How to give Dasuquin (glucosamine/chondritin)?

About a month ago the vet prescribed Dasuquin and Tramadol for Junga's arthritis. Initially I had reasonably good luck mixing the powder with a tablespoon of Junga's regular food (turkey wellness) and then sprinkling parmesan on the mixture. Junga's gotten increasingly fussy about that, wanting more and more parmesan, and today refusing to eat the mixture at all. I even tried just parmesan and Dasuquin; no go.

So, for those of you with arthritic kitties who don't think Dasuquin is yummy, how do you get your kitties to take it? I haven't yet tried sticking it in a pill pocket, but I haven't had good luck with pill pockets in general. I am reluctant to mix it into his favorite food -- duck -- because I don't want him to develop an aversion to or suspicion of duck. I use duck as a 'chaser' after he's had his Tramadol, and I don't want to mess up that situation.

He doesn't like fish. He doesn't like chicken broth. I tried mixing the powder with a bit of peanut butter today; nope. He licked it and then left the room. (laugh.)

I'm also curious as to what sort of results I might expect to see from the Dasuquin; I can't say I've seen any improvement in Junga's limp.

J.

 

Just wanted to sympathize. My Kitty rejected Dasuquin too. He accepts the Cosequin; I sprinkle it on his FF, mix it all up, then put lots of freeze-dried chicken crumbles on it. He'll eat anything with freeze-dried chicken treats!

I think the pill pockets have higher carbs. Maybe someone else can confirm that. If so, it wouldn't be a great solution for a daily pill.

as for effectiveness, I can't really tell whether the Cosequin helps.

I don't know anything about Tramadol.

Good luck!

 

The Dasequin worked well for our Taz and pretty quickly, I saw increased mobility and playfulness after about a week. Unfortunately she refused to eat anything with it in after a while. We even tried putting it in whip cream 'cause she loves that and she figured it out after one dose. We tried compounded into a liquid and that was a no go. We've tried many different treats with the glu/condroi combo and all seem to last only a week or two and she stops eating it. I am awaiting a shipment of Synflex to see if that will work and if not we will start the Adaquin shots.

 

Try giving it with butter. I take a spoonful of Smart Balance light butter and let it warm up a bit and Smokie will take several meds with this.
She won't take the Dasuquin but she will take Arthogen.
I think i see some improvement since starting this.
She and Fluffy used to take Dauquin well in tuna juice then stopped.
I am still trying to find a way to give Tramadol.

 

I usually don't have a problem giving Blackie Dasuquin, but since his pancreatitis flare up, I have only been giving it intermittently. I never had a problem with Cosequin. FYI - Blackie also gets Adequan injections and Gabapentin for his arthritis.

Tramadol - can you tell me more about how this is working? What are the side effects and what dose are you giving. We have been giving Blackie Buprenex, but if I give a regular dose it really makes him dopey.

 

What I did for Cosequin was to remove the plunder from a 3 ml syringe (w/o needle), put my finger of the end and put about 1 1/2 ml of water in the syringe and add the Cosequin. I then carefully put the in the plunger and inverted the syringe and pushed the plunder in a while bleeding some air out the needle end. I then shook the syringe to mix the Cosequin and syringed in in the cat's mouth.

 

For whatever it's worth, I read that Dasuquin contains soy, which can upset some feline tummies. Cosequin does not have it.

 

Thank you for the feedback!
I have bought some Cosequin; let's see if he hates that less (laugh!)
I'm also going to try the butter trick.
I tried a pill pocket this morning, cut in half:
1. It's darned hard to get the powder in the pocket without getting it all over, including on the outside of the pocket
2. He wouldn't even try them.

I'll let you know how Cosequin dosing goes.

J.

 

I will often do this also in a pinch but some people are not great at handing syringes in this manner so it is easier to take whatever volume of liquid you want to work with and then adding that to a small cup.

Then mix your powder into the water thoroughly and then draw up the medicated liquid into the syringe. This method also often results in a more thorough mixing although I have used Larry's method with great success also.

Either way works.

Regarding Cosequin vx Dasequin. If the C is more palatable than D, just go with C. I am not convinced that the added stuff in D is worthwhile and...it is a moot point anyway if the patient won't consume it easily.

For me, I look to keep things simple for my patients...as little pilling...syringing...as possible so I considered it wonderful if they will take meds in either a Pill Pocket or in food. With regard to cats not liking PPs, sometimes rolling them in FortiFlora or parmesan cheese works wonders.

Remember....NEVER...ever....offer your cat a WHOLE PP. This is too big and if they bite down on it...they will never eat another PP. Only use enough PP dough to just cover the pill. This often only requires 1/3 - 1/2 of a PP.

 

PS...I would never use a Pill Pocket for a powder....only use for pills.

I won't even use them for capsules if the caps are very big. They are too apt to bite down on something large.

More info on my Pilling Cats article at catinfo.org.

 

Junga gets 1/2 of a 50 mg tablet twice a day. Tramadol tastes *awful*, so I am currently administering it this way:
I bought size 4 (very small; the larger the number the smaller the capsule) empty gelatine capsules from a compounding pharmacy. 1/2 a tablet just barely fits in the capsule. I cram it in there, and then coat the capsule with butter. I put it in a 'pet piller' a.k.a pill gun, and then use that to get the capsule to the back of Junga's mouth. The capsule keeps Junga from tasting the incredibly nasty Tramadol. After the tramadol, he gets a teaspoonful of his favorite duck catfood as a chaser to make sure the capsule doesn't get stuck in his esophagus. You can get the capsules online from Capsuline, but you have to get 1000 at a time.

Here's a video showing how to use a pill gun:
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/Cat-P ... Gun-Method

Instead of restraining Junga with a towel, I put him in the bathroom sink. This actually helps; he can't ooze backwards.

The other method I used for Tramadol was to put the half tablet in a ball of peanut butter and then stick that at the back of his mouth. The sticky peanut butter makes it hard to spit out, and effectively masks the taste of the pill, even when things didn't go well and he ended up chewing a bit. I had some trouble with the peanut butter ball sticking to my fingers, so I moved on to the capsules.

Tramadol on an empty stomach (this was in a peanut butter ball) gave Junga an awful upset stomach -- nauseated all day. Now I make sure he eats before he gets his pill. No food, no pill.

The vet said that Tramadol can be sedating. Junga usually takes a nap after he's had his pill, but he's 15; I would expect a nap anyway. I don't notice that the Tramadol makes him any dopey-er than usual. He still limps, but I think he walks faster having taking Tramadol. I've read online that Tramadol can cause constipation, (no troubles that I can see as of yet) and that it can't be used with certain other drugs.

Oh, and if you are in the U.S., Tramadol can be cheaper at the Walmart pharmacy than at your vets, although it's not an expensive drug, since it's a generic.

J.

 

25 mg (1/2 of a 50 mg tab) is a lot for a cat unless the cat weights a lot. The standard dose is 12.5 mg (1/4 of a 50 mg tab). Many caretakers even reduce the dose further since it mat "space" the cat out. You are right that Tramadol is very cheap compared to Buprenex.

 

"He still yowls off and on for no apparent reason, usually from the other side of the house."

That is such a sad sound.

I still can't get Fluffy's mouth open to give the Tramodol. He keeps his teeth clamped
tight. I coated it with butter and if i could just get the pill shooter through those
teeth...
I need to so bad!

 

I can get Junga's mouth open pretty easily. Maybe the next time you're at the vet's you can have a technician work with you on a technique to get Fluffy's mouth open (an not clamped on your hand.)

My sympathies. I still have pilling troubles off and on. Last night he bit a pill, poor dear. Tramadol is yucky.

 

I don't use either of these two named products. However, I've been giving this stuff to my Sydney for years.

I learned about actual treats that are made of these products, that they love. I break them up to make it easier to eat and they love it.

Here are some of the products I've used:

Catswell Happy Hips

Pet Naturals of Vermont, Hip & Joint - http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-4070-pet- ... -chewables

NSI - Arthropower hip and joint for pets - http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-ArthroPower ... con-Flavor

This is a tablet that I break up into small pieces and crumble as a treat.