I haven't come across Adequan, but it seems that it is a prescription medication. Is this something your vet is recommending?
I have not heard of this one. One of my labs Casper has arthritic changes in his spine and hips due to HD and trauma. The vet has prescribed a similar supplement (not injectable) It has taken 6 weeks to have an effect, however we have really seen a difference in flexibility and comfort. He is now able to come off his NSAIDs. Casper is nearly 7 years old. This has been combined with monitoring his exercise, reducing too shorter on lead walks and then building up to about 45 mins x 2 a day. A little less than previously but he is very happy with that. I see that Adequan is prescription only..has your vet recommended this for your dog? Oh welcome to the forums, would love to hear more about your labrador!
You must be in the U.S.A.? I am in Canada where the very similar Cartrophen Vet is used more. I cannot say enough good things about it and I have heard similar from U.S. owners about Adequan. I have used CV on two Labs and one cat and each time have been very pleased with the outcome. With my first Lab we saw results with the very first loading injection. I had been warned if might take the four full weeks of once a week injections before I saw results so to see it right away was very nice. Adequan requires more injections, two a week it would be be for us to load, We did use it for a short time but stopped due to unrelated illness. One thing to check into is if you can buy pre-loaded syringes or draw them up yourself at home. Much cheaper, saves stress on pup going to the Vet and saves you time and money in mileage. Welcome to the board. Sorry it's because of arthritis though.
Welcome We've used Pentosan for two dogs (exactly same thing as Cartrophen, just a different label). For our current dog it was as a preventative while young and for the other dog as a treatment for arthritis while old. We definitely saw an improvement with our old dog - he became more playful and active. I'm a big fan. Have a chat to your vet about why they'd recommend Adequan over Pentosan/Cartrophen. They should be able to talk about it in detail. It's not cheap stuff, these injectable treatments, and you want to use your money where it will have the best effect for your dog.
Thank you all for your replies, My boy Spike is an 11 yr old black lab. He is limping in his front left and we took him for xrays and other test which only shows some arthritus, The vet did talk about other drugs but they are not good on the liver and kidneys (rimadyl, metacam) We dont like useing drugs but on the other hand we dont want to see our little boy hurting. We did have 3 labs but lost 2 in November and December 2013 and again we are scared to lose another one over a drug. Thank you all for the welcome. John
Hello John, Spikey1 - a very warm welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your Labradors, and can completely understand you wanting to keep Spike comfy. I've heard that Cartrophen can work very well for some (not all) dogs, but I haven't heard of Adequan - if it's similar to Cartrophen, I would try it, but very sensible comments from Rachael (Oberon) above about asking your vet the pros and cons of the different drugs. Not all anti-inflammatories (metacam, rimadyl) are necessarily harmful for all dogs. Some dog tolerate these very well. Have you thought of hydrotherapy? A skilled hydrotherapist can really help with arthritis, particularly if gentle, structured swimming in warm water can be swapped for more high impact exercise. It's not a substitute for appropriate drugs, but can help. Best of luck with it.
