Cushing’s Disease Research

If you are putting your old horse to sleep, we would appreciate the opportunity to study him/her for a few days before euthanasia is performed. Our research group is evaluating new tests for equine Cushing’s disease, which is also called pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID). Your older horse may suffer from this hormonal disease and typical signs include delayed shedding of the winter haircoat, thick curly hair, muscle wasting, excessive urinating and drinking, and laminitis (founder). If your horse fits this description, it would be very helpful if we could perform some blood tests before putting him/her to sleep. After euthanasia, the body will be sent to our post mortem laboratory, so that the diagnosis can be confirmed or excluded. This will allow us to determine whether the test was accurate and therefore help us to develop better tests for this disease. We hope that this will help other horses in the future.

Donation of your horse will result in a permanent transfer of ownership of the animal. Interested owners should note that the value of the donated horse can be listed as a charitable contribution for tax purposes up to $5,000.

Procedures used in this research study will be minimally invasive and all work will be approved and monitored by the University of Tennessee Institutional Care and Use Committee.

Please contact Dr. Nicholas Frank at (865) 974-5701 if you are willing to donate your old horse to our research program.