Adequan is injected straight into the joints. As I understand it it
increases the amount of fluid in the joint and helps prevent cartilage
damage. I was told that when cartilage is damaged and starts to break
down, enzymes are produced as a product of the breakdown that cause more
breakdown, and so on. Adequan is supposed to break this chain.
We have personal experience with adequan, 'cause the vet recommended it
after they decided our 4yr old failed the flexion test 'cause of
over long toes and not enough support at the heels. They injected it straight
into the coffin joint as a preventitive measure since they felt this
joint may have been under stress. Can't say if it worked, 'cause he
was never really lame to start with.
(I can say that correct shoeing made a difference. He seems to always
stand square now, and his trot seems much straighter and easier.)
I'm not a vet or anything, and I could be completly wrong about all
this of course :-)
Sue
sue.cunningham@mcc.ac.uk