Adequan Alternatives? Or stick to what worked?

[luckycricket123]

Cross posting this with horse care -

Are there any clinically proven alternatives to Adequan? I had my horse on it for a month during a recovery period from Lyme disease and he hasn’t gone nearly as well since I took him off it. Some days he’s just NQR and he is a lot less comfortable cantering without the adequan.

It’s not the price I find off-putting as much as needing to give him the shot regularly (although I certainly wouldn’t complain if the adequan cost less) and I know I have a lot of traveling ahead of me in 2018. He is a perfect gentleman once you catch him, but catching him can take hours when he is in a mood.

Something I will no doubt be able to figure out if I decide to stick with Adequan, but I was wondering if anyone else had much luck with another clinically proven treatment that will provide joint health without needing to wrangle him for a shot.

[findeight]

Think the only things that are going to work and have even a hint of actual clinical studies are injectable as well. I’d stick, pun intended, with the Adequan if it has proven to make the horse more comfortable. Otherwise you wait around to see if something works or not and waste time and money while the horse hurts.

[Foxglove]

Check with your vet but we switched from Adequan to Tilldren for the arthritic horse --then after four years went to Osphos, then in his final year of showing, did Osphos and Adequan --I think it would depend on the kind of arthritis --but we kept this nice relatively young horse going comfortably for probably 5 years longer than possible without the injections. He’s pasture-sound now -his last year showing was last summer. In March, we will reevaluate and decide what will keep him comfortable going forward with no regular riding . . .

[equiniphile]

Legend (IV) is a good option for many horses (and doesn’t need to be given as frequently) but it works differently than Adequan, so many horses that respond to one don’t respond to the other. Pentosan (surgical joint lavage) is another option that works for some horses, but many vets won’t prescribe it for arthritis management, as it’s off-label.

If Adequan is working for him, it’s probably best to stick with it and try to find a way to make him more accessible (smaller paddock?) for the month that he’s on it.

[luckycricket123]

@equiniphile

Legend (IV) is a good option for many horses (and doesn’t need to be given as frequently) but it works differently than Adequan, so many horses that respond to one don’t respond to the other. Pentosan (surgical joint lavage) is another option that works for some horses, but many vets won’t prescribe it for arthritis management, as it’s off-label.

If Adequan is working for him, it’s probably best to stick with it and try to find a way to make him more accessible (smaller paddock?) for the month that he’s on it.

Heh, my paddocks are already tiny, especially when I get him confined in just one. He’ll just run in circles for hours, which doesn’t help his joint issues in the slightest. I keep in light work which tends to keep him sound and then he’ll decide to run from me for an hour and he doesn’t move well the next couple days.

Maybe I’ll spend a few days this winter clicker training him with his halter. He’s also a lot easier to catch in the summer because he chooses to spend most of his time in his stall. I wouldn’t start him on adequan again until the spring. Our ground is frozen and we got a snowy winter ahead of us so he’s completely out of work, and judging by his paddock shenanigans he feels mighty fine when he doesn’t have to work.

[mdp9]

Legend, Pentosan, Osphos, are all good ones with various differences in uses and price.

[Gamma]

What schedule did your vet have you on? The only official schedule is every 3 days for 7 doses twice a year, but a lot of people go off label with one dose every 4 weeks. If your vet thinks that would be OK, it could be a lot easier to manage schedule wise, and if you give a few doses and feel like it’s not effective you can talk with your vet about going back to the normal schedule with the rest of your vials.

[Lkramer]

Pentosan is a good alternative, but not “clinically proven.” Many people use it, as it is significantly cheaper.

[luckycricket123]

@Gamma

What schedule did your vet have you on? The only official schedule is every 3 days for 7 doses twice a year, but a lot of people go off label with one dose every 4 weeks. If your vet thinks that would be OK, it could be a lot easier to manage schedule wise, and if you give a few doses and feel like it’s not effective you can talk with your vet about going back to the normal schedule with the rest of your vials.

I think we did every 4 days for 7 doses. Interestingly (or probably not) I noticed signs of discomfort again about 5-6 months after the first round. At the time we were only doing the one regimen to see if we could kind of “reset” him after lyme disease.

[2LaZ2race]

@Foxglove

Check with your vet but we switched from Adequan to Tilldren for the arthritic horse --then after four years went to Osphos, then in his final year of showing, did Osphos and Adequan --I think it would depend on the kind of arthritis --but we kept this nice relatively young horse going comfortably for probably 5 years longer than possible without the injections. He’s pasture-sound now -his last year showing was last summer. In March, we will reevaluate and decide what will keep him comfortable going forward with no regular riding . . .

How is Tildren used ? My horse was given that years ago for Kissing Spines and it was almost $1000 for the one treatment. I guess the price has gone down ?

[SweetestDownfall]

How often do you have to inject Adequan?

[Lkramer]

The maintenance dose for Adequan is monthly. I had no luck with Osphos. Most people either say it works great, or not at all.

[fordtraktor]

The most effective Adequan maintenance is one shot every 4 days for 28 days, twice a year. Monthly is not proven.

[Lkramer]

@fordtraktor

The most effective Adequan maintenance is one shot every 4 days for 28 days, twice a year. Monthly is not proven.

http://www.highlandhillvet.com/blog/adequan-im-147-protocol

You are right! There’s a new protocol.

[Whiney12]

I’ve heard great things about Pentosan and Osphos!

[Foxglove]

At the time we did Tilldren, it was an all day IV followed by observation —1K but that was 5 years ago. For us last year Adequan was monthly.

[mvp]

@mdp9

Legend, Pentosan, Osphos, are all good ones with various differences in uses and price.

What? I think you either need to add a whole lot more information or this isn’t helpful.

For example, do Pentosan and Osphos behave similarly, physiologically speaking? And I might be missing something, but I thought that folks perfused Osphos (and the like) in order to build bone… not reduce the chance of exostoses forming at joint margins (the radiographically-visible symptom of OA). That said, I don’t know lots about how people who consider OA think about maintaining cartilage health vs, the physiology of bone remodeling.

I’m confused. Can you help me and the others reading this worthwhile thread?

[mvp]

@Lkramer

http://www.highlandhillvet.com/blog/adequan-im-147-protocol

You are right! There’s a new protocol.

FYI: MareHead had to have some surgical repair (and invasion) of a stifle joint she screwed up and her surgeon (at Oregon State University) recommended this as something preventive medicine. Yes, 7 shots/4 days apart/total of 28 days/2x/year.

I have a trainer whose vets recommend that series initially and then one 5 ml. injection/vial of Adequan monthly. Is this a commonly-followed protocol as well?

[luckycricket123]

@mvp

FYI: MareHead had to have some surgical repair (and invasion) of a stifle joint she screwed up and her surgeon (at Oregon State University) recommended this as something preventive medicine. Yes, 7 shots/4 days apart/total of 28 days/2x/year.

I have a trainer whose vets recommend that series initially and then one 5 ml. injection/vial of Adequan monthly. Is this a commonly-followed protocol as well?

That’s honestly much more convenient! I’ll start him on adequan in March or April and again in the fall and I should be able to just skirt around May and June when I’m not around much

[Lkramer]

@mvp

FYI: MareHead had to have some surgical repair (and invasion) of a stifle joint she screwed up and her surgeon (at Oregon State University) recommended this as something preventive medicine. Yes, 7 shots/4 days apart/total of 28 days/2x/year.

I have a trainer whose vets recommend that series initially and then one 5 ml. injection/vial of Adequan monthly. Is this a commonly-followed protocol as well?

My vets all recommended monthly maintenance doses. I know the reining people will give them a dose everyday of a competition. Luitipold got in a bunch of trouble for publishing a quote in their magazine ads several years ago when they quoted a reiner, saying they did that. USDA jumped in and said that’s off label and you can’t market that. Adequan liked the idea of everyone using it everyday. It wouldn’t surprise me if that was their recommendation of use it monthly.