How important is the loading dose for Cosequin/Dasuquin?

[daftcat75]

My Betty has been taking Cosequin first, and then Dasuquin with the next bag I bought. I guess I was both in denial of how big she really is (11 lbs, not 10 lbs) and also not wanting to give her four of those treats for fear of what they might do to her perfect stools. She was supposed to take four treats a day for a month and then reduce to two a day. I started her on two a day believing that she was closer to the 10 lbs cutoff for the lower dose than she really is. She's been taking two a day for almost two months now.

So how important was the loading dose? Should I do it anyway even though she's been taking them for almost two months now? Or is it probably moot at this point?

 

[Mac and Cats]

If it were me, I'd probably do the loading dose to be safe. Did you switch just for the heck of it or was there a reason? I was giving my cat Dasuquin, but then found I had two full bottles of Cosequin in the closet that I bought for our late kitty. So, when I was done with Dasuquin, I just moved over to the Cosequin. I had been giving two doses a day of Dasuquin but now moved to one Cosequin per day since they're very similar except Dasuquin has something that Cosequin does not (I don't remember what). Have you tried the capsules and mixing them into a treat/food or she just prefers the treats? I had to break the treats up into tiny pieces and mix them in with our cat's food to get her to eat them. So, when those were gone, I moved to the capsule because it was less annoying.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I can't speak to either Cosequin or Dasuquin because Feeby would not take either. But, when I started with Glyco Flex Plus, the 'loading' dose was 2 chews to be reduced to one about 4 weeks later. I chose to give her only one chew and she still got very good results after 2-3 weeks. She was over 17 pounds at that time.

 

[daftcat75]

I wrote Nutramax, the makers of Cosequin/Dasuquin, and got the following back:

Thank you for contacting us.

The initial 4-6 week period is recommend, but not required. The recommended initial period is based on research and science that found that the ingredients take a while to build up to a desired optimal benefit level for joint support therefore, giving more initially would come to that level faster. However, that level will be reached as well by giving the maintenance. Because your cat has already been on the maintenance administration for two months, you can continue giving Betty White her two soft chews daily.