Green Lipped Mussel

[AppyLover1996]

Hi fellow forum members,

My veteran pony is starting to have arthritic changes in his hocks after a not so good start to life before I had him.

Therefore, I like many, have gone down the never ending rabbit hole of joint supplements and wondering if they actually work, which ones are better than others in terms of active ingredients etc...

I've been looking at Green Lipped Mussel powder as a potential candidate to try and noticed that it's also apparently good for gut, coat and hoof health on top of the cartilage support and joint health support it gives.

However, I'm after some advice from you guys - who's used the stuff, how long for, in what kind of case, what was the outcome etc.

I'm also in the process of sorting out bringing my yearling down from stud soon and was wondering if it would be worth giving him a tiny amount in his feed - I figured prevention is better than cure, he's growing at a steady rate but is gunna be a big boy, and seeing as the Green Lipped Mussel is more natural than some other joint supplements on the market, I figured that it could be a safe option. I'm very proactive when it comes to making sure my horses have the best of everything but I also like to be sensible, so if I'm being daft please tell me (gently tehe!) and I'll dismiss the idea of feeding it to my yearling.

Hit me with your stories and I'll go stick the kettle on for a cuppa

P.S - I've tried the following with little to no luck :

Equine America Cortaflex
Equine America Buteless
NAF Superflex
NAF Superflex Senior
Equimins Flexijoint (pony wouldn't touch the stuff despite working up to the dosage mega slowly!)
Feedmark (same as above)

 

[Pinkvboots]

Have you had any vet treatment done?

 

[twiggy2]

If you have tried all of those with no sucess i would get a vet involved and go from there

 

[lynz88]

I tried GLM at one point and thought I noticed a difference but come the second tub, wasn't so sure. Took him off completely and didn't really notice much of a difference so didn't bother any further. That said, we did find he had a good few things going on but the fact that I didn't notice much of a difference when he came off tells me that it probably wasn't doing much. I've resigned myself to a daily bute and monthly cartrophen and steroid injection every few years.

 

[meleeka]

I tried Yomove (which is GLM) and I noticed a difference. Current pony won’t eat anything extra in her feed so is on 4Cyte which is syringed and it seems to be helping. Shes also on 1/2 Danilon per day.

 

[Equi]

The only supplement I ever noticed an active difference with (and so did my vet) was science supplements flexibility professional. Costs a fortune but it worked for me. Its vanilla flavour so some horses simply won’t eat it.

As for the youngster, I wouldn’t give anything yet.

 

[tda]

If none of those supplements have made a difference then I'd say it's a vet job.

 

[Denali]

Get a vet. Depending on what stage the arthritis is at depends on what will work. “Natural” supplements like green lipped muscle work, IME, as more of a preventative when you know from rads arthritis is going to be the diagnosis.

Different therapies, supplements included, are only beneficial at certain stages. What I mean by that is they mitigate the eventual arthritic changes so you don’t need the injections so soon or at all.

If your pony is already having changes, I would speak to the vet about things beyond feed through supplements.

 

[Landcruiser]

I'm currently giving it to my old lad who has hock arthritis, and to my youngster (5) who had a stifle injury 2 yrs ago. I'm not expecting to see a difference as youngster is fully rehabbed and sound and old boy is as sound as he ever will be. It's more as a preventative/support. Anything I can do to stave off future deterioration is a positive I reckon. I'm only half way down the first tub and bought two. The daily amounts are tiny so it's going to last me ages. It smells a bit fishy but they don't seem to notice it once it's in their feeds.

 

[airliner]

Since moving from the States to Germany about 1.5 years ago, I've been experimenting with supplements over here. I had my horse on several NAF supplements (ProFeet and Superflex Pro) but never really saw any changes. He's currently rehabbing from a soft tissue injury and the clinic sent me home with two supplements: Equitop Gonex and Allequin Chondro MSM. The former contains green-lipped mussel extracts. *knock on wood* his rehab is going well and I have kept him on these two supplements, and probably will continue to moving forward. Not sure if either of them are available in your area, but figured I would contribute

 

[AppyLover1996]

Have you had any vet treatment done?

Hiya,

Yes extensive vet treatment done (MRI's, x-rays, nerve blocks) and vets have advised that we hang fire on steroid injections etc as the changes are only now occuring and they don't want to run the risk of them being used too early and then loosing their effectiveness as the years go on.

Also had a totally independent vet to my usual to see what they would say and they came back with the exact same conclusion as my normal vets (the independent vet is up in Ireland and doesn't know anyone from my practice)

 

[AppyLover1996]

If you have tried all of those with no sucess i would get a vet involved and go from there

Vet has already been involved and independent vet too and both came to the conclusion of a joint supplement needed - pony has had extensive work ups done

 

[AppyLover1996]

I tried GLM at one point and thought I noticed a difference but come the second tub, wasn't so sure. Took him off completely and didn't really notice much of a difference so didn't bother any further. That said, we did find he had a good few things going on but the fact that I didn't notice much of a difference when he came off tells me that it probably wasn't doing much. I've resigned myself to a daily bute and monthly cartrophen and steroid injection every few years.

Eventually I'll be doing the same but my vets don't want the injections and bute to loose their effectiveness as there's plenty of life left in the old lad despite what we found - I'm looking for something in the mean time

 

[AppyLover1996]

I tried Yomove (which is GLM) and I noticed a difference. Current pony won’t eat anything extra in her feed so is on 4Cyte which is syringed and it seems to be helping. Shes also on 1/2 Danilon per day.

Sadly I tried 4Cyte and my little monkey point blank refused to eat or drink anything so had to scarper that idea pretty darn quick....

 

[AppyLover1996]

If none of those supplements have made a difference then I'd say it's a vet job.

Hiya,

Please see prior replies - vet has already been involved before posting here - I always go to my vets first and then to you guys

 

[AppyLover1996]

Get a vet. Depending on what stage the arthritis is at depends on what will work. “Natural” supplements like green lipped muscle work, IME, as more of a preventative when you know from rads arthritis is going to be the diagnosis.

Different therapies, supplements included, are only beneficial at certain stages. What I mean by that is they mitigate the eventual arthritic changes so you don’t need the injections so soon or at all.

If your pony is already having changes, I would speak to the vet about things beyond feed through supplements.

Vet has already been involved, and separate independent vet too to make sure that there's no conflict of interest and two separate professional bodies agree on the same treatment plan - eventually will be doing injections but vets want that as a last option, pony is moving fine (gladly outran the ex racehorse last night at a full gallop!) despite arthritic changes being diagnosed, so at this point in time it's more of a "what can we do to help before we go to injections and/or bute" situation

 

[lynz88]

Eventually I'll be doing the same but my vets don't want the injections and bute to loose their effectiveness as there's plenty of life left in the old lad despite what we found - I'm looking for something in the mean time

I'm not sure that bute nor cartrophen loses "effectiveness" but steroids certainly do as you can only do them so many times before they stop working. Mine has been on the bute and cartrophen for a few years and you can easily tell when he's coming up to his monthly injection and afterwards. I really think that if nothing is working for you currently, then you need to look at alternative medicating options.

 

[AppyLover1996]

I'm currently giving it to my old lad who has hock arthritis, and to my youngster (5) who had a stifle injury 2 yrs ago. I'm not expecting to see a difference as youngster is fully rehabbed and sound and old boy is as sound as he ever will be. It's more as a preventative/support. Anything I can do to stave off future deterioration is a positive I reckon. I'm only half way down the first tub and bought two. The daily amounts are tiny so it's going to last me ages. It smells a bit fishy but they don't seem to notice it once it's in their feeds.

Hiya,

That's what I'm thinking particularly with my youngster- prevention is better than cure - unfortunately too late for my veteran pony as the changes are/have already happened, and I'll eventually be going down the steroid injection and/or bute route when needed, so for the mean time it's just a case of trying to find something to help before we reach that option. The vets are reluctant to go straight for the injection/daily bute route as they want that option reserved for when the supplement looses its effectiveness

 

[AppyLover1996]

I'm not sure that bute nor cartrophen loses "effectiveness" but steroids certainly do as you can only do them so many times before they stop working. Mine has been on the bute and cartrophen for a few years and you can easily tell when he's coming up to his monthly injection and afterwards. I really think that if nothing is working for you currently, then you need to look at alternative medicating options.

Hiya,

When I spoke to both my usual vet practice and the independent vet practice, both of them mentioned how over time equines get used to the bute and that they sometimes notice the effectiveness of the cartrophen not working as well, both still work but not as well as beforehand - perhaps I'm using the wrong vocab (not yet had my morning cup of coffee yet aha!)

I am a very strong advocate for my equines and will move heaven and earth to make sure they get the absolute best care possible. I'm currently keeping a daily diary for my veteran pony and have my vet on speed dial the second I notice something is not quite right. I did ask them about the odd sachet of bute here and there for him, but they said that it is best to keep that for when a daily bute is needed. I did question why they felt that way, as I feel the odd sachet here and there which has proven results would be better than a joint supplement that might work, and they explained that the changes they have seen aren't the worst, and although they are there, they currently aren't of concern, it was just something they thought they'd mention that was found when doing all the work ups.

As previously mentioned, I'm not opposed to the injections and/or a sachet of bute, but want to make sure that I've explored all options before going down this route

 

[lynz88]

does it coincide with a worsening of condition given that arthritis is a degenerative 'disease' of sorts? I.E. you can't stop it from getting worse but you can slow it down. It sounds like your vets don't think that it's bad enough for bute? I think if you are noticing that they are struggling (which will change as the weather changes, the amount of exercise/movement changes, etc.) then it's time to potentially throw in the towel. You've tried a lot of different things with no luck....that would be a signal to me. That said there may be 2 more things that I would try first: boswelia and/or devils claw. I tried boswelia on mine and it was probably about 75% as effective as a daily bute for mine but also made mine look and act like he had smoked a few d**bies. After that, I'd be throwing in the towel. how old is the horse?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I have learned over the years, because of various adverse reactions, not to feed horses anything which they could not access naturally. Horses are highly unlikely to eat greenlipped mussels from choice, so are not adapted to digest it. I would feed boswellia if you haven't tried that already.

 

[Denali]

Vet has already been involved, and separate independent vet too to make sure that there's no conflict of interest and two separate professional bodies agree on the same treatment plan - eventually will be doing injections but vets want that as a last option, pony is moving fine (gladly outran the ex racehorse last night at a full gallop!) despite arthritic changes being diagnosed, so at this point in time it's more of a "what can we do to help before we go to injections and/or bute" situation

Oh gotcha! The only things that have worked for my horses as a feed through is cosequine ASU or MSM if your horse tolerates it. Most do well on MSM but some get really twitchy and spooky. My last mare was unfortunately one of those.

Adequan works really well too if you are not opposed to IM injections.