Your horse with equine Cushing’s disease (aka Par Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction or PPID) has been getting compounded pergolide (aka permax) from Haymarket Veterinary Service. Prascend is a new formulation of the same medication. The great advantage of Prascend over the compounded pergolide (permax) that we used in recent years is that Prascend is an FDA approved drug for horses with equine Cushing’s disease (aka PPID). This gives a greater reassurance of effectiveness, quality, safety and correct dosing. We are excited to have this new medication available!
In the past we have provided compounded pergolide for your horse, because there was no FDA approved equivalent medication available in the USA. However, now that there is an FDA tested and approved product available, we are legally required to use that product instead of the compounded medication. While we did our best to find the best quality and most stable formulations possible, in several studies compounded pergolide has been found to be less stable, and to have widely varying dosages. This is unlikely to be a problem with Prascend.
If your horse has been getting 2 mg (or more) of the old medication, the makers of Prascend recommend decreasing to 1 mg and retesting your horse a few weeks later. This recommendation is based on many studies showing that compounded pergolide often is not as strong or as consistent as FDA approved medications must be. If you are interested in trying a decreased dose on your horse, please consult with us first! There are both risks and benefits to trying the lower dose. We will help you make this decision on a case by case basis.
As you read the Prascend brochure, you will see mentions of side effects, such as poor appetite. There is no increase in risk for this or any other side effects compared to the medication your horse has already been taking, so please do not worry as you transition to the new medication.
The only bad news is that this medication will be a little more expensive than the old capsules. For legal and ethical reasons, the compounded capsules will not be something we will restock after the new medication is available.
Please feel to contact us with any questions or concerns. If you have any feed back on how your horse likes the new medication, or need tips for dosing, please let us know!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
What's New...Veterinary Outreach
Haymarket Veterinary Service’s veterinarians are leaders in our communities and beyond! Occasionally we get questions about veterinary outreach and service—here is a smattering of our involvement and favorite programs!
Dr. Linda Neimeier has more interesting summer plans than most people! This summer she will be traveling to Mongolia with the Christian Veterinary Mission. While there she will be providing educational seminars to the Mongolian vets and teaching animal husbandry to local herders. Educational standards there are different than here - their veterinary care providers do not typically have doctorates, but they strive to improve themselves and care deeply for their animals. We are excited for Linda’s opportunity and look forward to her great stories and photos! Christian Veterinary Mission
In addition to the work CVM does around the world, many veterinarians also volunteer for Equitarian Initiatives with a wide variety of philosophies and programs. We hope to become involved with some of these programs in the future. A list of some of these programs can be found on the American Association of Equine Practitioner’s website here: Equitarian Initiatives. Dr. Carol Sabo and Dr. Melinda Freckleton are great fans of the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust.
Closer to home our veterinarians also donate time in other ways. In February Dr. Melinda Freckleton gave a seminar on how to keep older horses working comfortably and a long lining demonstration at the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia (TRAV) annual conference. The conference was hosted by Melinda and her partner Jenny Spain at their farm in Catlett. TRAV is an organization that supports therapeutic riding centers with educational opportunities and other services. For more information on TRAV and photos of the conference see the TRAV website.
All of us continue to help out as we can with presentations on a variety of horse health topics for 4-H, Pony Club and various horse societies. If you are a leader in such a group give us a call if you would like us to lead horse health educational presentations for you.
While Melinda has stepped down as the Virginia Association of Equine Practitioners (VAEP) president, she will continue to serve on the board as Immediate Past President. The VAEP will also welcome Haymarket Veterinary Service’s Dr. Katy Cilinski to the board for the new term! Katy will be planning educational opportunities for equine veterinarians in the state and will be a valuable asset to the VAEP board.
Don’t forget to check out Equus Magazine each month! Melinda continues to contribute monthly on a variety of horse health topics
In 2010 Dr. Jennifer French began serving the AAEP by leading their discussion group on dealing with difficult horses. This is a large and popular educational session at the nation’s biggest equine veterinary educational conference. We are proud of Jenn’s expertise and success with this endeavor, and she will be continuing this project in 2011.
Carol is also still involved with the AAEP, serving on the membership committee, where she is involved in work-life balance issues common to chronically overworked equine veterinarians. We are proud of our unique organizational model and of Carol for promoting this approach for other practices.
Dr. Linda Neimeier has more interesting summer plans than most people! This summer she will be traveling to Mongolia with the Christian Veterinary Mission. While there she will be providing educational seminars to the Mongolian vets and teaching animal husbandry to local herders. Educational standards there are different than here - their veterinary care providers do not typically have doctorates, but they strive to improve themselves and care deeply for their animals. We are excited for Linda’s opportunity and look forward to her great stories and photos! Christian Veterinary Mission
In addition to the work CVM does around the world, many veterinarians also volunteer for Equitarian Initiatives with a wide variety of philosophies and programs. We hope to become involved with some of these programs in the future. A list of some of these programs can be found on the American Association of Equine Practitioner’s website here: Equitarian Initiatives. Dr. Carol Sabo and Dr. Melinda Freckleton are great fans of the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust.
Closer to home our veterinarians also donate time in other ways. In February Dr. Melinda Freckleton gave a seminar on how to keep older horses working comfortably and a long lining demonstration at the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia (TRAV) annual conference. The conference was hosted by Melinda and her partner Jenny Spain at their farm in Catlett. TRAV is an organization that supports therapeutic riding centers with educational opportunities and other services. For more information on TRAV and photos of the conference see the TRAV website.
All of us continue to help out as we can with presentations on a variety of horse health topics for 4-H, Pony Club and various horse societies. If you are a leader in such a group give us a call if you would like us to lead horse health educational presentations for you.
While Melinda has stepped down as the Virginia Association of Equine Practitioners (VAEP) president, she will continue to serve on the board as Immediate Past President. The VAEP will also welcome Haymarket Veterinary Service’s Dr. Katy Cilinski to the board for the new term! Katy will be planning educational opportunities for equine veterinarians in the state and will be a valuable asset to the VAEP board.
Don’t forget to check out Equus Magazine each month! Melinda continues to contribute monthly on a variety of horse health topics
In 2010 Dr. Jennifer French began serving the AAEP by leading their discussion group on dealing with difficult horses. This is a large and popular educational session at the nation’s biggest equine veterinary educational conference. We are proud of Jenn’s expertise and success with this endeavor, and she will be continuing this project in 2011.
Carol is also still involved with the AAEP, serving on the membership committee, where she is involved in work-life balance issues common to chronically overworked equine veterinarians. We are proud of our unique organizational model and of Carol for promoting this approach for other practices.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Welcome to the Haymarket Veterinary Service website!
December has already been a busy month here at HVS. The annual meeting of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) was held in Baltimore this year. This is the one time of year that equine veterinarians from around the country, and the world, gather together to continue their education with the latest information. The AAEP convention gives us the opportunity to meet with colleagues, learn about new techniques and products, and even share some of the lessons we’ve learned here at HVS.
Doctors Carol Sabo and Melinda Freckleton are on AAEP committees, and attended these policy meetings even before the convention got underway. Carol and Dr. Jenn French presided over discussion groups – Carol’s group focused on efficiency in ambulatory practices, and Jenn led lively conversation about horse behavior and handling. These groups are informal, fast-moving, and vets exchange ideas so everyone goes home with new methods to help their patients.
Jenn and Dr. Leslie Rhodes are also attending the wide variety of continuing education lectures. For example, specialty subjects like treatment of eye injuries, lameness, and infectious diseases are presented by experts in their field. A topic that reflects our current larger economic environment is equine welfare and the unwanted horse; as people struggle with financial difficulties, it becomes more difficult to make good decisions for their large, four-legged companions. Veterinarians are the ones that witness this first hand.
Doctors Carol Sabo and Melinda Freckleton are on AAEP committees, and attended these policy meetings even before the convention got underway. Carol and Dr. Jenn French presided over discussion groups – Carol’s group focused on efficiency in ambulatory practices, and Jenn led lively conversation about horse behavior and handling. These groups are informal, fast-moving, and vets exchange ideas so everyone goes home with new methods to help their patients.
Jenn and Dr. Leslie Rhodes are also attending the wide variety of continuing education lectures. For example, specialty subjects like treatment of eye injuries, lameness, and infectious diseases are presented by experts in their field. A topic that reflects our current larger economic environment is equine welfare and the unwanted horse; as people struggle with financial difficulties, it becomes more difficult to make good decisions for their large, four-legged companions. Veterinarians are the ones that witness this first hand.
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