Does Denamarin cause stomach pain?

[Shirley and Ragnar]

Ragnar is eating pretty well again, and getting two small Azodyl a day with gobs of Probiocin. (I will never give a "dry swallow" again - I had no idea how much it could hurt them!) My problem now is that Dr. Jen wants him to take chewable Denamarin in case it is hurting his stomach - but I have three new boxes and half of another box of Denamarin pills on hand! :sad: (One of the suppliers had a 5% off sale, and 5% of two boxes of this stuff is worth saving.) Ragnar is beyond price, and if I really do need to give up all these expensive pills I will, but to put it into perspective, I almost didn't rejoin Mensa this year because the dues had gone up to $70 - even though I've been a member since I was 15 and am the state testing coordinator. What that Denamarin cost is a LOT of money to me!

Ragnar would never chew a chewable Denamarin, I am sure - the idea is that he could swallow pieces of chewable ones, and they aren't as strong as the pills. Anyone have experience with that? I bit into one of the pills, and it is STRONG! About like a cheap ascorbic acid Vitamin C. But he's been taking it since 2009 without any problems that I could see or that she could see, either. His problem might have come, rather, from the last large Azodyl he took, which I put in the back of his mouth when he wouldn't take it in a Pill Pocket. He then sat quietly (and beautifully) for a while, possibly in pain from having it stuck in his esophagus. In that case, changing the Denamarin to chewable wouldn't make a difference, or could be worse since he'd have more bulk to swallow.

I'd thought about cutting the Denamarin pills in half to make them as narrow as a small Azodyl and wrapping in a bit of Pill Pocket, but if they are hurting his stomach, this might make it worse, since they would dissolve faster - in the stomach rather than small intestine.

OR does an intact Denamarin dissolve in the intestine and cause no distress? I will switch to chewable Denosyl (which he'd have to swallow in pieces) if it's better for him but don't want to do it if it's either unnecessary or actually would be worse (more to swallow).

Blessings!

Shirley and LOVED one (worth the world, if need be). cat_pet_icon

 

[BJM]

It can be helpful to look up the manufacturer's information ... here

Denamarin has no known serious side-effects.

They do not mention stomach upset; they do mention ensuring the pill makes it to the stomach by giving 3-6 ccs (aka mLs) to wash it down.

The 2 ingredients are SAMe and silybin. These may be available as separate ingredients less expensively on Amazon. You might then have 2 pills/caplets/powders/etc to dose, rather than 1.

Also, Nutramax makes a comparison table of their products here which shows what ingredients are in what supplement and how they help.

...The exclusive silybin found in Denamarin, Marin for Dogs and Marin for Cats is complexed with phosphatidylcholine which has been shown to increase absorption compared to standardized milk thistle extracts...

note: phosphatidylcholine is usually a form of lecithin, which is also available OTC.

 

[Hope + (((Baby)))GA]

I use Marin and Denosyl instead of the combined Denamarin. Mishka has no trouble with them except the Denosyl should be given on an "empty" stomach so you would need to syringe some water down. Chewable tabs, IMHO, work great for dogs that will literally eat anything but cats do not like majority of chewable meds.

 

[Shirley and Ragnar]

I use Marin and Denosyl instead of the combined Denamarin. Mishka has no trouble with them except the Denosyl should be given on an "empty" stomach so you would need to syringe some water down. Chewable tabs, IMHO, work great for dogs that will literally eat anything but cats do not like majority of chewable meds.

I certainly agree! I told Ragnar's doc that this looked like something a dog would wolf down - but Ragnar, Mr. Fussy Himself, won't even sniff at a Pill Pocket - he used to take them rolled in powdered treat, but won't any more. I bought him some "chewable" vitamins when he first became diabetic and he wouldn't eat those either. So the "chewable" Denosyl wouldn't actually be chewed - it would be cut up and given as pills. If his problem is swallowing, though, he would have more to swallow, not less.

Are the Marin and Denosyl *small* pills? (That is, at least as small as the new, smaller Azodyls, if you are familiar with those?) If so, where do you get them?

Might try another Denamarin today, with some canned chicken broth to wash it down. The pills aren't very big - but they are larger in diameter than a small Azodyl, and his doctor also thinks they might be hurting his stomach. If they dissolve in the intestine, though, they probably aren't what's bothering him.

Blessings!