# My dog died after her 4th Adequan injection



## Lizeez05 (11 mo ago)

Our sweet Siberian Husky was put on Adequan injections. After her 4th injection she became lame in her back legs and stopped eating. 2 days later she could not pick her head up. She regained use of her back legs but would not eat barely anything for the next week. She had horrible seizures and we had to put her down. Do not use this drug! Our sweet girl was slowing down before taking the injections but was absolutely fine and her blood work was normal. We are beyond devasted!


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## BigBlackDog (Jan 2, 2021)

Very sorry for your loss! That must be a very difficult situation for you to comprehend even. It takes time to heal, so grieve and be kind to yourself and others in your family as you all go through that. Again, sorry for your loss!


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## arlum (10 mo ago)

I'm very sad to hear about your Husky. We've lost pets and know how hard it can be.


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## Scrapple (9 mo ago)

I gave my 12 year old Lab Adequan. It didn't really help, but I can't say it harmed her either. When Murphy passed, my vet felt it was from the years of Rimadyl, later Gallaprant.


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## Jen314 (8 mo ago)

Lizeez05 said:


> Our sweet Siberian Husky was put on Adequan injections. After her 4th injection she became lame in her back legs and stopped eating. 2 days later she could not pick her head up. She regained use of her back legs but would not eat barely anything for the next week. She had horrible seizures and we had to put her down. Do not use this drug! Our sweet girl was slowing down before taking the injections but was absolutely fine and her blood work was normal. We are beyond devasted!


Our sheltie received an Adequan injection yesterday morning for arthritis. Later that evening he became lethargic and was having trouble breathing and was rushed to the emergency vet. They gave him CPR but he died shortly thereafter. He was fine the day before. We are devastated.


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## Hachifritz (8 mo ago)

I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet babies. We just recently lost our eight year old Biewer Terrier after his 1st Adequan injection. Brought him to our vet to look at his loose patella. She gave him the injection. Within minutes he was vomiting, defecating, then lost his ability to move. We rushed him to emergency. We had the same outcome. It's just unreal and so tragic especially when they were so healthy, happy and full of joy.


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## AnthonyC482 (8 mo ago)

I share your melancholy.😥


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## Sparkles2022 (10 mo ago)

I'm very sorry for your losses. Know that you have likely saved some other people's dogs. I'm making a note of this & to never allow it. 

RIP 🕯🕯🕯


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## storyist (Sep 19, 2019)

I've stayed out of this thread because other people's experiences are their own, and Heaven knows if I had their experiences I'd share their feelings. I have the same kind of bias against gabapentin because of 2 bad experiences -- I won't accept a prescription for it, won't use it, and that's that.

However, I have to say I've had 2 dogs with severe arthritic problems that were on Adequan for years. It was the only thing that really helped them. I gave it myself as a sub-cutaneous shot on the advice of an excellent orthopedic surgeon. Vets often give it in the muscle, and since one of my dogs had it that way years ago for a while, I know that's painful for the dog.

So I hope this thread won't make anyone with a dog suffering from arthritis who isn't helped by other meds and supplements totally reject the idea of Adequan out of hand. There are risks to all meds, and NSAIDs like Rimadyl, often prescribed for these kinds of problems, definitely have those kinds of risks.


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## Poppy14 (Apr 13, 2017)

@storyist - my dog was also on Adequan for a little over a year and it helped him greatly. We went another route with treatment for a few reasons, but none were because the Adequan was harming him or wasn't working. 

It's important to note that any drug can cause a harmful reaction in animals (or people!) and if you are concerned it is worth having a discussion with your veterinarian about the potential side effects and the research being done on a particular drug.


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## storyist (Sep 19, 2019)

makenna said:


> We went another route with treatment for a few reasons, but none were because the Adequan was harming him or wasn't working.


I'd appreciate your sharing what else worked as well. Since I'm going to continue having dogs, I'm sure I'll have the arthritis problem again in the future, and it's good to know anything and everything that can help. The only one of mine that did as well on something else as on Adequan was the Rottie who received it in the muscle from the vet years ago. That was before there were oral supplements like Cosequin, but right when those kind of supplements were coming out. When I heard about them, I tried oral glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate along with a yucca supplement, and she stayed sound and pain free on those, but none of my others were so fortunate.


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## Poppy14 (Apr 13, 2017)

storyist said:


> I'd appreciate your sharing what else worked as well. Since I'm going to continue having dogs, I'm sure I'll have the arthritis problem again in the future, and it's good to know anything and everything that can help. The only one of mine that did as well on something else as on Adequan was the Rottie who received it in the muscle from the vet years ago. That was before there were oral supplements like Cosequin, but right when those kind of supplements were coming out. When I heard about them, I tried oral glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate along with a yucca supplement, and she stayed sound and pain free on those, but none of my others were so fortunate.


The Adequan really did wonders. I definitely recommend it to people who have dogs that are suffering with arthritis. Right now he's on fish oil and Cosequin, as he does a better in the warmer months, but he has had some other symptoms alongside the arthritis (which is overall very well controlled right now) that have made my vet suspect that he has IMPA - primarily persistent fever alongside his intermittent arthritis flairs - so we are doing joint taps and if that's the case it will require an entirely different set of treatments.

My boy is only 8 and his arthritis, like most of his health issues, is just really weird. It's very apparent in colder weather but not nearly as much when it is warmer - which is a big reason my vet was so unsure about the IMPA hypothesis but then he has a fever...so we'll do the testing and go from there. If it's negative and next fall/winter his arthritis is worse or more persistent, I would definitely go back on Adequan. It really does much more than just treat pain, to my understanding it starts to reverse the damage.

But yes, I am very grateful to the Cosequin as it also works wonders if the arthritis isn't too severe.


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## storyist (Sep 19, 2019)

makenna said:


> My boy is only 8 and his arthritis, like most of his health issues, is just really weird.


I hope you get it all under control and he has several more good years ahead.


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## Christy108 (5 mo ago)

Jen314 said:


> Our sheltie received an Adequan injection yesterday morning for arthritis. Later that evening he became lethargic and was having trouble breathing and was rushed to the emergency vet. They gave him CPR but he died shortly thereafter. He was fine the day before. We are devastated.





Hachifritz said:


> I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet babies. We just recently lost our eight year old Biewer Terrier after his 1st Adequan injection. Brought him to our vet to look at his loose patella. She gave him the injection. Within minutes he was vomiting, defecating, then lost his ability to move. We rushed him to emergency. We had the same outcome. It's just unreal and so tragic especially when they were so healthy, happy and full of joy.





Lizeez05 said:


> Our sweet Siberian Husky was put on Adequan injections. After her 4th injection she became lame in her back legs and stopped eating. 2 days later she could not pick her head up. She regained use of her back legs but would not eat barely anything for the next week. She had horrible seizures and we had to put her down. Do not use this drug! Our sweet girl was slowing down before taking the injections but was absolutely fine and her blood work was normal. We are beyond devasted!


My little girl mini dachshund had one shot of this drug and 10 minutes later throwing up lost control of everything bloody eyes. They rushed her back room and briefly stabilized her enough to get to an overnight ER and she was gone within hours. I am so heartbroken and in shock. She was elderly but perfectly healthy had blood work and urine work done prior to the shot. I didn’t even go to the vet for this I really just went to get an anti inflammatory for a little arthritis and I was presented with this drug adequan. There are no words for the grief I feel and seeing my little girl suffer. I had to put her down in the end it was too much and she was not going to recover. So heartbroken. It was reported to the MFG by my doctors but I’ll be writing them as well. It’s devastated my world. She was such a good dog and did nothing to deserve this. I felt helpless and feel like I didn’t protect her. She didnt need this drug. Devastating.


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## Christy108 (5 mo ago)

Lizeez05 said:


> Our sweet Siberian Husky was put on Adequan injections. After her 4th injection she became lame in her back legs and stopped eating. 2 days later she could not pick her head up. She regained use of her back legs but would not eat barely anything for the next week. She had horrible seizures and we had to put her down. Do not use this drug! Our sweet girl was slowing down before taking the injections but was absolutely fine and her blood work was normal. We are beyond devasted!


Lizeez05 are you able to see my post a few days ago on how adequan killed my little girl as well? Christy108. I don’t understand how this forum works…


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Lizeez05, the original poster, posted once and has not been on the forum for six months.


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## Christy108 (5 mo ago)

Hi, I am re-posting this as I am not sure my original post was seen by all in this thread. I took my little mini dachshund girl in for what I thought was a urine infection as she was peeing in the house but testing was fine including all blood work. I asked for an anti inflammatory as her back leg had some arthritis and Adequan was recommended. I never could imagine 10 min later she was throwing up, limp on the floor while we were still talking and we bent down to help her and her eyes were all bloody and she was very limp. They rushed her to the back room and gave her epipen meds (whatever it is they give you for allergic reaction) and it took about 45 min but they stablized her enough for me to take her to overnight ER but she started pooping blood. I remember looking at her in the car and we both looked at each other with fear and sadness. Somehow we knew this wasnt going to be good. I was terrified. By the time I got there 15 minutes, she was critical. They were doing everything they could. They could have given her plazma replacement but they didnt think chances were good and it would be a long road. I couldnt bare to see my little girl suffer so I had to let her go three hours later. Granted, she was 16, but perfectly healthy. I have been devastated for weeks and upset with myself that I didnt take extra care and think twice due to her age. The manufacturer is supposedly paying for a necropcy and preliminary results show nothing wrong with her physically but hemmoraging everywhere including all her limbs. So hurtful to think she was suffering like that. Tissue sample analysis will take a few weeks but there's no doubt this medication killed her. There needs to be a warning by vets especially with older dogs before this medication is given, I was told nothing but that it was easy to administer and it would help within a couple of months. She was my everything and although I knew this day would come soon, it's the way she went. I can't get over it happened this way. I am still very upset after 3 weeks and can only see the images of the horror I saw throughout that day with her. I feel terrible when I think of all of the parents that lost their children in Uvalde as compared to my little but it is still so devastating to me. I had never owned a dog before and never will again. I will enjoy other dogs I come in contact with. Not only is this reported to the mfg, but I will be writing to the FDA as well. I may post this warning elsewhere in this website, I'm new to it, and just working my way around it. I understand there's a memorial site, I need to find it as I am hurting terribly. Thank you for reading and listening.


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