When a dog suffers from osteoarthritis, adequan seems the right choice. We can’t see our dear pet in pain but pet owners try to weigh if it’s wise to inject adequan to your dog and whether adequan problems exceeds its benefits.
Before we get into detailed overview of adequan, its use, benefits, and problems that can stop you from using adequan, the reason why your dog may have got worse after adequan maybe is the wrong dosage. Use the below calculator to get an idea of how much dose shuold have been given to your dog. Alhtough a vet can give the best quantity but below calculator can give you a general direction.
About Adequan
Due to osteoarthritis disease, a dog’s joints can deteriorate and cause swelling and pain. This can happen in both young and adult dogs. Adequan canine injection is a drug named Polysulfated glycosaminoglycan commonly recognized and sold under the brand name Adequan. It is given to relieve the pain and swelling in joints.
Adequan has a competitive advantage over other arthritis treatment drugs. It doesn’t only eliminate the symptoms of arthritis but also addresses the underlying cause which is degeneration of cartilage bone. Adequan is an FDA-approved drug and only a licensed vet can advise adequan injections to pets.
The drug doesn’t need to be kept in the refrigerator and once opened it will expire after 28 days. The expired medicine should be discarded and is not recommended or safe to use.
Safe Dosage of adequan
The adequan treatment is usually recommended as 8 injections for four weeks. The injections are directly inserted into muscles and each dose stays in the body for three days. The safe dose of adequan is 1 ml per 50lbs.
When to use adequan?
How to know when to use adequan for your dogs? First of all, never use adequan without any vet’s prescription. It is highly recommended that a professional must advise you to use these drugs on your dogs.
When your dog starts showing the symptoms of osteoarthritis, consult your vet for adequan treatment. The sooner you start using adequan, the better your pet will be able to fight the disease and start living a quality life.
Following are the symptoms of osteoarthritis in dogs
- Your dog is being lethargic
- Hesitates in climbing the stairs and jumping
- Doesn’t shows interest in active games
- Frequently shifts its weight from one side to another while standing
- Cannot stand for a long time
- Feels pain while moving/using joints
Arthritis causes pain in joints and muscles and your dog needs serious treatment. Whenever a dog shows these above-mentioned symptoms, consult your vet about adequan recommendations.
Once the cartilage deteriorates, it can never be reversed so adequan is the right choice because it doesn’t only reduce and relieve joint pain but also delays the cartilage loss which is the actual cause of joint pain.
How often should a dog get adequan injections?
Arthritis is a commonly occurring problem in dogs. One in every five dogs may suffer arthritis at any stage of their life. The disease is irreversible. Once your dog has been affected, arthritis will slowly suck away the carefree life from your pet. Being suffered from an incurable muscle deteriorating disease is tough in your pet. All you can do now is slow the progression of the disease and make your pet’s life better.
Adequan is like a life booster for your dog. From the look of what it does to your pet, a thought may pop up in your mind “is adequan a steroid? ”
So, for your clarification, adequan is a disease-modifying drug(DMOAD) but it’s not a steroid. It does eliminate pain and aids in fighting disease but it does not inject that “extra power ” or immunity in your dog. Adequan just slows down the disease from getting worse. That is why its continuous use affects the overall impact of disease on your pet’s life.
Adequan is used twice a week for up to 4 weeks. If your puppy shows a positive response towards the drug, reducing the frequency to twice and then once a month will be fine to continue. This is about improving the overall life quality of your pet.
Adequan is used as series of injections because each dose stays in the body for three days and works to eliminate inflammation in joints. Twice a week injection gives full closure to fight against the disease. After 8 injections, the frequency depends on how a pet responds to adequan and how effective the treatment was. It has to continue throughout the life of a pet because arthritis is a lifelong muscle and joint degeneration disease.
Long-term use of adequan for dogs
There is no obvious cure nor the effects of the disease could be reversed so giving adequan injections, helps your pet to fight the disease with bravery. Also, with frequent use of adequan the effects of the disease can be reduced to significant levels. Adequan actually changes the course of disease with continuous use. Although the long-term frequency of dosage will depend on your pet’s health condition and vet’s advice but keep in mind that long-term use of adequane is in the best interest of your puppy.
Side effects of adequan
We have to weigh out what the term “side effect” means here. Adequan does show some side effects but its great benefits exceed the side effects making the adequan best choice for dogs.
Talking about side effects, you can look at it from a positive perspective. Even drinking six glasses of water has side effects that you will end up vomiting. To understand the fact that “what a body needs” matters. Instead of focusing on side effects, look at what type of benefits it does to your pet.
However, few reported side effects of adequan are
- It can cause vomiting or diarrhea. The symptoms will go away on their own without any treatment however if they persist, talk to a vet.
- This drug shouldn’t be used in dogs who are sensitive to its active ingredients.
- Dogs with active kidney or liver disease should not use this medicine.
- Pets having blood disorders should take this medicine under the vet’s supervision.
- The drug is not administered to be given to pregnant or lactating dogs.
Apart from its side effects, adequan can be used in all breeds and types of dogs.
Adequan and cancer
Adequan aids in stopping joints degeneration but what is an adequan link to cancer?
Cancer is a deadly and ugly disease for pets. Many pets who were diagnosed with cancer, first showed the symptoms of pain. Adequan is a kind of pain reliever. So they were given adequan early and diagnosed with cancer later on. Pet owners want the best for their pets. Watching them suffer is obviously not even an option. Adequan seemed the right choice at a time and they went for it.
Can adequan cause liver problems?
Adequans was claimed to have adverse effects on liver and kidney functions. In a clinical study, the number of dogs that showed side effects was very few but we can’t ignore the fact that it could be your pet too. However, the actual cause recorded was an overdose of the drug. So deciding on a safe dosage for pets is important. There is no evidence of side effects on liver or kidney function within the safe dosage amount.
Adequan for humans
Adequan is not for human use. There are human versions of drugs like Arteparon to cure joint diseases but adequan is certainly not one of them. Adequan is only for horses and dogs but it is recommended for cats too. Cats show more and quick improvement after adequan injections.
In short, adequan is a good choice for treating osteoarthritis in dogs because it doesn’t only stop joint degeneration but also aids in cartilage repair. The adequan problems don’t outweigh its benefits so its a yes from us.
My dog just finished the 8 adequin shots over 4 weeks. 2 days after the last shot she seems to be depressed or lethargic.