Bad reaction to Pentosan
Friends of mine recently tried this product for the first time with two of their horses. The gelding was fine, but the mare had a systemic reaction. Swollen eyes, swollen muzzle, heart rate ok, but gums rather pale and no gut sounds. They called their vet immediately, prescribed injection of Dexamethasone. As far as I know she is OK now.
This is an interesting thread. Following the loafing dose my vet prescribes 17cc a month, calculated on size. Made is about 1500 lbs. It has done wonders, but I wonder if a lower dose would do the same. I pay 200 for a 50ml bottle and vet won’t do a script. The vet that I get it from is actually my backup vet. My usual vet don’t even sell it to me, much less prescribe.
[QUOTE=Ahmarezing;7479967]
Yeah, I don’t want him taking offense or anything which I imagine he would if I asked.
I also think he’ll say, “the product might not work as well as mine if maybe it’s compounded”, etc…[/QUOTE]
My vet will not prescribe the compounded one from wedgewood but will let me order pentaussie. Smartpak and heartland VS sell it.
I ride a horse that gets Pentosan once a week. The horse’s owner is a vet and sends the script to Wedgewood.
I don’t understand the reluctance of some vets to provide a prescription for compounded Pentosan. My regular vet (not the horse’s owner) recommends Pentaussie to clients but gets many other products from Wedgewood. My younger mare’s Depo-Provera is from Wedgewood (prescribed by that same vet) as are probably half a dozen other products in the barn’s medicine cabinet (all prescribed by that same vet).
That sounds like a very high dose. A 50mL bottle is less than $125 dollars, including shipping, if you order it directly from Wedgewood. The dosage is based on weight, and I give my 1250+ lb horse just over 6cc per dosage.
[QUOTE=Ahmarezing;7479967]
Yeah, I don’t want him taking offense or anything which I imagine he would if I asked.
I also think he’ll say, “the product might not work as well as mine if maybe it’s compounded”, etc…[/QUOTE]
I agree with Laurierace. I’ve never heard of the loading dose that your vet prescribes. Mine was once a week for 4 weeks. Buying it directly from Wedgewood (with prescription) would save you a lot of money. My last 50mL bottle came to less than $125, including shipping. I wonder where your vet gets his Pentosan from?
[QUOTE=Welli;6935522]
I recently purchased a sweet boy who’d previously had his hock injected. He’s been going well, overall, but can be balky and I was interested in finding an alternative to ongoing AI injections.
So…I just finished researching everything I could find on Pentosan, and am starting the first series of IM shots this week. It took quite a bit of googling and several phone calls to pull this info together, so I thought I’d share it here. After signing a release of liability, my vet called in a script to the (compounding) pharmacy Wedgewood, who then called me for my credit card info and order. They have different strengths, but advised that the 250mg/mL injection solution is the “formula” for equines. I ordered a 50mL bottle, which will provide approx. 8 doses at 6cc each. My vet recommended a loading dose of 6ccs 1X per week for 4 weeks, and then once a month thereafter (though I have seen posts from other users who have adjusted this timing based on their horses’ needs). The cost from Wedgewood, including shipping, was $109, and I received my order within 3 days. You can buy a 100mL bottle at a better price, but I thought I’d try the 50mL first to see if it makes a difference with my guy. (You can also order it in single-dose 6mL vials).
I saw another poster reference PentAussie, and wanted to mention that my vet’s office recommended PA because they carry and sell it, but upon researching it online I learned that PentAussie consists of 125mg/mL Pentosan (half the strength of regular Pentosan) and 200mg/mL of N-Acetyl Glucosamine. From my vet, 48mL of the PentAussie would have been $200(!). Also interesting is that its labeled use is as a lavage, but it is apparently commonly used and was recommended to me as an “off label” IM injection.
Will post an update if the Pentosan seems to make a difference with my guy. Wish us luck! :)[/QUOTE]
So, it has been a year since I started my boy on Pentosan, and I’ve concluded that it has made a definite, positive, impact. At one point last year, Wedgewood was unable to provide Pentosan because they had trouble sourcing the ingredients, so I was unable to give it to him for nearly 3 months. I guess the timing was good, because I had started thinking that perhaps the Pentosan really wasn’t making much of a difference; maybe my training was better, etc. Well, once he was off of it for two months it was obvious that the Pentosan had been working. I had to play with the timing. I originally gave doses 4 weeks apart, and noticed that he would struggle with lateral work the last couple of days, so now I give him the Pentosan injections just over 3 weeks apart. I also order a new bottle when I open one, so that I don’t get caught if they have sourcing issues again.
Just a word of advice for people who are talking about dosages and prices. The Pentosan from Wedgewood comes in four different strengths, ranging from 100 mg/ml to 250 mg/ml. It’s meaningless to talk about cc’s or ml’s without knowing the strength. Otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges. For example, you have to give TWICE as much of the 100 mg/ml as the 200 mg/ml to get the same effect.
Bumping this up again. The horse I used to own, Beau, is a 12yo foundation-bred QH who sustained a stifle injury roughly a year ago, maybe a little more. He has a lot of excess fluid in the joint, similar to “water on the knee”. We’ve had it drained twice, injected with steroids, and a sample of the fluid was sent off for testing. It came back clean. 3 different vets have all agreed that given the circumstances and behavior of the injury (on again, off again swelling and lameness, over a year old), that it sounds like he has developed arthritis in the stifle as a result of the original injury. Now, I do not own him anymore, but the people who do are good friends, and said I could visit him and ride whenever I want (obviously no one is riding him right now because he is still dead lame at the trot and canter). We have been working together with the vets, and right now, we have him on SmartPak Rehab (I really haven’t noticed a difference) and Bute. I really don’t want him on Bute long term though. After doing some research, I am seriously considering talking to the owners and our vet, and trying out Pentosan with him come next spring when I get a new job and will be making more money.
If your vet will write a prescription for you a 6 month supply of Pentosan will cost as much as a 2 month supply of Smartpak rehab. I just got some, $109 plus $10 shipping from Wedgewood
CarolP,
Was it shipped to you in VA? When I called a couple of weeks ago, I was told they could not ship to VA because they were waiting for a license renewal or something, and had not been able to ship to VA in over 3 months…
[QUOTE=mpsbarnmanager;7702206]
CarolP,
Was it shipped to you in VA? When I called a couple of weeks ago, I was told they could not ship to VA because they were waiting for a license renewal or something, and had not been able to ship to VA in over 3 months…[/QUOTE]
Mr P works in OH and I had it shipped to him there. It’s not a big deal to ship it to someone in another state and have them ship it to you.
I think he will be in TN next week…
That is exactly what I was trying to figure out, carolprudm. Thank you! My roommate even said the same thing. I have already put my SmarkPak orders on hold because, again, they really aren’t doing much of anything, if at all. And he said that it sounded as though the injection would be cheaper, and if so, just go for it now. After thinking about that, and reading your post, I am absolutely going to go for it come the end of this month. I think it is definitely the best option. I am going to get a hold of my vet within the next week or two. I am very excited to see what this will do, because I have heard SO many good things about Pentosan, and reading this thread only reaffirmed it in my mind that it is the best decision. Maybe this will be the “miracle drug” that gets Beau sound again! And even if he is never riding sound, maybe he will be sound w/t/c in the pasture. Even just that would be fantastic and worth the money to me.
Carol P - Have you heard if Wedgewood can ship to VA now? Looking at DHP’s website, it looks like their license is current and won’t expire until 4/2015
Not sure if this link will work:
https://secure01.virginiainteractive.org/dhp/cgi-bin/search_publicdb.cgi?search_type=4&license_no=0214000372
We used it earlier this year on a twentysomething App with a very creaky hind end; I believe his hocks are likely in the act of fusing. MAJOR improvement! So when my vet was here the other day, I asked her if we could try it on one older TB with all kinds of arthritis in knees and fetlocks, and our Sainted Ancient QH/Morgan x who is 34 and creaky generally.
Well, after 3 weekly shots don’t see much happening yet in the TB, but the Sainted Ancient is bouncing off the WALLS and with such improved mobility, is grazing more efficiently and putting on weight! 
I’d endorse trying it for Seniors!
Wishing they’d approve it for RIDERS, too . . . :winkgrin:
Wishing they’d approve it for RIDERS, too . . .
I can tell you that my DH would willingly be a guinea pig to see if it would help with his RA.
[QUOTE=JJARAB;7737575]
Carol P - Have you heard if Wedgewood can ship to VA now? Looking at DHP’s website, it looks like their license is current and won’t expire until 4/2015
Not sure if this link will work:
https://secure01.virginiainteractive.org/dhp/cgi-bin/search_publicdb.cgi?search_type=4&license_no=0214000372[/QUOTE]
It looks like they can but you would get your best info from Wedgewood
I have devoured this thread - read every post - WHY HAVE I NOT HEARD OF THIS BEFORE??? I retired my best trail horse due to arthritis in his hocks and navicular changes - I just texted my vet and she said she loves the stuff - she sells it for $145 for the 50ml (so no getting a script for it) and is bringing to me on Friday!!! I miss my old friend and am sooo excited to see if this will help him. He’s been on Previcox and was at my gf’s rescue since the spring as a little kids lesson horse - which he loved - but he’s loosing weight and I want him off the NASID. Thank you all for posting about your experiences!!! I’m a COTH fan for sure now!!!
They are again shipping to VA. I just received mine, today.
[QUOTE=Lambee;7744431]
I have devoured this thread - read every post - WHY HAVE I NOT HEARD OF THIS BEFORE??? I retired my best trail horse due to arthritis in his hocks and navicular changes - I just texted my vet and she said she loves the stuff - she sells it for $145 for the 50ml (so no getting a script for it) and is bringing to me on Friday!!! I miss my old friend and am sooo excited to see if this will help him. He’s been on Previcox and was at my gf’s rescue since the spring as a little kids lesson horse - which he loved - but he’s loosing weight and I want him off the NASID. Thank you all for posting about your experiences!!! I’m a COTH fan for sure now!!![/QUOTE]
Lambee, you can order directly from Wedgewood for $119 plus $10 shipping, though I totally understand if you’re willing to pay a bit more to ensure that the vet/client relationship runs smoothly!
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