ADEQUAN UPDATE

Last weekend, when trying to reorder Mac’s Adequan, I found it was out of stock from the online store I usually buy it from. I must have checked over 30 stores, they were all sold out. I started to panic since I only had one bottle left (3 shots-one month). I then went to the manufacturer’s site only to find out they are renovating to meet FDA guidelines and won’t start manufacturing again until the first quarter of 2014.

I’m not sure what that means but my first thought was that they are going to start making it for humans (which they should), so they have to meet new standards.  But then why wouldn’t they have a huge surplus of supply. This is not a cheap medication. It’s sells from $105 to $150 for 2 bottles so they are losing a lot of money. Or maybe they came in for a regular inspection and found something wrong. 

In doing some basic research, I found there is no generic.  I called quite a few local vets to see if they would sell me any but they had to save their small supply for their own clients, which is understandable. I did manage to get one more bottle from my vet.

After a little more homework, I found two equine products that have the exact same ingredients. Adequan was first invented as an arthritic med to be used exclusively on horses until they discovered it could be used on small animals as well.  The replacements are Chondroprotec and Ichon.  They are not FDA approved and are used to heal wounds or burns on a horse.

On day 3 of my research, I discovered some innovative veterinarians have been using both medications on companion animals.  I spoke with one, who studied Western, Eastern and Holistic medicine.  He has been using it for years.  It is also a lot less expensive.  So I ordered both of them.

I will alternate between the Adequan and the new meds just to see if I notice any difference. I will have enough to get me through the end January and hopefully by then, Adequan will be back in production. But if I don’t notice any difference, I may keep using the new meds or at least alternating.

I called the headquarters of both companies to see where they were manufactured and while Ichon used to be made in China, they started making it in the US about 10 years ago.  Chondroprotec is made in Baltimore.  They are both distributed from Kentucky.  Surprise! 

I hope they work as well as the Adequan even if I have to give the shots a little more frequent.