Tag Archives: PPID

Insulin, ACTH and Pain

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Dr. Kellon

Because testing for hormonal disease in horses is often triggered by the horse developing laminitis, the effect of pain on test results is always a concern. A 2020 German study looked at hospitalized horses in pain from various conditions including … Continue reading →

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Mixing Chastetree Berries With Pergolide in Cushing’s Horses

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Dr. Kellon

Use Caution Mixing Chastetree Berries With Pergolide Chastetree berries (CTB), aka Chasteberry, aka Vitex agnus-castus is an herbal remedy I first published about using in horses with PPID (Cushing’s) back in 2000. It had been determined that CTB could help … Continue reading →

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Diet and Laminitis – No Link to Fructan

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Dr. Kellon

Horses and ponies, donkeys and mules, may develop laminitis on diets based on either hay or pasture. The cause isn’t fructan.  It isn’t hind gut acidosis.  Here’s the science. The AAEP’s Laminitis Working Group did a four year study with … Continue reading →

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Safe Supplements for Metabolic Horses

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Dr. Kellon

When evaluating supplements for horses prone to high insulin levels there are two basic areas to consider – the active ingredients and the base. On the ingredients front, some things to generally avoid include:  Added iron.  These horses often have … Continue reading →

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Metabolic Disease Misinformation

Posted on May 16, 2020 by Dr. Kellon

Grazing season makes attention turn to equine metabolic disorders but there is a wealth of misinformation out there, despite solid research that disproves some pieces of advice and a clear lack of supporting research for others. False:  NSC and fructan … Continue reading →

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The Seasonal ACTH Rise

Posted on August 4, 2019 by Dr. Kellon

ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone, is produced by the pituitary gland. It’s function is to trigger cortisol release from the adrenal gland.  Every year in the fall there is a temporary increase in the amount of ACTH produced. For most horses this … Continue reading →

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The Real Cause of PAL – Pasture-Associated Laminitis

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Dr. Kellon

It isn’t fructan.  It isn’t hind gut acidosis.  Here’s the science. The AAEP’s Laminitis Working Group did a four year study with the goal of identifying laminitis risks. Other than diet, EMS pattern obesity, known EMS or PPID and use … Continue reading →

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Hard Keepers

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Dr. Kellon

Overweight horses are grabbing all the headlines but horses that tend to be very thin can also be a major headache for their owners.  While obesity is clearly to be avoided, there is such a thing as too thin. Photo:  … Continue reading →

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Hormonal Laminitis – What It’s Not

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Dr. Kellon

At the NO Laminitis Conference last year I spent several hours talking about what insulin related laminitis is not. A paper just published in The Veterinary Journal (Patterson-Kane et al) called Paradigm shifts in understanding equine laminitis does the same … Continue reading →

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“Natural is Better” Wars

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Dr. Kellon

There are so many labels available to describe the individual interests in this debate that it’s very difficult to even frame a simple sentence that describes it. A workable approximation for my purposes here is to define “natural” as substances … Continue reading →

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