? Adequan shots

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Bronx's dad (GA)

Bronx's dad (GA)

Member Since 2016
Hi all,

Bronx went to the vet today to have bloodwork & a urinalysis so I asked what my next step should be for Bronx's arthritis. Besides natural remedies which I am still using, we have tried Gaba (just made him tired) & Bupe (he fought me way too hard getting the syringe near his mouth). I asked about Adequan shots and we did start that today but vet said I cannot do this a home since it has to go into the muscle. Bronx will have to go in twice a week for a .40ml shot for 4 weeks and reevaluate at shot #8 to see if it has helped and then he will get one shot every 3 weeks after that. Does this sound about right for others who have tried Adequan? Any side effects on using Adequan? Any advice on those who have experience with it? Has anybody done this shot on their own? Vet said no way I should do it, I asked like 3 times :p. Thanks!
 
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Bronx's dad said:
Hi all,

Bronx went to the vet today to have bloodwork & a urinalysis so I asked what my next step should be for Bronx's arthritis. Besides natural remedies which I am still using, we have tried Gaba (just made him tired) & Bupe (he fought me way too hard getting the syringe near his mouth). I asked about Adequan shots and we did start that today but vet said I cannot do this a home since it has to go into the muscle. Bronx will have to go in twice a week for a .40ml shot for 4 weeks and reevaluate at shot #8 to see if it has helped and then he will get one shot every 3 weeks after that. Does this sound about right for others who have tried Adequan? Any side effects on using Adequan? Any advice on those who have experience with it?
Has anybody done this shot on their own? Vet said no way I should do it, I asked like 3 times :p. Thanks!
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I agree you should not shoot into the muscle yourself, but the problem with the guidance from your vet is Adequan doesn't have to go into the muscle. I inject this myself SQ at home.

I don't want to say your vet is just wrong, because I think most of us use Adequan "off label", so technically he might be correct per the literature, but I don't think he is current in terms of experience.

It might be worth a follow-up discussion because you will need cooperation from the vet to get the medication and syringes to do the injections yourself. I really hope this helps Bronx. I believe it has helped my Rose so hope you see benefit (after the initial ramp up period).
 
I agree with Carol - doing Adequan as an IM injection is very old school; it works perfectly fine as a SubQ injections. I used it with my GA civvie, Mario, for about 2 years, and also used it for Trixie for her last couple months, too. IMO, this medication incredible for feline arthritis....both were obviously still arthritic, but Adequan made a huge difference in their mobility.

Actual dose is based on weight. With both Trix and Mario, we followed a loading protocol of twice a week for 4 weeks; once a week for 4 weeks; every other week for 4 weeks, and then after that, we gave it as-needed, which was usually every 3-4 weeks (my vet did say it was OK to give it as frequently as once a week if I really felt it was needed.). I could tell when they needed a boost, because they would start getting gimpier; within a few hours of the boost, they were much more spry again. With that said, it initially did take a few weeks to start seeing results, but once it started, it was so helpful. I did not notice any side effects with either of them, but of course they were both pretty senior when they were on it, so sometimes it's hard to say. The benefit was, well, beneficial!
 
Ditto on what they said. I have been too distracted by the diabetes lately to do the adequan, but my vet instructed me to do subq.
My vet was using huge needles, but I used my insulin needles just fine. It's possible my vet's "generic" adequan was thicker than the official "Canine Adequan" I ordered online.
 
I'm giving Adequan at home. I think it has helped. No side effects, that I know of. I gave twice a week for a month, then once a week for a month, then every other week for a month, and now just monthly. Hope it helps Bronx!
 
I do Adequan sub q just like an insulin shot. When it was first developed it had to go in the muscle but now you just tent the skin and inject. Works great.
 
I second what everyone else has said - the vet clinic I work at has always given Adequan SQ. We use it very often for dogs, but have started branching out to cats (which is off label, but seems to work very well). We are about to start our civvie, Ben, on injections to see if it helps him.

Ben's got severe arthritis in his spine, and has a very hard time walking (he was down in the back end for many months before I met my girlfriend, and is pretty lucky to be walking at all). He is on twice daily Pred, Gaba and Bupe. We also found that he got sleepy on the Gaba, but tried starting with a very reduced dose and working it up, and we have found that worked very well to ensure he's comfortable, but not sedated. Not sure if you'd be able to do that, though, because it typically has to be compounded into an oral liquid at a lower dose.

Another note, someone on here recently mentioned that they were able to get Bupe compounded into a transdermal gel that is applied to the ear pinna...that might be a better option if you cannot give oral meds. I'll see if I can find that condo...
 
@Tasha & Darwin Most of the specifics of Noah's BUPE are on my profile near the bottom of the page. It comes in a syringe with tiny spoons, the backside of which you blob the BUPE and apply to the ear. It's a white creamy paste about the consistency of toothpaste and comes from a compounding pharmacy. I cannot recall the price but it's not cheap. Funny they don't supply me with gloves any more, maybe they know something about my past life. :rolleyes:
 
Not wishing to highjack this thread but I am very interested in the assorted paid relief meds out there.
I want to be armed for when we next see the vet .
 
PussCatPrince said:
Not wishing to highjack this thread but I am very interested in the assorted paid relief meds out there.
I want to be armed for when we next see the vet .
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from our limited experience, the two most prescribed are gabapentin and buprenex. I think the buprenex is heavy duty and Titan gets anxious on it.
 
Hey old friend! Give Bronx a scritch for me:bighug:
Waay back (80’s!) I used Adequan for my cat Buster, due to being shall we say a food connoisseur he got arthritis in his spine early. At that time it was administered in the muscle at the vet in a series of frightfully expensive injections.
It really did help.
When I years later had him to the homeopathic vet with CRF and severe arthritis ( again the spine) we did accupuncture and subQ injections of Zeel ( or Heel) at home weekly. It if you aren’t familiar with it is a homeopathic medicine, widely used for people in Germany in place of NSAIDS for arthritis and pain. I swear that Buster was given three pain free years using it. Prior to that we were using the infamous Metacam which he loved but was not great for his other organs.
I swear by the Zeel injections. And I know the Adequan was worth it as it did provide relief.
Good luck finding a fix that will help your kiddo:bighug::cat:
Les
 
Gussie's mom said:
Hey old friend! Give Bronx a scritch for me:bighug:
Waay back (80’s!) I used Adequan for my cat Buster, due to being shall we say a food connoisseur he got arthritis in his spine early. At that time it was administered in the muscle at the vet in a series of frightfully expensive injections.
It really did help.
When I years later had him to the homeopathic vet with CRF and severe arthritis ( again the spine) we did accupuncture and subQ injections of Zeel ( or Heel) at home weekly. It if you aren’t familiar with it is a homeopathic medicine, widely used for people in Germany in place of NSAIDS for arthritis and pain. I swear that Buster was given three pain free years using it. Prior to that we were using the infamous Metacam which he loved but was not great for his other organs.
I swear by the Zeel injections. And I know the Adequan was worth it as it did provide relief.
Good luck finding a fix that will help your kiddo:bighug::cat:
Les
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Hi Les, so nice to hear from you!

I hope the Adequan works, will see if they will let me do the shot myself subQ. I will look into Zeel, always prefer homeopathic medicine. Thanks!
 
Bronx's dad said:
Has it affected her BM? Bronx has a hard time going now and don't want to make that worse on him.
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That doesn't seem to be a problem. As long as we give subq fluids. I understand where your coming from. The gabapentin was the same she was getting oil. Then she quit eating with it. So we have switched to her getting 1/2 of the pill. We have to open pill dump and questimate. We use capsule #4. I feel like a dope dealer but it works and she's not so knocked out.
 
Bronx's dad said:
If the Adequan doesn't work, this will be my next step.
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We noticed a little improvement after 2 weeks of the initial shots, and a noticeable improvement after the first month of twice weekly shots. She was back to playing and could get in her cat tree which she hadn't done for months.
 
Phoebes said:
I give the bupe to phoebe as a gel in her ear. Use gloves, rub it good.
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Gloves? I understand the "rub it good" part but come on Angela, you were young once!
stonded_again01.jpg
 
MyTitan said:
from our limited experience, the two most prescribed are gabapentin and buprenex. I think the buprenex is heavy duty and Titan gets anxious on it.
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Sorry. Just seen this and thanks for that.

From that I think the choices we would be offered would be
1-Metacam
2 -Nupetin (Gabapentin)

Neither seem that suitable for a cat with CKD II .
 
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