Adequan For Foal With Physitis?

[Donella]

I have a 10 week old colt that is HUGE and very fast growing and he has developed some swelling in his growth plates in his ankles and has become quite sore all of a sudden. I am actually really surprised by how lame he is. I am pretty OCD about making sure the mares/foals are getting balanced nutrition and I have had a few very big babes before but I have never had a foal with this issue…kind of worried here!

My vet recommended confinement (smaller paddock in day, stall at night) and cutting mare off her complete feed (low starch, high fat/fiber). I am cutting it back significantly but giving just enough now so that she gets her vit supplements. Mom and baby are on pasture plus I started adding a few flakes of Alfalfa mix (60 percent alfalfa ) hay at night a few weeks ago because the pasture was maybe getting a bit sparse. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that? Ughh. I am a bit worried I should be doing more and so am wondering if anyone has tried Adequan in such a scenario? Is it safe for foals?? It makes sense to me that it would help but I can’t find much info on it and my vet didn’t seem to think it was warranted at this point (but I am worried as he is quite sore!).

Thoughts?

[Dan]

I believe I read a thread on this forum about using Adequan in racing foals.

Dan

[sid]

Yes, did this with a 9 month old. He and his dam (leased) were starvation cases that came back to the farm when he was 5 mos. old., but looked like he was 3 mos old.

Once he got on a good plane of nutrition he started growing like a weed and developed some slight swelling in his knees. This was after he was weaned, as he dam didn’t have much milk to offer anyway.

We did a regime of Adequan and of course, started him on MSM right away. The issues resolved relatively quickly.

[Sunnydays]

I know of 2 instances where weanling owners used about 4-6 weeks of adequan. I understand it kicked in quickly, and worked well. I would suggest giving a ration balancer (well fortified) to the mare. She needs her nutrients. Lots of good hay too.

[sixpoundfarm]

I have used adequan on my foals in the past when they seemed to be in a growth challenged phase. They were on appropriate diets, getting a mineral drench etc. It made a very big difference for them, within a few days. And yes, I did consult my vet before doing so. Probably a good idea to get your foal on a chelated mineral drench such as Rejuvinaide/ Foal Aide, and If you can find any adequan right now, it might be worth the try.

[Laurierace]

Rejuvenaide or Foal Aide and msm is the way I treated this. I doubt if you could get adequan right now anyway.

[Home_Again_Farm]

Adequan seems to be impossible to find lately (I have two dogs on it). I would think that it can’t hurt, if you can find it. I’d also second what sunnydays, sixpound and laurierace said - ration balancer, rejuvenaide.

[Donella]

I have the mare on a good vit/mineral supplement and I make sure she gets it every day. I do have Rejuvenaide but it is about two years old…do you think it is still good? It has to be ordered from the US and it is not an easy thing to do.

How much Adequan do I give, is it the same as the adult dosing? I have some Adequan here I could use.

[tuckawayfarm]

My vet had me give 2.5ml (1/2 the adult dose) every four days to my 4 month old. I used 4 vials. It really seemed to help, but she was getting Rejuvenaide as well.

Good luck with your colt!

[Edgewood]

[QUOTE=tuckawayfarm;7079601]
My vet had me give 2.5ml (1/2 the adult dose) every four days to my 4 month old. I used 4 vials. It really seemed to help, but she was getting Rejuvenaide as well.

Good luck with your colt![/QUOTE]

I did exactly this as well. That mare is out showing now as a 4 year old and winning. She also was switched to a double ration of Ration Balancer (her breeder fed Purina). She was about the same age as the quoted foal above.

Within 2 mos of the Adequan, Rejuvenaide and double dose of Ration Balancer you could not see any epiphysitis in her legs.

[ambar]

I have a friend who has dealt with a physitis case or two, and the first thing he does is stop the alfalfa. Grass hay only. I know nothing about Adequan in this situation, sorry.

[Kyzteke]

I have no experience w/ Adequan either, but both myself and afew fellow breeders have had great success with OCD Pellets, by Dr. Bebee. An endurance horse breeder I know well had a mare who tended to throw really early maturers. One of her filly foals developed an extreme lameness in one of her stifles when she was about 6-8 mos old – so bad that she couldn’t get up once she was down! They found quite a large cyst in that area. My friend thought she would put her down, because you don’t spend $2000 on surgery for a horse you are only going to get $3500 for.

So I suggested to my friend she try the pellets. She called Dr. Bebee (who actually called her back!) and followed his instructions per dosing & other measures (for instance, he said to NOT confine them). In 10 days that filly was walking sound! And as I recall (it was some years ago), she was not receiving any other meds. I was pretty amazing.

She remained on the pellets till she was 18 or 20 mos old. Although she was never re-xrayed, she is currently 4 yrs old and being ridden regularly on the trails with her new owner. Has never taken a bad step.

I’ve had other good experiences with the product, as have a number of my friends. One of their stories is posted on the “Testimonials” page…the first time I’ve ever been able to confirm that those things are actually REAL!!:winkgrin:

Nothing is a cure all in every case, but if you are looking for OTC stuff to try, I would definitely recommend the OCD Pellets…

Good luck!

[Laurierace]

OCD and physitis aren’t the same thing and they usually aren’t lame from physitis. OCD pellets aren’t going to hurt anything and may help however.

[sid]

Totally agree with whoever said to stop the alfalfa for the kiddo. Straight grass hay, a good balancer pellet. MSM for sure. I’d do that while hunting for Adequan (I haven’t kept up to find out why it is suddenly hard to find).

Cutting the alfalfa and getting on a good straight grass hay right away will hopefully get you ahead of the curve.:yes:

Edited to say: And don’t let the baby have a bit of his dam’s grain…assuming it is high calorie which is what she needs while she has the demands of lactation.

[exvet]

I haven’t kept up to find out why it is suddenly hard to find

The manufacturer has voluntarily stopped producing it while they make changes to their production lines in order to address concerns expressed by the FDA. Production isn’t suppose to start up again until the first quarter of 2014.

[retrofit]

I only had 1 foal, but she was a fast-grower and developed physitis in her ankles at a young age. I added a mineral drench (she hated that…) and my vet recommended Adequan as well. She told me to do the usual loading dose, but to give a half-dose (i.e. 2.5 ccs instead of 5).

If you can’t get Adequan, there are lots of substitutes out there.

[Hilltopfarmva]

I have never had physitis in any of my TB foals, but twice now in my WB foals. Last year in one and I did not realize filly was eating a lot with mom, pulled her off the feed a little too late, had to do oxytetracycline twice, once as a suckling and once as a weanling because of the physitis. She is a little over a year now and she is conformationally correct and everything looks great.
This year noticed it right away with the new open broodmare stalls and hung moms bucket up so high that filly could not get to it. Within two weeks, joints looked great. Vet says to watch these WB chow hounds with the slower metabolism than the TBs. Still not letting her eat with mom and she is just a little over 2 months now.