Adequin injections - Page 1

What's your experience, helpful or otherwise? Thank you in advance Nan

I have used it ( Adequan ) and perhaps a little improvement but very little or none in dogs. How to use it and the high cost is a mystery as there are some generic brands ( Korean ) as well. The horse users report better results but inject it right into the joint which seems a bit risky with dogs so I give it at least close to the affected joint. For the cost of Adequan and a vet visit you can buy your dog several sides of beef ribs instead if a vet prescribes or gives it to your dog. The rehab vets are kinda luke warm ( they damn it with faint praise ) on Adequan when asked about it so I think they won't advise against as it is not likely to do harm ( worst case ). Adequan is made from the cow's trachea tissue and all of the muscles and connective tissues involved in swallowing and breathing so I think a few racks of beef or pork ribs will accomplish the same thing and I think your dog will agree they'll feel better after some ribs than after an injection. There are lots of connective tissues and muscles in a rack of ribs as well as bone marrow plus they get cleaner teeth and meaty breath. After trying Adequan I have just decided to give my limping dogs some better food and rest and forget the Adequan as I have seen little improvement from it other than the dog stops limping when he thinks he is going to get an injection ( yes they are that smart ). When they see you with a needle in hand suddenly their leg feels better until you go away with the syringe.

Used it for several of my dogs, was helpful for those with arthritis in hips, not so much for degenerative changes in the spine or stifle joints.

Worked best as a first line of treatment when dogs were still in their mid-life years, before moving up to anti-inflammatories; once they were into their senior years [10+], I found it to be of lesser efficacy, and at that point made the switch to NSAIDs, plus or minus other meds [tramadol, gabapentin, etc.]

For me it seemed to make the arthritis worse in my dog. She did good on it for a bit, but it got to the point where she'd limp worse after an injection, even crying out in pain. I took her off of it and started her on the supplement Vertex, and she has been doing great. No limping unless over-exercised anymore. Which, it was to the point where we could do nothing all day aside from letting her chill out around the house and outside for pottybreaks, and she'd still be limping. Today and yesterday both, she swam for over an hour (not to mention some running on the grass/beach and then screwing around in the yard at home as well and not a single limp.

The Korean version is about 50% less expensive than Adequan.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/product/54684/ichon?utm_source=googlepla&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=googlepla&extcid=PLA&mr:referralID=01be3c62-1413-11e6-a988-005056946dac

Interesting, Dawulf...she was getting the injections IM or sub-Q?

Sub-Q. A pinch between the shoulders. It was the weirdest thing. Jen said she did them on her before, and originally the vet showed me how so I was doing it... until a month or two into it when she started yelping, and it was getting worse. I started having the vet do it again, but it didn't help, just progressively got worse. IIRC the lasts time or two that the vet did it, she did it IM. 

I considered perhaps I was the problem, but I swear I wasn't, it was as routine as I could possibly make it, and hell... she got cheese afterwards, she looked forward to it for awhile. xD

She is doing great on the Vertex though. As long as she is doing well I don't care.

 

(And on the subject I will say that I will never again order Vertex from Elite K9... One jug arrived completely busted open all over the box it was shipped in, which also had a hole in it, and they refused to do anything except give a slight discount on the next order, after arguing with them for several days over e-mail/phone, making me send picture proof, etc. Not happy with that company at all, so if Vertex is something you want to look into, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.)

Your last sentence sums up my thoughts as well. If dressing up like a banshee and dancing the hora helped my old boy's range-of-motion in his hindquarters, I'd happily do so.

I wasn't thinking you were doing anything wrong, I was just curious about the route of injection simply because a steady, repetitive schedule of even correctly-performed IM injections can eventually lead to inflammation of the nerves, resulting in pain that's not coming from the joint and causing lameness.

This is the first case I've heard or read about where the dog was getting sub-Q injections and having a painful adverse result, though. Certainly could be due to the same issue as with the IM route, I expect...or could be for some completely different reason. Just glad to hear that your girl is comfortable via a different means. :)

Thanks to all - although I do not think it is something I want to use. Nan

I've heard very good things about Dosaquin (sp?)... supposedly it is very similar to Adequan, but in pill/treat form? I haven't personally tried it however.