Should be gone after 3 days.
Has anyone noticed the same problem with Equioxx, or is that an OK substitute?
I’ve got a 34-year old who’s been taking it daily for 2 years; not a problem in the world and it’s probably the only reason he can still get up from a snooze. A 23-year old shows no issues, nor does another 23-year old who took it for about 6 months following hock soreness.
Looks like you’ve got the 1 in 127; bummer! 
My mare has been on it for 3 years. In the summer, she may get it every other day, but I have noticed absolutely NO side effects except that she is now mostly sound! She takes it because of ring bone.
Mine will go exactly 2 weeks on Previcox (57 mg every other day) and then get raging ulcer symptoms, the first of which is spookiness in an otherwise-extremely sensible horse. I put him on blue pop rocks, symptoms subside. Wean him off BPR, two weeks later I have raging ulcer symptoms again. Took me two stints with Previcox in the winter to put two and two together and realize it was the drug. Too bad as he did really well on it, but I don’t want to keep him on Previcox and BPR all winter long. I went for another treatment option.
[QUOTE=grayarabpony;7421219]
Previcox is a cox 2 inhibitor, which is not as hard on the stomach as a cox 1 inhibitor like bute. However, it can still affect the stomach and then there are differences among individual horses with tolerance of a medication.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for this information. This is the first time I’ve used it, my horse seems to be tolerating it well.
[QUOTE=sdlbredfan;7422389]
Has anyone noticed the same problem with Equioxx, or is that an OK substitute?[/QUOTE]
Aren’t they the same drug (Firocoxib)? Is there a difference in the concentration?
IMy mare has been on it daily for almost a year now for a badly arthritic hock. Still not really sound enough to ride but no side effects that I’ve seen. The two other two horses on daily previcoxx at my barn also don’t seem to be affected by it.
Mine has been on 57 mg daily for several months now, for arthritis and a hock that is in the process of fusing, very slowly. She’s had no side effects as far as I can see; I don’t worry too much about ulcers as she seems to have an iron stomach. She will go to every other day once the weather warms up. But every horse is different.
[QUOTE=Roxyllsk;7421754]
My mare is also on it daily for uveitis. She is a drama queen and always has been - but it’s no worse now that she gets it daily. My mare gets silly and fresh when she feels good and has too much energy. When she’s in pretty regular work it goes away.
She is 20 years old and blind in one eye from the uveitis (she had leptospirosis). I don’t think she will deal well with being blind, so we’re doing everything we can to give her a few more good years. The kicker of it is that she is sound as heck when she’s NOT on it. She’s only getting it to save her sight.[/QUOTE]
Here’s hoping it contains or slows down the progress of Uveitis. That’s the only reason my mare is on it also. How long has she been on it? Have you noticed a slow down in the progression of ERU?
[QUOTE=grayarabpony;7421219]
Previcox is a cox 2 inhibitor, which is not as hard on the stomach as a cox 1 inhibitor like bute. However, it can still affect the stomach and then there are differences among individual horses with tolerance of a medication.[/QUOTE]
Thank you.
Just because it’s “safer” doesn’t mean it can’t cause gastric issues.
OP, since your mare’s change in behavior directly match possible symptoms of horses with gastric ulcers, I would be concerned about her stomach.
[QUOTE=J-Lu;7422527]
Aren’t they the same drug (Firocoxib)? Is there a difference in the concentration?[/QUOTE]
Both are firocoxib, so if the Previcox irritates the stomach, Equioxx is going to do the same. The horse is still getting an NSAID.
Previcox is the brand name for firocoxib for dogs.
Equioxx is the brand name for firocoxib for horses.
Same drug.
It’s like buying Tylenol - you can buy Acetaminophen and it’s the same thing. Tylenol is the brand name, Acetaminophen is the drug
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We have two oldsters on 57 mg daily for several months now and they have no behavioural changes. I agree it definitely could be linked and agree to pull her off it to see if there is a relationship. Good luck sorting it out.
I have a 19 year-old gelding who was incredibly spooky when he was younger. He has gotten over most of it. He has been on long-term previcox twice and it hasN’T affected his behavior at all. He has what is probably as soft tissue problem in his right front. I can’t afford an MRI to confirm that. However, the farrier tells me he is way more limber that he was before. He gets it 4x per week: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Someone of this forum has reported that the half-life is 36 hours.
Figured I would update. The horse has been off the Previcox for over 3 weeks now. Her temperament is back to normal and she is sound with a combination of Cosequin ASU and an Omega 3 supplement. Two days ago she was tearing around the pasture full tilt playing with the other horses. On the trails she she’s alert but not frantic, trots or canters the hills willingly. So for now I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and hold off on chronic pain relief.
How did your mare do off of it longer term? Did her temperament remain steady? I am having extreme anxiety and spookiness problems with my own horse and although there’s several factors in play, I’m trying to rule out Previcoxx as one. Thanks!
Hi horsevet26,…since this is an older thread I figure I’ll chime in. My horse had the “excitability” reaction to Previcox. We tried it for 3 weeks. Vet had wanted to do 4, but I couldn’t take it anymore. Took him off of it, and he went back to normal. He was extra spooky and jumpy. Like, if a horse in the arena had a hard rub on a jump they were jumping somewhere not that close to us, my horse would start leaping and tearing around. He had zero work ethic (which is why we were trying the Previcox to work on that from a pain angle), and all it did was make him a hot horse with no work ethic :o.
I had a horse on it over the winter for a catheter site infection. Banamine worked better for her condition but because of the possible kidney problems we’d switch her to Previcox short term and once we got the inflammation under better control we switched her to Previcox until she was healed.
She is super spooky to begin with and she didn’t get any worse.
However, she is ulcer-prone so she was on omeprazole as well.
As one poster said we (and they) all react differently. I had one horse who was on bute for 4 years and never a noticeable stomach or kidney problem. I’m not saying it’s impossible she didn’t have them - but not sos you’d notice.
[QUOTE=SAcres;7421738]
I would suspect ulcers. Previcox is easier on the stomach but if the horse already had low grade ulcers (which is entirely possible…even without symptoms) then it would still aggravate the ulcers. Definitely try out the pentosan and add msm to her diet. [/QUOTE]
i would caution that MSM made my horse really edgy and spooky. Sometimes the ‘sulfate’ in MSM can irritate the stomach. Guess it just proves that different horses can have very different reactions to common products.
[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;7423138]
Both are firocoxib, so if the Previcox irritates the stomach, Equioxx is going to do the same. The horse is still getting an NSAID.
Previcox is the brand name for firocoxib for dogs.
Equioxx is the brand name for firocoxib for horses.
Same drug.
It’s like buying Tylenol - you can buy Acetaminophen and it’s the same thing. Tylenol is the brand name, Acetaminophen is the drug[/QUOTE]
No, actually, it’s not. This drug is formulated for different species- previcox is for dogs and Equioxx is for horses. One is not a generic for the other. If you’re having issues with previcox why not try equioxx to see if it’s the drug or the formulation?
This is why I spend a little more and use equioxx when I want to give firecoxib- then I know what I am giving and I know that the dose and formulation have been extensively studied in HORSES and I can have a serious discussion with my vet about what I am observing. Equioxx is an insanely safe drug- not that there aren’t possible side effects- but I have seen a difference when giving the two different formulations. Also, there is a loading dose with firecoxib unless you want it to take longer to take effect so giving it “every other day” is not how it is intended.
