Joint support/maintenance

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Joint support/maintenance

Postby blob » Tue Nov 10, 2020 6:16 pm

Curious for those that have had horses in a fairly robust work through teenage years--did you use an injectable joint supplement? Do you thin it is a necessary/highly recommended thing for preventing joint issues down the line? Or did you take more of a 'use it if we need it' approach?

I've been thinking a lot about whether I need to start MM on adequen or pentosan or something of the sort. She is 11 and while her joints seem to be doing just fine, I'm wondering if I should be doing more to keep them going that way. One of the concerns/considerations with her is that she is VERY bad with injections and tends to get pretty substantial swelling. I don't know if she would get it from joint supplement or if it's vaccine specific, but I do know that she will be hard to inject at least in the beginning, though if it proves to not result in reactions, she might get used to it. There's also a part of me that wonders is this a thing that really matters/is necessary for a horse that doesn't have joint issues currently?

Anyway, curious to hear your thoughts!

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Josette » Wed Nov 11, 2020 3:17 am

This is the same question I asked my chiro today and she recommended Adequan for my guy. He is also very reactive to vaccines. When I gave Adequan in the past to my other horse there was never any problem - so I don't anticipate any with this injection.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby exvet » Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:11 pm

I used Adequan in my older competitive horses for years until the stinker pony. When I started my usual regimen in him, the first two doses were fine; but, on the third he had a full blown anaphylactic reaction. Good them I'm a vet ;) and had my crash kit in the barn. I am a huge advocate of adequan; but, I no longer will use it in horses that are very immune sensitive/history of allergies. I think giving MSM helps and did use cosequin in the stinker as well. While it did seem to help his major motion joints, I'm afraid it didn't help the arthritis in his back...but that's due to how it's (or any of the chondroprotectants) supposed to work.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Josette » Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:33 pm

exvet - thanks very much for your feedback. I will certainly proceed with caution if I use this drug.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby blob » Wed Nov 11, 2020 3:02 pm

exvet wrote:I used Adequan in my older competitive horses for years until the stinker pony. When I started my usual regimen in him, the first two doses were fine; but, on the third he had a full blown anaphylactic reaction. Good them I'm a vet ;) and had my crash kit in the barn. I am a huge advocate of adequan; but, I no longer will use it in horses that are very immune sensitive/history of allergies. I think giving MSM helps and did use cosequin in the stinker as well. While it did seem to help his major motion joints, I'm afraid it didn't help the arthritis in his back...but that's due to how it's (or any of the chondroprotectants) supposed to work.



Hmmm...that is good to know. MM is not only reactive to injections, she also gets bad seasonal skin allergies. So perhaps she is not a great candidate, which is a shame because I would like to support her as much as I can.

She is on a feed through (that includes MSM). I know research on feed throughs is questionable at best and so it might be money down the drain. But I do think having some amount of HA, MSM, and glucosamine can't hurt.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby tlkidding » Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:27 pm

I talked to my vet and he said besides joint injections, Adequan, and Legend, he would recommend Cosequin ASU as that has decent scientific research behind it. The rest of the feed throughs have no scientific proof of absorption, efficacy, etc. in horses. I do feed MSM as a general anti-inflammatory to my allergy/skin issue prone horse.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby blob » Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:42 pm

tlkidding wrote:I talked to my vet and he said besides joint injections, Adequan, and Legend, he would recommend Cosequin ASU as that has decent scientific research behind it. The rest of the feed throughs have no scientific proof of absorption, efficacy, etc. in horses. I do feed MSM as a general anti-inflammatory to my allergy/skin issue prone horse.


I don't use cosequin, but I use the Smartflex Ultra, which has the right levels to correspond with Cosequin's studies. It also includes more HA, which there have been studies to show that HA is only effective as a feed through at a very high level because it has a low absorption rate when taken orally.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Tanga » Wed Nov 11, 2020 8:01 pm

I don't think giving injections just because is a good idea. I think there is a lot of money to be made by everywhere to sell this stuff, and Adequan supports a lot of sports with sponsorships. There is little to no money to be made otherwise.

I always give my older horses, over 15, MSM and glucosamine as a matter of course. It's cheap. I buy straight ingredients, which is cheaper, and then I can add and take away to see if there is any difference. My 22 year old probably has some arthritis and we did notice Previcox does help her, so she gets that. (The dog has degenerative spinal disease and it seems to be helping her, too.)

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Srhorselady » Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:43 pm

On the advice of my vet I was giving one of my senior horses Adequan. It seemed to make him more comfortable. This horse was about 20, was doing about third level work, and had had an extensive athletic career as a race horse and jumper. Then the vet also recommended it for another of my seniors who was in his late teens and stepping down from Prix St George to about 3rd level. He had also been nerved due to navicular. So I had two on Adequan and again it seemed to help. Both worked better and seemed more comfortable. Then my vet suggested it for a third of my senior horses in her mid teens who had some issues. Adequan is EXPENSIVE! So we discussed other options. So I started on the protocol I currently use. Seniors that seem to need it get Previcox and monthly (after loading dose) Pentosan. I was astonished the 20 plus year old, who loved lateral work, improved his cross over by about 3 inches after the third loading dose of Pentosan. I didn’t notice as much improvement with the other two, but they definitely didn’t regress. I’ve since lost the 20 plus year old at 31 and he was still trail riding until the week he died on this protocol. The third mare I lost to laminitis. I’m not sure the Pentosan helped her but I’m sure the Previcox did. The Prix St George horse is now 25 almost 26 and loves trail riding although he is retired to walk trail riding only due to X-rays of his navicular. He still gets Pentosan and Previcox. I’ve added another horse to Previcox and Pentosan after injecting his coffin joint and giving him a year off. (We didn’t MRI but suspect coffin ligament injury). He is 23 and trail rides, walk, trot, and canter and would definitely chase a cow (quarter horse) if I was so inclined. The 22 year old pony (another horse) who shows no signs of any problems except Cushings isn’t on any joint supplement except MSM. She does every thing. Soooo. I think Adequan and Pentosan both work when joints need it. There is no evidence I or my vet have seen that it works as a preventative. However, I am VERY proactive at checking my horses for issues as they advance into their mid teens. I think both these supplements can help slow down the progress of osteoarthritis and/or make the horse more comfortable. (Having said all that...with your horses history of injections I’d be very leery).

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Hayburner » Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:49 pm

My mare also seems to have seasonal allergies that I still haven't won the battle on. Next step will be allergy testing.

A few years ago she had a significant ankle injury, the equine specialist had us use a few products to aid in the healing process.

One of them was Equithrive, even tho testing was only done on the hocks, he feels it helps other areas a small well. I started her on the basic Equithrive and have since upped it to Equithrive Complete Pellets. Basically, I'm using it as preventive supplement.

I did also use it on my 30 year old retiree and I think he did move better.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Josette » Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:43 pm

I've been using the Smartpak Tumeric pellets for my guy for the anti-inflammatory properties. I feel it improved his seasonal allergies. I use a Tumeric supplement myself and feel it helps me as well.

I'm looking into those Equithrive Complete Pellets - thanks for mentioning it.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Srhorselady » Tue Nov 17, 2020 6:01 pm

I also used an early Equithrive product on my mare with laminitis that was caused by metabolic issues. We tried the Equithrive after using just about everything and this is the first product that over a 6 month period with blood tests actually lowered her metabolic numbers. This was late in her disease progression and I eventually lost her to full rotation, but I’m a believer in Equithrive. I know my vet has continued to recommend it to other clients. I would certainly use it again when needed.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Chisamba » Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:57 pm

I use pentosan as needed. I don't believe in feed through because I suffer from pretty nasty arthritis myself and not one of those expensive supplements helped even a bit.

pentosan can be given orally

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby blob » Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:48 pm

Chisamba wrote:I use pentosan as needed. I don't believe in feed through because I suffer from pretty nasty arthritis myself and not one of those expensive supplements helped even a bit.

pentosan can be given orally


Oh--i didn't know that about pentosan! That is interesting to know and worth looking into. Does it absorb in the gums?

And yes, I agree that chances are the feed throughs are just a waste of my money. But I guess I am willing to waste it just in case it's doing SOMETHING.

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Chisamba » Tue Nov 17, 2020 10:39 pm

Well the only thing pentosan is labelled for in the usa is interstitial cystitis and its an oral, the joint support and soft tissue support we use it for is extra label. anyway, it is used in Australia for arthritis just like you can actually give injectable banamine orally, so too pentosan. it can be given orally, intramuscularly, or into the joint. tests show that given either way it eventually makes its way to the synovial fluid

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Re: Joint support/maintenance

Postby Ryeissa » Sun Nov 29, 2020 7:56 pm

adequan twice a year loading dose.


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