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  Discussion on Naproxen for OA
Author Message
Member:
scooter

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2010 - 11:19 pm:

Dr.O. I have been reading through all the articles and I am getting dizzy.

I have no doubt the old girl Flash has OA and quite possibly is causing her right hind lameness. She manages to get around fine, up and down is fine, but I would like to try to make her a little more comfortable if possible. Bute does seem to help her a little but she doesn't tolerate it the best, plus she goes in the old age category at 31 yo now.

Naproxen sounds like it might be worth a try, she weighs approx 750-800.

I'm just going to try the OTC stuff, which I take is 220mgs, math not being my strong point in life I can not quite figure out the dosage for her I'm guessing 8 pills x2 a day for a loading dose, Then 8 pills once a day after the loading dose of three days??? but I don't really want to guess!!! Thanks
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 - 9:31 am:

Diane,

I don't remember the doseage rules DrO has on here, but what I did for Tango when he needed some was I counted out how many pills he needed for his weight, put them in a coffee grinder and then measured that in a teaspoon sized scoop. I then put the whole bottle of pills in the grinder and I keep the powdered form of the Naproxen in a jar in the tack room.

I seem to remember that he needed 16 pills for his 1600 pounds which is double what Flash needs. I think it was 2-3 scoops to start with, then 2 daily; but please don't take my faulty memory for fact! And of course it will depend on what size "scooper thingy" you go with, but that worked out slick for me.
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 - 11:31 am:

I checked my jar; it says 22 pills Tango dose, which is 3 barely level tsp scoops. I don't remember though if I have him at 1400 or 1600 pounds...geesh, makes my head spin too, lol!

Hopefully DrO will make is crystal clear.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 - 8:41 pm:

Hello Diane,
Since this is a prescription medicine for horses I cannot tell you whether you should use this drug or not much less what would be proper dosage. This is a decision you need to go over with your veterinarian.

I can educate you how to calculate the correct dosage for medications expressed in mg/kg:
  • Take the weight of your horse in lbs and divide by 2.2. This is his weight in kg.
  • Multiply the weight of your horse in kg by the recommended dosage. This gives you the number of mg of medicine to use.
  • Now divide that number by the mg / tablet of your product. This will give you the number of tablets to give.

DrO
Member:
gramsey1

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 - 10:14 pm:

Diane,
We used Naproxen on our DJD horse. It was reasonably priced if you shop around. It was effective.
And even with 500 mg pills it was a lot of medication to give every day.
It was not as effective, for lower leg and hoof as Previcox.
Previcox, if you can get a Vet to prescribe the 227mg pills is less expensive and, in our case, more effective.
The dose for 1200 lb horse is only 1/4 pill. After a few weeks we cut the dose to every other day and still had good results for a couple of weeks. We noticed some swelling in the affected joints after play and went back to everyday for a week, then backed off again.
We have been doing this since May. It was $100 for a one + year supply of the medication.
The horse shows no sign of digestive problems.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 - 11:31 pm:

Dr.O. I don't have my vet involved it just isn't worth it, while I do like my vet we disagree on so many things it just wears me out. He suggests legend for her, #1 I just can't afford that #2 it doesn't last long, but does seem to help for a few days but at $120 a pop I can't do it.

Guy I asked my vet about previcox and he says his practice has found it doesn't work on dogs or the equioxx doesn't work on horses...they don't even carry it for dogs or horses, I asked about getting me a script for it and really never got an ans. I will ask him again, but he is convinced it doesn't work...sigh. I believe it is her hock and or hip area that bothers her... but really not too badly. she does seem to get around well but has a hip hike in the rear, but it doesn't seem to be painful....is that possible Dr.O. does a "limp" always suggest pain??? I'm not sure limp is the right word, it is more of a stiffness in the RR like it don't bend well...why I suspect hock and only real noticeable going down hills, of which our whole property pretty much is!

Bute is starting to sound good again nothings easy around here out in the sticks.
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