Drug for arthritis - Atiquan? (sp)

My vet wants to give my 12 year old an injection for arthritis. She says it's used on dogs a lot. I tried to google it, but I can't find the right spelling. Has anyone heard of this drug or know how to spell it? Thanks!

It's Adequan. I have been using it on my soon to be 16 yr old that has significant spinal/tail arthritis.
I had previously been using a combination of Onsior and Buprenex (and still using Buprenex for breakthrough pain.)
Lucky has been on Adequan for 2 wks this far...2 injections per week (I give them at home.) I have seen some improvement in his comfort/mobility and plan to keep him on the med.

Great; thank you! Ashley is on Buprenex too; I'm hoping with Adequan I can get her off of it because it makes her so dopey, and her dose costs about $100/month. Of course, though, I'll keep her on the Buprenex if she still needs it, even with that price.

I used Adequan on Grey (RIP) and my old horse (RIP).  I honestly feel that it works better than any feed through supplement.  My new cats are young, but when they show signs of needing some help with arthritis, Adequan is my first choice for now.  Until such time I feed chicken gizzards and fish oil for general health.

Good to know; thanks! It really astounds me that I can remember back to a time when painkillers for cats were not even considered. So glad there are options out there!

My 2 arthritic kitties have done well on the Adequan.  I am also giving glucosamine/msm, hyaluronic acid and Microlactin as well as keeping them slim.

Sounds like a good regimen. Both of my babies are overweight & it's hard because I don't want them to get hurt by jumping too much when they play, due to the arthritis.

I've been giving our older cat (17 1/2 yrs) a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement as well as fish oil for several years, but the arthritis is getting the best of her in one of her back hips that has some slight dysplasia.  Our vet has recommended Adequan as well. 

From everything I've seen, it seems to be quite the wonder drug,  However, I remembered a comment I saw in another thread that referenced an article on the Little Big Cat site...

 Slippery Elm is said to relieve inflammation of virtually any mucus membrane, and has been used in the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the lungs (bronchitis, asthma), kidneys, bladder (cystitis, FLUTD symptoms), throat (tonsillitis), and joints (arthritis).

Click to expand...

So, I've asked my vet to look into it a bit further.  It might be that we can use both the Adequan and the Slippery Elm in a complimentary fashion. 

Arthritis can make your cats life miserable. Its good to know about such an effective pain killer to reduce the discomfort in cat joints suffering from arthritis. Always try to treat your pet with the best treatment option available for joint pain relief. Mostly cats does not experience any side effects from "Adequan",  so it is worthy to be used. But always consult a vet before giving any medical treatment to your cat.

Hi, 

I hope this thread is still active.  My girl is almost 15yrs old and was diagnosed with arthritis at 12.  Upon diagnosis, I made the usual lifestyle adjustments:  pet stairs everywhere, laser therapy, Cosequin supplementation, etc.  Unfortunately I just took her into the vet because she was unable to walk properly.  After xrays were taken, it appears her arthritis has worsened, mostly in her back hips and tail.  The doctor prescribed Onsior, only to be given for 3 days. Being a paranoid mom, I only have her 1/4 of the 6mg tablet/day and she showed improvement.  Now that the Onsior has "worn off", I've had to watch her go back to being in discomfort. I'm investigating other therapies simply because seeing her so improved on the drug makes it seem cruel to allow her to continue living in pain.  

I investigated long-term use of Onsior but the host of potential complications (kidney and liver disease, primarily) makes me nervous. My doctor never mentioned Adequan, only Buprenex or Onsior. Is Adequan a safer long-term alternative to Onsior?  Thank you in advance!

Hi,
Unfortunately I can't help but I wanted to reply so you'd know I saw it. I can't recall what happened with adequan, but buprenex made my kitty sick, and, after a year of taking it we discovered Ashley didn't even have arthritis. Wish I'd asked for a full-body X-ray sooner. Good luck to you.

Yes, Adequan is considered much safer, especially since the doseage goes to once every 2 to 4 weeks after the loading period (about a month).

I have used Onsior off-label for 2 of my cats. My youngest (now 4) took a full tablet as needed for about 3 years. He would sometimes take a tablet 3-5 days out if the week. We stayed on top of his kidney/liver levels and he never had an issues.

My oldest (just lost him at 17) took it for about the same length of time. He was 13 when he started. I tried to keep his dosing at no more than three times a week. But, would give consecutive days when he seemed to be having more issues. He, too, never had any issues while on the Onsior.

I switched my oldest to Adequan and Buprenex (the latter for breakthrough pain) about a year or so ago due to similar concerns like you. The Adequan worked great and I could definitely tell he was more comfortable.

Thank you for replying! I'm hopeful others will post their experiences as well.  I'm glad to know your kitty wasn't suffering from arthritis. Unfortunately we've performed yearly x-rays on my baby since she was 12 and she definitely has progressive arthritis  She has no disc between 2 of her vertabrae in her lower back so they're actually rubbing each other now which is quite painful.  

Any other comments or posts are much appreciated!!  Thank you 

Thank you CatPack for the very useful information! I can't believe my vet never mentioned Adequan as an option.  (It's scary that we have to learn more about treatment options from the internet than our own doctors.) 

I'm sorry that you just lost your boy. <3  Was his passing related to the arthritis or treatment dosing? 

No, nothing was related to the medications he had been on. I was doing a full CBC/Chem panel on him every 3 months to try and stay on top of any issues. His kidney values were slowly increasing; but, this was mostly due to age. His values were still within normal limits.

He developed pancreatitis (which he was recovering from very well) and then 3 days after he was released from ICU care for the pancreatitis, he developed URI symptoms. He has a fairly short history of herpes, so we started treatment for this, but his symptoms progressed very quickly. Within 5 days of his first URI symptoms, he developed pneumonia. He spent 4 days in an oxygen chamber to try to give his body a better chance to fight; but, his infection was antibiotic resistant and nothing more could be done. He had turned 17 just 10 days before he was PTS.

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.  My baby has had 7 pancreatitis attacks in the past 2 years, so I know how hard that is.  I'm sorry that he became so ill afterwards.  You gave him every chance possible, providing gold star treatment for your boy.  He was incredibly lucky to have someone so diligently looking after him 

Thank you so much for providing your input on the meds.  I'm encouraged by your positive experience regarding the Onsior and Adequan.  I've spoken with 2 vets thus far and both of them refuse to prescribe the Onsior long-term.  Neither of them mentioned the Adequan either, which makes me feel that I simply need to find another vet.   

The 2nd vet I spoke with stated he could provide Buprenex, but if the pain is coming from arthritis inflammation, the Buprenex wasn't an ideal drug.  This seems to make sense since you only used it for breakthrough pain, not necessarily on a daily (or weekly) basis. 

I've just stumbled upon another supplement called "Duralactin" which seems to act like an NSAID, but isn't.  I may look into this as well, since the Cosequin is no longer working for her..