Adequan Injections

[Robyn and Penny]

Happy Valentine's Day to everybody and their fur valentines!

My sugar baby Penny has been on Adequan for 2 months and it's really doing well for her. She leaps up the steps 2 at a time now during our "chicken run" (I run her up and down the steps dangling raw chicken in front of her to help her lose weight and she loves it lol). The vet has her on the following schedule:

.04ml 2X per week for 4 weeks
.04ml 1X per week for 4 weeks
.04ml 1X every other week for 4 weeks (or 4 injections, not clear so I was gonna do 4 injections to be safe)
.04ml 1X per month for life.

I'm hoping she is ready for the once every 2 weeks, which where she is at now. She had her last shot last Monday and has another one a week from this coming Monday. I did notice that some of you on maintenance give the Adequan every 2-3 weeks instead of once per month, but how do you know your kitty needs it sooner? Is there any potential harm from giving it more frequently than prescribed?

She's doing so well with it and her weight loss program hinges on her feeling good enough to run the steps everyday, plus play etc etc and long term management of her arthritis hinges on the weight loss and Adequan doing its job.

Any experience or feedback will be appreciated!

 

[JAAshwell]

Hi Robin,

My sugar kitty just started back on Adequan, .35ml 2x a week for four weeks then right to once a month. I've also had a dog on it for two years. Once you have them on a regular schedule, I have never seen them get worse or need a dose adjustment. I stopped Emmy's for a while because she had other medical issues.

I think if I tried to run Em up the stairs for chicken she would bite me! She's 16 lbs. we just chase Da Bird.

Good luck!
Judy& Emmy

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

Shadow gets it every 3 weeks instead of every 4. I noticed that if I tried to go for 4 weeks that she was more lethargic that fourth week so I changed the schedule to 3.

She gets 0.25 ml at a time with her insulin syringes which is almost a full syringe but she prefers those smaller needles....
I even bought terumo's in the harpoon size that they give you for the adequan shots.....but they weren't any better. Terumo was the best for insulin syringes and they quit making them.
Several of us snatched up all the boxes we could when they announced them being discontinued.

Shadow's arthritis is probably worse than most..... since hers came from a surgery when she was a kitten. The xrays of her hip/pelvis are awful.

You can also get omega 3 fish oil http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Natural-Omega-3-Pet-8oz/dp/B0089FOKO0/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
they have liquid and capsules..... I didn't realize I could get capsules.... so I'm gonna go order.

 

[Robyn and Penny]

Hi Robin,

My sugar kitty just started back on Adequan, .35ml 2x a week for four weeks then right to once a month. I've also had a dog on it for two years. Once you have them on a regular schedule, I have never seen them get worse or need a dose adjustment. I stopped Emmy's for a while because she had other medical issues.

I think if I tried to run Em up the stairs for chicken she would bite me! She's 16 lbs. we just chase Da Bird.

Good luck!
Judy& Emmy

Lol Penny will do ANYTHING for chicken and she really looks forward to her "chicken runs" now. We do it twice per day x 7 runs up and down the steps. Her weight loss is plateaued for the past week so I'm slowly gonna increase that and give her smaller bits of chicken. She only gets one little bit for each run. It has occurred to me that she has also greatly increased her exercise the past few weeks and some of it could be muscle development. I'm in the fitness industry so I know the scale isn't the only number. Shame she won't let me take her measurements! lol!!

 

[Robyn and Penny]

Shadow gets it every 3 weeks instead of every 4. I noticed that if I tried to go for 4 weeks that she was more lethargic that fourth week so I changed the schedule to 3.

She gets 0.25 ml at a time with her insulin syringes which is almost a full syringe but she prefers those smaller needles....
I even bought terumo's in the harpoon size that they give you for the adequan shots.....but they weren't any better. Terumo was the best for insulin syringes and they quit making them.
Several of us snatched up all the boxes we could when they announced them being discontinued.

Shadow's arthritis is probably worse than most..... since hers came from a surgery when she was a kitten. The xrays of her hip/pelvis are awful.

You can also get omega 3 fish oil http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Natural-Omega-3-Pet-8oz/dp/B0089FOKO0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1424046315&sr=8-4&keywords=nordic naturals omega 3 pet
they have liquid and capsules..... I didn't realize I could get capsules.... so I'm gonna go order.

Will they eat the fish oil?

Penny is on the every other week dose for 3 more weeks before she transitions to once per month, but if I see her slowing up on week 3 I'm gonna ask her vet if I can do them more frequently. She's only 6 and pretty agile for a big girl. We still have 2 more lbs to lose, too. So it's important I keep her active. We could not confirm it on xray...it was a really bad quality. So we are only going by the 2 episodes she had when she was sleeping on her back and woke up rolling around and howling like she was in a cat fight, and several vets palpating her spine.

I really thought I was gonna have a hard time with the harpoons they gave me. I have the Monoject 25g DAGGERS and she gets .4ml. What I did was got the twist off needles, use one needle to draw it up and after I have her dose, I twist off that needle and put a fresh one on so it's nice and sharp and she does better with those than her insulin injections! That was on the advice of a really good vet tech! Plus, I shoot when she's eating wet food spiked with Fortiflora. That's the ONLY way I can get ANY injections into her! lol!

 

[JAAshwell]

I really thought I was gonna have a hard time with the harpoons they gave me. I have the Monoject 25g DAGGERS and she gets .4ml. What I did was got the twist off needles, use one needle to draw it up and after I have her dose, I twist off that needle and put a fresh one on so it's nice and sharp and she does better with those than her insulin injections! That was on the advice of a really good vet tech! Plus, I shoot when she's eating wet food spiked with Fortiflora. That's the ONLY way I can get ANY injections into her! lol!

Yes! What is up with those needles for the Adequan? You very rightly called them harpoons! I just set one aside because we have an appointment tomorrow and I want to ask if they sent those home because they thought I was shooting a rhino or something. Are you saying drawing up the Adequan dulls the needle? I never thought of that. We haven't had a problem with those injections but when Emmy was on it before I do believe she had smaller needles. You've inspired me to try the chicken run! LOL