Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Quad pug Tani has bad arthritis. She is on joint supplements, rimadyl and gabapentin.
In December we did the loading phase with Adequan giving injections twice a week for 4 weeks. She was doing really well during this phase. We are now on the monthly injection schedule. She went from the end of December to the end of January. The first two week were OK, then not as good. We are about 2 weeks out from the last injection and she is not doing that well. I had talked with my vet about every 3 weeks and I think she was OK with it, but wanted to talk to me first. I wanted to try a second 4 weeks, but I'm thinking that is too long between shots.
Is there any info out there on more frequent dosing than 4 weeks? What is the down side of more frequent injections?
As always any insights are appreciated.
Karen
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Many dogs do fine with injections every 4 weeks but some seem to need an injection every 2-3 weeks. There have been rare reports of allergic reactions to Adequan but I think overall it is very safe so I would ask your vet about changing her schedule.
Pam
Rumbles is on a 3 week schedule after his loading phase in December. Seems to be working well for him. Our vet said that if 3 weeks was too long, then he'd be okay with every 2 weeks.
Teo has been on a monthly injection for about 2 years now, part preventative (and ironiclly enough his bad elbow was the limb removed) to keep stave of the more painful aspects of his dysplasia.
We just had the conversation last week about when/if we should change to an injection every 2 weeks because of the added stress of tripawding. The answer we got was "you'll know when it's time"..... and the reading I have done indicates starting with the same monthly dose, just 1/2 each time.... and eventually increasing to a full dose every 2 weeks as needed.
My non-DVM opinion says, if your pup is showing signs of pain and discomfort with 4 weeks between doses, try the 2 week dose and see what happens, obviously your vet should be on board.
Thanks for the input, its nice to know that others are using it more frequently. Tani is on more meds than I mentioned above so I always work closely with my vet, unfortunately she is out of town until the end of next week. I'll probably give her a shot next Sunday which would be 3 weeks, we had talked about doing that before.
Karen
We did the entire routine for the adequan injections at the Vet beginning March 2014, then once a month. Our 12 year old Shetland Sheep Dog is much more active, able to go on 1/4 mile slow walks and even mildly chase a ball than before she received the injections. She could hardly get up from the floor before this and xrays showed cartalige deterioration in her hips. Now its Jan 2015 and she hasn't had a shot in 6 weeks and I am wondering whether to take her for another one since she is doing so well. For the first few months, she was also taking Tramadol and Rimadyl to help her with the pain and inflamation but her bloodwork showed liver and kidney issues, so Vet took her off those drugs a few months ago. She is doing very well without them. I do think that for a while mild depression is one of the side effects of this treatment, but I didn't notice any other issues with the shots. Being an older dog and since they can't tell you if they are depressed, I can only guess. I would appreciate any input.
I am so sorry, I didn't read that this was a 3 legged site. My dog has all four. Thanks for letting me post about adequan.
Blessings,
Cindy Dady
Cindy Dady said
I am so sorry, I didn't read that this was a 3 legged site. My dog has all four. Thanks for letting me post about adequan.Blessings,
Cindy Dady
Hi Ciindy, that's really OK! Our members use Adequan as you've read here, and you ask a GREAT question which I would love to hear the answer to as well, so thank you for posting. I'm glad to hear your dog is doing so well, that's terrific!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Cindy Dady! All dogs welcome here! .any of us have four leggers as well as three leggers!!!
And it's really good to see this topic come up again because it is such a wealth of information. Interesting to see if anyone chimes in about the "depression" aspect.
Keep us posted how your pup is doing!
Take care!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I would continue the Adequan since this drug is very safe and seems to be effective for your dog. If you recently discontinued the Rimadyl you actually might need to increase the frequency of the Adequan in order to control clinical signs.
Pam
Just trying to clarify. I have given my dog the twice a week for 4 week Adequan injections, but was unaware of long term dose of once every 2-4 weeks. I am about to start his forth series and think he would benefit from biweekly injections. I can't quite find the literature or recommendations for this continued dosing. Please let me know what you dosing you have been recommended. My dog is at least 15 year old Jindo (rescued 15 years ago), about 60 lbs. Thank you.
healingmom said
Please let me know what you dosing...
Welcome healingmom! Your future forum posts will not require moderation.
Try searching the forums above or check the Tripawds Nutrition blog for more info about Adequan...
The Adequan and Beef Trachea Connection
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
That is a great question, I know Dr. Wiltzius will have some good feedback. She's at a conference this week so stay tuned, she'll answer as soon as she can get bck here. If you find out before then let us know OK? I would call your vet for sure if you haven't already.
Welcome, by the way! Your future posts won't have to wait for approval. Do tell us more about your pup when you can, 15 is amazing! Very cool.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
If you have gone through the initial 4 weeks of twice weekly injections then I would try 1 cc every 2-4 weeks. If it seems like the injection is wearing off use the lowest effective dose. I have some dogs that need it every 7 days but that is rare.
Pam
tazziedog said
If you have gone through the initial 4 weeks of twice weekly injections then I would try 1 cc every 2-4 weeks. If it seems like the injection is wearing off use the lowest effective dose. I have some dogs that need it every 7 days but that is rare.Pam
Hi Pam, are you a vet?
I have an 11 year old, 48 lb pit bull. In the last year and a half she has degraded quite quickly. She is incontinent now and has a hard time standing and walking. But still has a lot of life in her. Apparently she has a lot of arthritis in her hips, knees and elbows. I supplement her with anything I can find that I believe in (Turmeric, coconut oil, cosequin, free form, duralactin, j/d hills food). Pain meds don't seem to help, plus I'm not on board to make her unhealthy in different ways through chemicals. So I found adequan and gave her the initial set, and continued for 6 months, varying from every two weeks to once a week, and finally generally every 4 days. It really hasn't helped immensely, but it's the only thing I can find that has shown any improvement. I thought I'd message you because I read the "I have some dogs that need it every 7 days but that is rare.".
Thank you for your input
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