My 12 year old TB Belgian draft x has been on Pentosan for the last year with no issues. We just gave him a dose from a new vial. Within a half hour of injection he had swelling at the injection site along with symptoms that appeared to be an allergic reaction. Extremely itchy, starting biting his legs, scratching ears with hoof etc, itchy nose and head flipping. No hives. Vet came out and gave a steroid shot which calmed his symptoms. Vet mentioned some antecdotal experience with other clients having reactions to pentosan that they have not seen with adequan. Vial was from Wedgewood. I am curious if others have had adverse reactions to pentosan compared with any adverse reactions to adequan? Vet said no more pentosan but I am wondering if it was a bad shot, or bad vial, or he has now developed an intolerance to the drug and if this is common after having no issues with it for 1+ years of regular injections?
I have not seen it, but when I asked my vet about Pentosan he said he’d be more comfortable with Adequan or Polyglycan because he’s seen several bad reactions to Pentosan.
Yes, had injection site reactions in two horses a couple of years ago with Wedgewood pentosan. I reported it to them and they asked me to return the bottle, and they replaced it with a new bottle that didn’t cause any reactions. These were lumps, not allergic reactions.
You should call Wedgewood and report this.
I’ve been using a bottle of Wedgewood pentosan I got in September and have not had any issues with it. I tried to find the FDA-approved product from Ceva but it was sold out everywhere at the time.
I was planning to refill the Wedgewood prescription, but your report gives me pause. That said, I used to use Adequan and had trouble with injection site reactions with it on a few occasions.
I really like the results I see with pentosan but I hate worrying about reactions.
Balls!
I have also had prior injection site reactions with Wedgewood pentosan a couple of years ago. Not as extreme as OP reported, but large lumps and later discoloration and texture changes to the hair coat that took over a year to grow out. After the big lumps showed up, my vet reported it to a Wedgewood and they retrieved my vial to test, but I never heard results (of course…). The reactions were with multiple horses, all having had pentosan from a Wedgewood previously with no issue - this was a new vial. I would definitely let Wedgewood know.
I had a similar issue. My vet stated that he felt you needed to use an 1 1/2" long needle to give the injection to avoid the lump/coat discoloration or texture issues.
These issues are different than an allergic reaction. I would contact Wedgewood.
I have had the hair color and texture of the hair coat change in a ring around the injection site. It had a small firm lump post injection that lasted a few days, the resolved. The color and coat change took a season of growth to get rid of it.
I have known multiple horses, including my own to have had site reactions. Took about 8 months for hair to return to normal. Additionally after one Pentosan injection >24hrs later, (now it could have been the actual injection or a combination) his neck swoll (?) up to the point, he could not move it - we actually thought he broke his neck it was so bad, could have been coincidence but there were eyes on him the entire time (not like he was playing and tweaked himself in turnout and no one saw it) - condition lasted a while, went away with steriods, pain mgmt and return to work. I have since switched to Legends as that was the scariest and most horrible condition I have ever seen my horse in - love Legends so far and believe the effect is greater than Pentosan.
We’ve had multiple horses with hair discoloration - vet said it’s quite common with Pentosan. No other reactions though.
This is a useful thread. My horses got discoloration at site I changed injection locations…even used IV a few times Now thanks to posts like this one no more stains with 1 1/2" needle and I use a one needle to get product out of vial and a new needle to inject horse.
Mine is on Pentosan with no issues (so far) but my vet gives me very long needles (at least 1 1/2", maybe more) so it’s well under the skin when injected.
Always used 1.5" needles so that wasn’t the issue in my case.
