Whats the best in the way of Bute alternatives?

[poiuytrewq]

My little old pony is just starting to look a bit stiff, maybe since the ground went so hard. It was a relief in a way as I've been watching him wondering is he was getting laminitic even though I'm very careful with him. He was just looking not 100% behind and previously he's never had actual laminitis but has gone a bit off behind and had pulses so been treated as such. He's on Prascend.
Vet had a quick look yesterday as its hard to be sure and both conditions require different approaches.
So I think maybe its time to try him on a supplement first as its only mild and hes a nightmare to get bute into but secondly I'd rather not go down that route just yet if possible a it feels like we have something to fall back on still.
He's 11.2 about 30 years old. In during the day and out muzzled at night. He only gets minimal feed and is fussy so something palatable is a priority.
What are people having good results with? Its been a while since I've tried anything like this

 

[scats]

At that age, I’d just go straight for Bute. If he won’t eat it, ask for inflacam. It’s more expensive but even my fussy ones eat it no problem (both won’t touch Bute or danilon)

Edited to add that my friend was in a similar situation with her 30 year old horse and she told the vet she didn’t want to give him Bute yet. The vet said to her that if you make it to your 90s, I’m fairly sure you’ll be on some sort of pain relief and feeling much better for it!

 

[Lurfy]

This is what a vet prescribed for my boy when he was a bit arthritic. Vet said it's better than bute and it did work well.

Prevequine Tablets 57mg for Horses (60)

We're your trusted source for Pet Medications in Australia. Explore our wide range of prescription drugs & health products, accompanied by exceptional service. Shop today!

theanimalpharmacy.com.au

 

[poiuytrewq]

At that age, I’d just go straight for Bute. If he won’t eat it, ask for inflacam. It’s more expensive but even my fussy ones eat it no problem (both won’t touch Bute or danilon)

Edited to add that my friend was in a similar situation with her 30 year old horse and she told the vet she didn’t want to give him Bute yet. The vet said to her that if you make it to your 90s, I’m fairly sure you’ll be on some sort of pain relief and feeling much better for it!

Yep I totally get that. It has its bad sides though and I figured he’s literally only just showing his age. So I’d like to at least try something else first.

 

[Love]

Not personally used it but have heard of people seeing good results with boswelia?

 

[Follysmum]

My big heavy x oldie (24) stiff behind especially in 1 leg, has 1 Bute mixed in grass nuts and he eats that fine. He also has tumeric plus with boswellia. Been on these a year now and vet came yesterday and was amazed how well he was doing.

 

[Fransurrey]

I'm with Scats. He's 30. Long term bute can be problematic, but we're not talking a 5 yo. Inflacam is your other option. Both can cause GI and kidney damage long term, but that's over years and at high doses.

 

[Ossy2]

Most supplements take a while to into a horses system and then show any positive effects, I find most even the likes of Boswelia are best for long term prevention, at 30 years of age I won’t say supplements are not useful but I don’t think there is really any supplement will give instant relief. I agree at that age I’d go straight to bite or even metaform.

 

[vhf]

I've found boswellia effective on my slightly stiff mare (tired hocks!), she's a relative youngster at 21 though. The other similar option is devil's claw. (Some products may contain both, I've not looked). I didn't try DC because the boswellia worked so well, but I strongly suspect they work in different ways and you'll find that one works better than the other, depending on what's needed. (It might be one is more pain relief and one more anti-inflammatory; I don't know but I'd hazard a guess). If my girl is still around at 30 then I will move her onto danilon if she needs to but she won't entertain the idea of bute even if I will! For me quality of life is more important than quantity with the oldies but if you can avoid prescription drugs even for parts of the year, it's got to be worth a try.

 

[paddy555]

bosmerix is the only thing I have found that is effective enough to replace bute.

 

[SEL]

I'm using Bozmerix for the microcob. She's 13, has a wonky body and hoof X rays that made me wince, but gut problems which mean long term Bute isn't an issue. Pricing isn't far off Bute now but better on the gut. I noticed when I ran out that she was more grouchy on the road which is uphill than normal.

Equinatural do a meadowsweet and willow one which my Appy has always done well on.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

My girl is on boswellia and I do notice a difference if I stop it.

 

[millikins]

I have a Shetland with an arthritic hock, probably due to injury (not with me). Too young for bute, she's 9, so have put her on Devil's Claw which has helped enormously. I tried Boswellia on one of the others with arthritc changes in his feet, didn't help at all.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My little old pony is just starting to look a bit stiff, maybe since the ground went so hard. It was a relief in a way as I've been watching him wondering is he was getting laminitic even though I'm very careful with him. He was just looking not 100% behind and previously he's never had actual laminitis but has gone a bit off behind and had pulses so been treated as such. He's on Prascend.
Vet had a quick look yesterday as its hard to be sure and both conditions require different approaches.
So I think maybe its time to try him on a supplement first as its only mild and hes a nightmare to get bute into but secondly I'd rather not go down that route just yet if possible a it feels like we have something to fall back on still.
He's 11.2 about 30 years old. In during the day and out muzzled at night. He only gets minimal feed and is fussy so something palatable is a priority.
What are people having good results with? Its been a while since I've tried anything like this

When my mare went like this. Vet said bute for life.


I spoke to Equimins and they said
" If you have lubrication you don't have pain"
"If you don't have pain you don't need a pain kilkler"

I was scepetical weaning her off bute, but I went along with it and vet amazed at the improvement.



Before I make the pain with bute I personally would check out FlexiJoint. MOney back guarentee if it does not help.



Then I would go down the Danilon route

 

[poiuytrewq]

If I hadn’t mentioned the word 30 though. I’m aiming for this little chap to reach 40. He’s been just amazing.
I’ve had two (possibly 3) “ old” horses alongside him. He’s just not old. He jig jogs around.
I’ll look at bozmerix love heard good things about that. Otherwise I’ll try Danilon and see if I can get it in him without a battle.
He was a Blue Cross rescue and his confidence is very easily damaged. Forcing a syringe of bute down him daily would quickly result in him hating me!

 

[Hollylee1989]

I've tried boswellia (bozmerix is basically boswellia), and it did nothing despite feeding it for 8 months. Within 2 weeks on devil's claw I noticed a huge difference.

 

[PipsqueakXy22]

I’d try bosweilla (although some can be fussy about it). I swear by bozmerix if you can afford it as my horse came off bute and onto it stopped for a month and noticed a huge difference, it’s as if he was on bute but lately I have been looking for cheaper alternatives as it’s pricey and gone up in price again, the main ingredients is bosweilla so I tried switching him onto that as it’s far cheaper, and it seems to be doing the trick (though he is also living out at the moment), so if you want a cheaper alternative I’d go for bosweilla, only thing is he doesmt love it so have to give him an extra handful of chaff to try and dull down the taste

 

[BronsonNutter]

If you'd like to go down the supplement route first I would try bozmerix first, and if its not 'enough' you can speak to your vet about alternative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

There are newer licensed drugs now beyond bute and danilon, which theoretically should carry less of a risk of side effects as they are more selective for the 'bad' kinds of inflammation. Inflacam (meloxicam) is my go to for the fussy horses (yet to have one not eat it happily - despite their owners being adamant they'll never eat any meds ) but the dosing is difficult for small ponies as the sachets are tiny and designed for a 500kg horse... so equioxx (firocoxib) tablets may be a good option as these would break up into smaller portions.

 

[ycbm]

Devils claw works, that's why it's banned from competition. Much cheaper than Bute, if it works.
.

 

[Jenko109]

Riaflex do a lovely devil's claw supplement. I use the canine version.

Devils Alternative Equine | Riaflex

Devils Alternative is a powerful combination of herbs, amino acids, and antioxidants specifically formulated as an alternative and highly effective way of providing nutritional maintenance to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints.

www.riaflex.co.uk

 

[maya2008]

We found Boswellia amazing for arthritis. Kept my girl moving and happy right up until her neck arthritis calcified too much and affected her spinal cord. So she must have been riddled with it, but you never would have known it was that bad.

A friend of mine has also kept an old, arthritic polo pony going with a combination of boswellia and turmeric.

I have not found boswellia to work as well with muscle issues, but arthritis it seems to be equivalent to about a bute a day.