Cortaflex? advice pleaase

[katsa22000]

Hiya

I've been looking into joint supplements for my arthritic horsey. Soo what experiences have you had with cortaflex and what exactly did you use it for? The good the bad and the ugly please

Oh and any alternatives are also very welcome.

thanks guys x

 

[Cliqmo]

Joint supplements are a bit of a minefield because they are largely unregulated and although many quote 'research' in their marketing blurb, the research referred to is often about joint supplements generally and not that product in particular

Cortaflex claim to provide the 'building blocks' for the horse to produce its own joint fluids- this marketing was changed when they got in to trouble with trading standards because the elements they claimed were in their product were only just traceable

Additionally I believe that if a horse is having joint problems it is because it can't produce the necessary repair fluids so adding the 'building blocks' wont help and will just be wasted. Personally I think you are much better getting the supplement into them directly in a 'ready to use' state

For general market supplements I would go for Equine Answers Premierflex HA as the products are good and quantities of glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM are high, however I would personally recommend getting something via your vet (which at least has to be regulated by them before it can be issued) They normally recommend Synoquin or Cosequin- my boy is SOUND on the latter

 

[mattilda]

My old boy was very stiff in his hocks due to arthritis, to the point he struggled to pick up his feet. I have him on Maxaflex and he is hugely improved.

 

[Illegal]

Mine broke his hock racing and thus has arthritis, so feed him a supplement that has glucosomine and Hylaronic acid in it - and seems to do the trick. The Hylaronic acid lubricates the joint I am told and this is what makes it good.

 

[Magicmillbrook]

Cortalflex seems to help keep my girl mobile, I tried leaving it off and she got quite stiff, i did try a Naff supplement but that didnt seem to help much. Cortaflex is only fed in tiny amounts so although exspensive it lasts ages. Both my vet and osteopath recomended Cortaflex.

 

[trundle]

My mare has bad arthritis in her knees, and is on Equistro Flexalan, which was prescribed by the vet. It has basically brought her sound again.

 

[Louby]

Apparantly Cortaflex/Cortavet is proven to work, vets words not mine but I think every horse is different and what works for some doesnt for others. My last horse had advanced Ringbone and was on Cortavet liquid paid for by my insurance. I never seen a difference in her whilst on it so when the insurance ran out I tried Feedmarks Flexamine as it was on offer. OMG she was like a spring chicken., so I stuck with that.

 

[elliegirl12]

Cortaflex is brilliant our old horse got put down a year or so ago now but had atheritus it works wonders and does help

 

[teddyt]

[ QUOTE ]
Apparantly Cortaflex/Cortavet is proven to work,

[/ QUOTE ]

Some research was done on it but IMO leaving out a horse half way through because it was negatively skewing the results is not very robust practice!

I do not rate cortaflex because the % of active ingredients in a tub or bottle is less than 5%.

Look for a supplement that provides 10g a day (500kg horse) of glucosamine HCL (not sulphate) and you wont be wasting your money on fillers or insufficient doses

 

[grouchymare]

I used cortaflex liqud for my gelding with navicular (mainly soft tissue, ligament & navicular bursa damage) and noticed a huge difference in him after about 4 days. Tried newmarket joint supplement & synequin prior to that with no improvement at all. Oddly enough when I tried cortaflex powder with lamiguard (I think) which is what equine america recommend for navicular he wasn't as sound.

 

[magic14339]

I have heard that coratflex has high levels of things like MSM, boswelia, yucca all things which can (in certain quanitiies) have a antiinflammatory pain relieving effect. ideally you want 5000mg of MSM maximum otheriwise it is possible you could mask problems a bit. I would advise using a brand which has clear labelling and states clearly how many mg of each ingredient are in it so if it works you know what works and if it doesn't you can try something with a higher dose. A supplement (like some of the cheaper ones) which just has glucosamine or chondroitin with not other agents usually won't be effectively delivered as often you need a sulphur source (i.eMSM) and vitamin c to get a better effect. A lot of supplements in the UK have been found not to match label claims. An independant study found that something like out of 27 joint supplements in this country had in them what was stated on the label!!!! scary stuff. Personally I use supplements which are regulated by the national animal supplement council in the USA as there guidelines are as strict as you get so you know what you are getting for your money. I would recomend Grand Meadows flex if you are looking for general maintenance or the mega flex if you have something older which needs something stronger. There HA products are also pretty good as they use HA in the form of biocell collagen which is a tiny absorbable size. Also there is collagen an ingredient which has been found to be pretty helpful. Be extremely wary of companies which claim to have absorbable HA as this molecule is apparently pretty big!!!