katahdin

I am curious if anyone on board has any experience with Duralactin. The manufacturer (VPL) has had several ...well..."interesting" products that I have seen or used in the past, some of which I did find useful.

My vet suggested Deramaxx today during a visit (eye infection) for my Lab who is having some stiffness in his hindquaters related to previous injuries. I am really concerned about using any type of NSAIDs since he has shown sensitivity in the past including stomach ulceration. I am looking for effective alternatives and would appreciate anyones experience or other suggestions. Duralactin and possibly Adequan injections are the two I planned on discussing with my Vet but I welcome any other ideas.

Thanks!

Ryan

Murreydobe

I've used Adequan in the past with good results. I wouldn't hesitate to use it again, and would definitely try it before giving any kind of NSAID. One real benefit to Adequan is it can stop joint degeneration from getting any worse besides making the animal more comfortable, improving mobility, etc.

Can't help with Duralactin, never used it.

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CH. Birchrun Who's On First, aka Razzle
Foxfire N KO Simply Madness WAC, aka Connor

robinb

I too have used Adequan in the past on both my old dogs and on horses with good results on both. The only drawback is on the pocketbook with the horse shots as they can get kind of spendy. Another product that you might ask your vet about is an Equine product called Legend, I don't know if it is made for canines. Legend is the hyluronate sodium (similiar to the feed thru Hylaronic acid HA)

I have had actually just as good as results with the feed thru joint supplements; Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate and Hylaronic acidHA combined with MSM in both horses and dogs. I think if it's real acute the shots might work a little faster. I have the best results with a combination of the above products. I got my old lab to over 16 without any Deramax. I buy all my horse and dog joint supplements from Smart Pak equine.

The only thing that I have been told is when using Hylaronic acid to always use Glucosimine.

Robin

Murreydobe

Yeah, I think that's true. I'm lucky in that my best friend is a vet, so I was getting the Adequan at her cost, rather than paying retail for it. But I'd still give it in the right circumstances, even if I had to pay full price for it.

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CH. Birchrun Who's On First, aka Razzle
Foxfire N KO Simply Madness WAC, aka Connor

robinb

I agree as it does work and is safe. I just hate all the risks associated with stuff like Deramaxx. Last resort as far as I'm concerned. In horses we are tested at the shows, so we have to use the natural feed thru or shots like Adequan or Legend.

bean

I second the supplements- made a WORLD of difference for Henneh.

__________________
- Erica
Frankie, 10 y.o. husky/white GSD mix
Henneh, GSD (11/20/97-7/03/08) we miss you.

katahdin

Funny you should mention that. I used to sell veterinary pharmaceuticals several years ago (my first job out of college) and I remember that Adequan was one of the few drugs that was exceptionally expensive even at the veterinarians cost. I remeber this so distinctly because during my training I had to work with the warehouse staff for a short period to understand the product shipping procedures etc. Well, I managed to drop and destroy a full vial of Adequan my first day. Needless to say my boss reminded me repeatedly of the cost of the liquid I was mopping up.

Thank you all for your feedback. Since Gus is still only 10 years old I am trying to start simple and bring out the more effective (and expensive) products as he needs them. I am going to give the Duralactin a try first and use the Adequan for round 2 depending on the results. I will let you know how it goes.

dobebug

I've actually used Duralactin--one of the rep's from a supply house for a variety of canine medical products was talking to me about it and asked if I'd like to try it on my oldest dog. That dog was still running agility at the time and would show occasional soreness after trials--they sent me a couple of bottle free in exchange for keeping track of how well I thought it worked. I thought that it helped him to remain more flexible and that he had almost no bouts off post run soreness but as the conditions that were causing the soreness became worse (disc disease) the less effective the Duralactin became. I wouldn't hesitate to use it again for mild conditions that can cause soreness and which fall into the category of things that usually get treated with NSAID's but I don't think it's effective if the conditions are bad and cause a lot of pain.

I don't have personal experence with Adequan injections but we presently have four client dogs in the clinc where I work who are getting the injections (two GSD's, a Lab and a Golden) and for one of the GSD's it have literally been a life saver. The other dogs have gotten good enough responses that that the owners are willing to pay the price to keep the dogs on Adequan. All of these dogs were either not getting sufficient relief from NSAID's or in the case of the Golden, had bad reactions (GI bleeding) from all of the NSAID's that were tried (several).

fredsmom

Accupuncture and Glycoflex. Don't look at me like that, it worked very well to relieve the pain and stiffness for my lab/chow mix. He had serious GI results from NSAIDS after badly injuring his hind leg, so I called my son-in-law's mom who works for a vet and does rescues in Alabama - she suggested I try accupuncture, and it worked. It's a little expensive over a long period of time, but you can tell after the first session if it will work on your dog (it apparently doesn't work on all of them) - Bear came home after the first treatment, slept all the rest of that day and night, and didn't even limp for about a week after that. After the injury healed, we lengthened the time between treatments to about once every 6-8 weeks to keep his arthritis under control.