What is the best supplement for arthritis?

Along with keeping your horse on a low soluble starch diet, the only product I recommend is IM Adequan which is the only FDA regulated and approved drug to restore and maintain joint cartilage and prevent imflammation of the synovial membranes to improve secretion of synovial fluid within the joints. It's antiinflammatory action also reduces pain in joints.

Cosequin has been shown to actually reach joint tissues, but shows no joint improvement on xrays as Adequan does. Adequan actually improves previously damaged cartilage as well as preventing progression of arthritic changes.

All information on efficacy of Cosequin comes from objective observation of improvement that is unsubstantiated by physical evidence. As for other joint products on the market, safety and efficacy are not proven and they are not regulated by the FDA, meaning you may not be getting what you think you are, they could do more harm than good, and it is buyer beware if you use them.

If your horse has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, then Adequan is the treatment of choice. But you should have a confirmed diagnosis to assure that what your horse has is osteoarthritis and not some other condition, since treatment is expensive.

Add........ Osteoarthritis involves friction and wearing away of the smooth cartilage found at the ends of bones where one bone joins another. The cartilage is lubricated and nourished by synovial fluid secreted in the synovial membrane lining the joint capsule. When the cartilage degenerates, it becomes rough, and progressively wears down until bone is exposed and bone surfaces are rubbing together. Bone spurs then form at the joints, and movement becomes increasingly restricted and painful. Actual secretion of synovial fluid is necessary to provide the nutrients to maintain cartilage since it has no blood supply. Hyaluronic acid is given to boost synovial fluid lubrication of joints. Even when injected into the joint, it may add lubrication and reduce friction, but it doesn't provide the nutrients absorbed into synovial membranes from blood, and it doesn't improve the quality of cartilage. Adequan is the only FDA proven effective drug that actually restores healthy cartilage and provides for the nourishment and maintenance of joint cartilage. The reason other treatments eventually don't work anymore is because they have done nothing to stop the progression of joint damage from loss of cartilage

HA is very good once the arthritis is "established" but it's super expensive. I've had what I think is good luck with glucosamines as preventatives on horses but it's hard to correlate the health of the horse with the glucosamine vs. all the other things going on. I'm not sure it does any good once the arthritis is to the point where they are lame or favoring things. It's great he's in a big space as movement is the best "supplement".

Smart use of some anti-inflammatories like bute can be very helpful as well. However, because bute can be so damaging to the gut with prolonged use, you do have to be careful. I always gave bute the day of and day after any exertions on my arthritic mare. We did take her out and trail ride her into her 20's and she enjoyed it very much but you could see she favored her bad knee the day after. For her, more than 2 days on bute and she went off of her food. But, some horses tolerate it much better. The HA did work for her somewhat but it was so darn expensive I went with treating her with great hoof care, all day turnout, light exercise and bute when she did any real movement as a way to help her through.

You might also ask the vet if having him injected might give him some relief or if the vet has other suggestions.

Imagine for a moment your arthritis completely vanishing right now.

If, in a moment, your pain and stiffness melted away. And your joints all of a sudden functioned like a well-oiled machine.

Like a magic wand was waived, you'd be able to jump up from your chair and run around the room like a kid.

And imagine that you'd never have to suffer as much as a pinch of arthritis stiffness or pain ever again.

I know this sounds impossible right now, but bear with me, because sometimes miracles happen.

It was a gift from a woman on the other side of the world. From the kindness of her heart, she took pity on my suffering and taught me how to completely reverse my arthritis.

Today, I want to do the same for you!

There is one thing that I know will work 100% of the time. Is all natural. And has zero negative side effects.

This is the exact same thing used for myself 2 years ago when arthritis first struck me. After three days of using this product, I haven't had a twinge of arthritis pain! It works just that good.

The best part is that you can put it in his drinking water and he will not even know it is there.

I would venture to say that within a week, he will be running and jumping with the younger horses- I know I am and I turned 62 last December.

That product is 35% Food Grade H2O2.

I feel like I have found the fountain of youth because I feel so healthy many days. I don't feel nearly 62. Most days I feel as young as 30. This is definitely my therapy of choice for life.

God bless and good luck with your horse.

Like other said Adequan is great...but the company just shut down so unless someone else picks it up, it won't be around any longer.

I give my gelding Lubrisyn and it's like liquid magic. It's a HA supplement like another person mentioned. I believe it was originally developed for race horses, but all the top professionals in disciplines from dressage, to jumping, to barrel racing, to cutting use it. We give it to our cutting show horses as a preventative and they do great. I took my gelding off of it to see if there was a difference and he went lamer/more lame (?) than he ever has since I've had him. And he has navicular on top of that, that we have under control and he was never that lame from his navicular. I swear by it, our trainer swears by it, other cutting trainers swear by it, because it works. It is expensive but well worth it. There are some generic versions but I don't know if they work as well. I just stick with the Lubrisyn itself.

EDIT: Ok I just found some stuff that says the plant that makes Adequan is only shut down temporarily because they found sediment in some of the bottles of other stuff made there. Once they get all that squared away, they'll start making it again. There will be a shortage for awhile so prices may go way up. I still recommend Lubrisyn though if you would rather not worry about IM injections, since you just add Lubrisyn to their feed.

My horse is arthritic in both hocks (left more than right.) He was on Cosequin for a few years and it did a great job up until a point. It started to not be quite enough. We switched him to Lubrisyn, which is a liquid HA supplement. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. He was moving like he hadn't moved in forever. He was comfortable, his changes were slick and he was willing to pick up the left lead without a fight.

Lubrisyn is expensive, so we switched him to an off-brand called Flex Force. It's the same stuff, but it's only about $60/gallon instead of $300/gallon for Lubrisyn. He's 22 and still jumping 2'6" with ease.

Something with Hyaluronic Acid (HA). It is a joint lubricant, so it helps with horses that have arthritis (they actually use it on people too). Arthritis is the degeneration of the cartilage between the bones, which acts as a lubricant, so HA will help a lot. It is kind of expensive, but if you look on smartpak's website, there is a joint supplement list which shows the amount of glucosamine, condroiten, msm, HA, and many other joint supplements that are in each product. I think the two with the most HA are Grand HA, and Total Joint Care Performance. I would look into getting your horse one of these two supplements.

Adequan, hands down.

There's been a bit of a shortage lately, but production should be getting back to normal. There was nothing wrong with Adequan, something with other drugs, but it caused the plant to shut down temporarily while they reviewed the issues.

If you don't go Adequan I would recommend Cosequin, they have the research and studies behind the product to prove it works.

http://www.smartpakequine.com/~/cosequin-sp--4268p...

That is the Cosequin I would recommend, the Cosequin SP with 10K of glucosomine and 10K MSM.

Glucosamine , Equine Cortaflex or Devils Claw (natural painkiller) Failing that you might have to look at keeping him on more level ground as he will try to keep up with the other horses and it isn't fair if he is in a lot of pain.

well, I can only tell you what works for humans and you always need to double check with your vet because some natural supplements, although absolutely fine for humans, cannot be digested by some animals.

cat's claw is great as anti-inflammatory

anti-oxidants of all kinds

omega 3 fish oils