1 1.0mg 1.7-2.5ug/kg
601-850kg 1.5 1.5mg 1.8-2.5ug/kg
851-1000kg 2 2.0mg 2.0-2.4ug/kg

If clinical signs or the diagnostic testing have not yet improved at the first 4 to 6 week interval, the total daily dose may be increased by 0.5 mg. In case clinical signs have improved but are not yet normalised, the veterinarian may decide to titrate or not to titrate the dose, considering the individual’s response/tolerance to the dose.

In case clinical signs are not adequately controlled (clinical evaluation and/or diagnostic testing) it is recommended to increase the total daily dose by 0.5 mg increments every 4 to 6 weeks until stabilisation occurs and if the drug is tolerated at that dose. If signs of dose intolerance develop, treatment should be stopped for 2-3 days and reinstated at one-half of the previous dose. The total daily dose may then be titrated back up to the desired clinical effect by 0.5 mg increments every 2-4 weeks. If a dose is missed, the next scheduled dose should be administered as prescribed.

Administering Prascend®:

The product should be administered once daily, by mouth. To facilitate administration, the required daily dose should be placed in a small amount of water and/or mixed with molasses or other sweetener and agitated until diossolved. In this case the dissolved tablets should be administered with a syringe. The whole amount should be administered immediately. Tablets should not be crushed.

Ongoing treatment and monitoring:

Lifelong treatment is anticipated for this disease. Following initial diagnosis, repeat endocrinologic testing for dose titration and monitoring of treatment at intervals of 4 to 6 weeks until stabilisation or improvement of clinical signs and/or diagnostic testing occurs.

Response to treatment:

Clinical improvement with pergolide is expected within 6-12 weeks.  Most horses respond to therapy and are stabilised at an average dose of 2ug pergolide/kg bodyweight. Horses may respond clinically at lower or varying doses; it is therefore recommended to titrate to the lowest effective dose per individual based on response to therapy, whether it is effectiveness or signs of intolerance. Some horses may require doses as high as 10 µg pergolide/kg body weight per day. In these rare situations, appropriate additional monitoring is advised.

Following stabilisation, regular clinical assessment and diagnostic testing should be performed every 6 months to monitor treatment and dose. Where there is no apparent response to treatment, the diagnosis should be re-evaluated.

 

*free basal ACTH test laboratory fees only. Visit, blood sampling and interpretation fees may be applied by your veterinary practice.