So yesterday Bubba spent the day at the vet.
His blood work and urine both looked good. Yay!
So maybe it’s the stress of losing his best friend combined with increased arthritis pain.
Anyway, he’s taking Cosequin, which is glucosamine and chondroitin.
I also have a 3 day supply of Onsior, a post-operative pain reliever. He’ll take it for three days and I’ll see if there’s any improvement. If so, we’ll have an answer. He took his first dose last night and I do already see some improvement.
The downside for Onsior is that it’s not for long-term use.
My vet one possible treatment option is Adequan. While not approved for use in cats, it is regularly used off-label for cats with joint pain.
Of course the first article I read said Adequan is made from cow tracheas. That hurts. Do I jump on the bandwagon and turn a blind eye to the misery of cows in order to help Bubba?
Have any of you used Adequan? What kind of results did you see?
Dogpaddling Through Life 
I hope the cute guy gets better fast! Sorry, no experience with the meds so I’m no help. 😦
Well, my first thought yesterday was, what, no Rumpydog? Your loyal readers missed you. Hope Bubba gets better.
–BD
Thursday posts are hard so we decided to stop posting that day.
O.K. Fair enough.
Hmm, misery of cows vs. Bubba’s pain relief. That is a tough one! I haven’t used Adequan for either of my senior girls; but a friend out in Seattle used to use it for her collie’s spinal discomfort (read as pain). She pretty much swore by it, and tried to convince me to put Callie on it for her arthritis. (Our vet wasn’t all that keen on the idea but I don’t remember any more what his reasons were — that was several years ago.) If you trust your vet, as I do ours, I would say go ahead and try it. But first I would ask him for other options that might work just as well so you can weigh those options.
Dear Rumpy- Adequan has been a life saver for my sisfur Isis. I will swear by it to one and all, please consider it and follow your veterinarian’s regiment exactly- there is a ramp up period that needs to be timed correctly or you loose effectiveness. Play bows,
RA
I have not heard of this nor used it. So I am sorry I cannot be of more help to you guys. I am glad Bubba is ok though at least his blood and things were good. Thats great news!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We have not used adequan but did have our senior cat Yasha, before Savvy, on buprenorphine at a very low dose AM and PM at first then just once a day She took it for about 2 years and it greatly improved her mood due to relieving arthritic pain which she had been masking for some time. Hope that may be an alternative
Well, I’m glad that things are looking better, that’s good news. I’ve seen Adequan used a lot in my time working in vets offices and it does work for animals showing pain in joints. In fact we had to give Dottie an injection once as we were finding out about her spondylosis diagnosis, that coupled with some muscle relaxers, additional pain meds and therapeutic laser treatments we’ve got it under control.
well thats a tough choice but I think I would want him to be pain free,xx Rachel
We haven’t heard of ‘Adequan’ here….but
when we looked up internet, it seems to be good for joint pain.
I very much understand Jen’s dilenma because of what it’s made
from….I hope Bubba will have the best treatment for his arthritis.
Our companions – our children and friends. They do worry us when they’re hurt and not feeling well. I hope that Bubba’s feeling tip top soon.
I think the cow is probably already on the meat counter shelf in your local supermarket. Rather than to waste the life of the cow—using the medicine is a good thing.
❤⊱彡 Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
That’s like saying it’s ok because everyone else does it, and to me, that’s a cop-out.
If it helps and makes Bubba better, I’d say yes. Probably, like many of these things that sound alarming – cow tracheas, it may be that they are using the tracheas from cows that have already been killed (not a pleasant thought) and not just harvested at the expense of killing a cow. You can’t bring the cow back, but you can use the medicine to help Bubba – like organ transplants. I like to know that after I am dead, my organs can be used to help someone else. maybe this could be a similar thought? I don’t know, just thinking.
I’m glad Bubba is better because that takes strain off of you.
If it will help with Bubba’s pain then I would use it. The alternative is having Bubba live with pain and a hampered life style or worse.
The cow thing is hard. But, if you wear leather or use anything made of leather, or have benefited in any way from animals that are killed then it would be hypocritical not to use the meds for Bubba. It’s a hard discussion to have; however, there are many meds that were tested on animals that have helped humans. That includes chemotherapy.
Call it wilful ignorance, but I have never looked up the ingredients of vet-prescribed meds for my pets. Clearly something I should do, because I never would’ve considered animal sources, and the causing of one animal pain to alleviate it in another. Wow. Lightbulb. I usually just take the advice and am preoccupied with what’s ailing my pet and how to recover.
So, truly thinking about this in detail for the first time… I’d probably take the meds while looking into other options. It’s selfish and small picture, for sure, but I also make a commitment as a pet owner to do my reasonable best by them. Tough to weigh those obligations.
I’ve not used the medication in question on any of our cats, so I can’t comment there otherwise.
I’m glad blood& urine are ok. I hope the meds will help. We used Adequan for a horse once(injections). The results were good, but I have no clue if it works for kitties too. All the best to Bubba, paws are crossed.
We’re glad he is doing well! For arthritis, you might also look into Devil’s Claw as a herbal supplement. We have experience of it working really well on older, arthritic horses, and it is also available in formulations for dogs and cats.
I admit I don’t know much about Adequan, but we use Glyco-Flex. My cat Belle takes some for her knee, and she has made huge improvement she acts like completely doesn’t bother her. Our dog Putt-Putt also takes some for his back, within a week he was acting like a spunky pup again. It comes in both tablet and chew form (we use the chews so no issues with them taking it), it contains glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM.
You may want to talk to your vet about it and see if it’s and option.
I think you should talk to the vet about an alternatives.
The poor sweetie! Hope Bubby gets better!! Big hugs, Roxy & Tigerlino ❤
Ethically I think if we’re (as a society) going to kill cows then we have a social responsibility to use every bit of the cow that we can. Cows are being killed for meat; we therefore (as a society) have a responsibility to not discard any bit of that cow that can be used. If other animals can have their pain reduced because the cow has already had their life taken, than it seems ethically acceptable to me to use that medicine. Not making use of the cow esophagus does not stop the slaughter of cows, therefore nothing is gained by refusing to use that medicine.
That’s how it works from my point of view but of courses it doesn’t work that way for everyone – best wishes on coming to a decision that works for you.
Perhaps, but ethically I don’t think they came across this medicine by testing scrap cow parts.
Jen – I have used a product called Fresh Factor made by Springtime on both my senior dogs and cats … I called the company about its use on cats,; I use 1/2 the amount as for dogs. It may help Bubba:
http://www.springtimeinc.com/category/Fresh-Factors-for-Dogs-Supplement-Testimonials
get well wishes
We haven’t used Adequan, but we hear it can help. Ernie takes cosequin, too.
Glad nothing serious has been found. Haven’t used, nor heard of Adequan.
Phantom has been on Adequan since last November. He was given two shots a week for a month and now he gets one a month. Mom thinks it has helped with his mobility a great deal. He also gets a small dose of deramaxx and tramadol for pain. It isn’t cheap initially if you do the twice a week shots, but after that it is much more manageable. Good luck – hope it wil help Bubba.
Woos – Phantom, Ciara, and Lightning
We’re glad to hear that Bubba is doing better with the Cosequin. Yes, we used Adequan with our senior supercat Sammy, and it really seemed to help him a lot.
It’s always a conundrum for me using animal products–at least animal products that are available only if the animal dies. But cats eat animals and need to, being obligate carnivores, so our cats are already crossing that line…
We are so glad there has been some improvement in bubba. I have never heard of Adequan. As for the moral dilemna I see it like this. As cows are butchered for food for us & for cats & dogs if their other vital organs can be used in medicines for our beloved 4 leggeds at least the cycle of Life continues…in that the cow wo gives its life for our food; for our pets food & for medciations is helping another animal or human…
I hope that makes sense??
Sherri-Ellen & Nylablue xo
I have never had any cats, and as you know, I have two dogs. I’ve never heard of Adequan, but I understand your concern. If it were me, I would ask the Vet what other alternatives there are, and then throughly discuss it the Vet. Then, I’d do what’s best for my pet. xo
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