Hello from Dimitri

I'm just popping in for a few minutes to try to hunt down the name of the injectible med. used to treat diabetes. Dimitri seems to walk a bit stiffly more often and since he'll be 16 at the end of March, I'm wondering if he has a bit of arthritis. I've tried sneaking some glucosamine and chondroitin into his food, but he won't eat it.

Also, we're moving to Texas next week (hubby lost his job here at the end of 2013 and got a job in TX last Summer; we got a good offer on our house right after Thanksgiving) and I was wondering if there is anyone here in East Texas (Marshall, Longview, Henderson, Kilgore, Tyler...) that knows a good vet?

Y'all take care. I miss coming here, but I've been so busy lately.

 

Other than insulin, we do not recommend other diabetes injections. They typically do not let the pancreas heal.

 

Hi Janet,

It's good to hear from you, although I'm sorry to hear Dimitri isn't getting around as well as he used to. You might want to visit Wendy (and Neko) in L&L. I know Neko has arthritis, so she might have some good suggestions on things to try.

Sorry I can't help you out with a vet referral, but I hope the move goes well!

Shelly

 

The injection many give for arthritis in the US is Adequan. You might want to talk to your vet about it. I also add fish oil to Neko's food - it's an anti-inflammatory.

 

Nice to see you Janet!

I THINK @Angela & Blackie & 3 Others may be near there...tagging her for you. Seems like there's someone else but my brain ain't workin'.

Hugs for you and headbutts for sweet Dimitri

 

I apologize profusely for not proofreading my post above. I meant "arthritis", not diabetes. sheesh! My brain is just too busy with the move and all. And I apologize for not getting back here sooner. I never got an email notification for the responses. Plus we were without internet at the new house until today.

I ended up finding a nice vet here in East Texas who agreed to start Dimitri on Adequan injections. She said once-a-week for a month, but that wasn't helping at all, so I did some research and found where some do twice-a-week for the first month. So we're going to try this for the next 2 weeks and see how he feels. The vet also gave me transdermal Tramadol to apply on the inside skin of his ear twice a day. I did the first dose of that this afternoon and it may have helped just a teeny bit. Back when we were in Florida, his vet there had us try Onsior, which is a pill. That worked so well, and so fast, but by the third pill, Dimitri was onto me (I had been hiding the pills in pill pockets), and he ate the pill pocket and spit the pill back out. I had a devil of a time trying to shove that pill down his throat. So that's why I wanted to try the Adequan, since it's injectible. But today, he complained when I shot him. I had read somewhere that Adequan can sting.

Thanks for the help, and again, I'm sorry for the confusion.

 

Onsior is for short term use only, 3 days max. Buprenorphine is commonly used for arthritic pain. Some get relief from gabapentin.

 

Thank you Wendy, I did not know that. So I guess it's best we keep on with the Adequan shots. I will ask about the Bupe.