People who use cartrophen - how often?

[milliepops]

My little horse had a course of 4 cartrophen injections Feb-march this year. She hasn't had any diagnoses and has no lameness etc, it's more of a preventative thing as she is 16 now and the work is continuing to step up. Vet very supportive of this approach and horse is feeling great.

How often do others repeat this? Vet has said we could do 6 monthly, though I wasn't on the ball enough at the time to ask if that would be 1 dose or another 4, so also interested to know what other people do if using as a routine maintenance thing.

 

[TheHairyOne]

Go 4-6 monthly with my old horse and its only one jab after the initial 'course'. He tells us when he is ready for a new one, so generally 6 months when the weathers nice. Shorter intervals when its cold and wet. Get 4 doses at a time via prescription which keeps the cost down quite a lot.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Bailey has them every 12 weeks for hock arthritis. He is 13 and last summer it was very apparent he was struggling so he had the initial course which helped enormously. I left it 16 weeks this time and it has taken a full week to get him comfortable on hills again so I won’t wait as long next time.

 

[Nicnac]

That's a difficult one as each horse is different. I waited (unintentionally) until my horse was slightly uncomfortable after first course which was 7 months so now know to not go beyond 6 months going forward. I think it's a bit like PTS, better a couple of weeks earlier to avoid the rehab which I have just completed (again).

 

[milliepops]

Yeah its especially difficult as there's nothing giving her any trouble at this point so it's not like I can say, oh, she feels uncomfortable ?
Perhaps I'll just go with 6 monthly and see how we go for a bit.

 

[Lovely jubbly]

My horse has had the course of 4 this month..having another one mid August and then again October…then again in March whilst I’ve got the insurance. Then vet has suggested an annual booster after that. Recently gone onto Pharmaquin joint supplement it’s made a massive difference great stuff.

 

[milliepops]

thanks. this wasn't covered by insurance as was just something i wanted to do when horse was coming back to work after ulcer treatment and I just wanted to make sure she felt tickety boo

I'm pretty much viewing this as something I will shell out for rather than oral supps, tried a load with another horse and saw no difference when I stopped

 

[Auslander]

Alf has a top up every 3 or 4 months. Slightly aggrieved that he had one two weeks ago, and promptly aggravated the old knee injury, so has been off games ever since! He's having the knee medicated on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll start to see the benefits of the Cartrophen afterwards!

 

[milliepops]

Poor Alf! hope he is back to his sprightly self very soon.

 

[tiga71]

My old boy is 23 and he has it every 3 months.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I'm pretty much viewing this as something I will shell out for rather than oral supps, tried a load with another horse and saw no difference when I stopped

Mine isn’t covered by his insurance either but the way my vet described giving Cartrophen was ‘it’s like giving a supplement but it actually works’ ?

 

[Lovely jubbly]

Will see how mine goes course of 4 was £750 been told £100 each after that as she needs the whole bottle.

 

[Britestar]

Mine had a course of 4, and about to get another after 4 weeks. I was told one at 4 weeks and then 6 weeks and then see how it goes.
20yr old with issues, so don't want to wait until he's sore.

I got a prescription off the vet, its almost half the price online. They are happy to put 4 vials on each prescription.

 

[milliepops]

Will see how mine goes course of 4 was £750 been told £100 each after that as she needs the whole bottle.

Blimey that was expensive, did you have the vet out to administer it? I got mine on prescription and injected myself, I had 7 bottles for about £500

 

[ycbm]

I got mine on prescription and injected myself

I thought it was supposed to go in the horse?
.

 

[lynz88]

I was instructed to give 15mls every 3 weeks for 4 courses and then 10 mls once per month. This was following a hock/suspensory injection by my vet (due to the location of the arthritic changes). My vet wrote me a prescription that I just fill online - evet seems to be the cheapest at £70/10ml bottle.

My guy is 15 but he had arthritis all over (so we've found over the years by accident). Given the locations it is just a matter of keeping him as comfy as possible for as long as I possibly can

 

[lynz88]

My horse has had the course of 4 this month..having another one mid August and then again October…then again in March whilst I’ve got the insurance. Then vet has suggested an annual booster after that. Recently gone onto Pharmaquin joint supplement it’s made a massive difference great stuff.

I was looking at Pharmaquin the other day but couldn't find much info on it. Good to know someone had had success with it as was thinking of giving it a go

 

[NinjaPony]

I did one every 4 months for my boy. He had some slight changes in his hocks and the cartrophen definitely helped keep him supple

 

[Reacher]

Sorry not helpful, but this is interesting as a possible route to go down with my older horse (as a preventative - he has no issues, touch wood).
The cost is a bit gulp making although the cost of the orals is a good £50 per month or so and at least the injectables are more likely to work.

 

[milliepops]

Sorry not helpful, but this is interesting as a possible route to go down with my older horse (as a preventative - he has no issues, touch wood).
The cost is a bit gulp making although the cost of the orals is a good £50 per month or so and at least the injectables are more likely to work.

yeah the cost is a bit *ouch* but this has been something that my vet has been really supportive of and after the initial course I reckon it's cheaper than a top price supplement.
it was difficult to assess whether there was a point at which there was a difference with her initial course because she had been absolutely impossible to ride when she had the ulcers and so there were potentially 2 things happening at once - better gut comfort and then I gave her the cartrophen. but when I watched her move in the mirrors she just looked super so I figured it was probably doing something. at 16 yo, an unsuitable type for sport and with the work nudging up to GP I feel like I owe her all efforts to keep her comfortable.