Cosequin and banana….Hey BB!

[MimzMum]

For some reason posting at BB.com today is especially troublesome for me. I have had no less that 20 errors in the last few hours all telling me the connection is reset or my cookies aren’t working and some places I have gotten in I’ve wound up double posting. It’s been frustrating. So I hope this post goes in okay…I’ve tried three times.

 

Anyway, BB… one of your posts caught my eye; you spoke of putting cosequin powder in bananas for Jack. My vet has also suggested I do this for Mimzy’s arthritis in his hips. I only found the one for cats here, it’s tuna flavored and 125 mg instead of 100 mg (of course! why should it be easy?) and I am curious how much banana you mix Jack’s with that you feel is a safe amount for a daily dose for a bunny? I usually only give Mimzy a bit of the end of a banana once in awhile as a treat and he’d love to have them everyday, but I worry that would seriously affect his appetite for other foods and I also try not to overdo his gut with sugar. I know if he even thinks that there’s medicine in it, he won’t eat it, but I don’t think he’ll eat applesauce. Do you use only green bananas? How ripe can you let them get? Do you mash them up or do you just sandwich the powder between two slices?

Lots of question, sorry. ^_^ I’ve realized today that he can’t have daily metacam, it causes him to not eat even at .1 ml and he gets really spacey with it. I haven’t seen him wee as much either and that concerns me that his kidneys are having trouble processing it.

 

Many thankies!

[KatnipCrzy]

I alerted BB to your questions.
Have you looked for the human version of Cosequin- called Cosamin DS? (made by the same company with same ingredients). The human version is usually cheaper. My husband works at Wal-greens and they often have it buy one-get one free. It does not taste like anything really- my husband tried a bit of the powder that I opened up to mix up to give to our cat.

[MimzMum]

I’m still trying to find the human stuff here, Katnip. We don’t have Walgreens, sadly. They are a wonder-shop, really. You’d think our giant Fred Meyers’ and Wal Mart would have something like. >.<
I am curious as to how to start it without upsetting his tummy. It does seem to be more sensitive these days. I can remember taking glucosamine-chondroitin supplements and they made me feel sick even with food on first. Although I suppose it would be different for Mimzy, I just don’t want to upset his appetite.

[bunnnnnnie!]

It’d probably be a lifetime supply for a little bunny, but there’s the horse version of Cosequin:

http://www.smartpakequine.com/cosequin-equine-powder-174p.aspx?cm_vc=Search

It’s not flavored, I can’t imagine a bun eating tuna flavored anything, even mixed onto a banana! 

[KatnipCrzy]

Wal-Greens has Buy 1 Get 1 free this week- you can buy it online and it says free shipping over $25- will probably not ship free to Alaska- but even a normal shipping fee will save you money over buying the pet version.  And other than having to open a capsule and guesstimate what half is- it is the best way to go for a bunny.  Since for a rabbit you do not want flavored- and the only option would be Cosequin for Small Pets- but you will pay a lot more for that and you have to open a capsule to sprinkle it anyway.

I am assuming they will ship to AK- if not do you have someone in the US that would could get it delivered to them and then mail it to you?  Is shipping outrageously crazy to AK?

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/nu…74-product

They also have a larger count listed as Buy one Get one

 

[MimzMum]

Thanks so much bunnnnnnie! & Katnip! I should’ve thought about Walgreens being online! *foreheadslap* I can be so incredibly dense! >.<
Off to grab some now. Yeah, shipping anything to Alaska is always dicey, but we’ll manage somehow.

[BinkyBunny]

Thanks Katnip for alerting me!

Sorry for my delay!

KK said she was also having issues the other day on our website.  I did a site reset, but it seems it is still acting wonky.  Steve said he will do some maintenance work tomorrow on it so that should stop the error messages.

 Anyway, the advice you have been has been great.  It is also what my vet recommended when she thought their clinic was not going to be able to get the mix in that I usually get directly from the vet.   It is also an Equestrian mix.  The actual exact mix is “Synovi-MSM EQ GRAN 30 dram vi”    It’s not great tasting — just sort of a mineral sugary sort of licorice taste — to me anyway.   But Jack doesn’t mind it. 

The MSM in the ingredients stands for MethylSufonylMethane which does accompany some glucosamine products.  My vet said that though there are claims that it is good- – a pain reliever of sorts, she stated that it really wasn’t that important because whether it really helps is not really proven yet.  (it just doesn’t hurt).  

My vet said to sprinkle it on their greens, but he wasn’t eating his greens with that stuff sprinkled on it.  So that’s when I resorted to making a banana mush of it. (I use just turned yellow ripe bananas for Jack).  Jack didn’t like it that much at first, but he loves loves banana so he would nibble at it.  So I started with a smaller dose and mushed it and then over a weeks time, just added a bit more until it was up to the recommended dose. 

Keep in mind though,  Jack has a stomach of steel.  Could be just the way he is made up or due to the pelletless high hydration diet/regime he is on. He also eats a good amount of hay, so between all the fiber of they hay and greens, along with all of the hydration he gets through his water mix and sub-q fluids (when needed if calcium issues show up), his system is pretty sturdy.  

I wouldn’t start with a banana mix for you Mimzy though.  If you can get away with mixing the glucosamine with something healthier, then II would try that first.  Does he have a favorite veggie that you can sprinkle the powder on?   

[MimzMum]

Thanks BB! Sorry, I sent this question to you in my reply email this morning. Hadn’t gotten in here yet. ~_~
Um…sadly no…Mimzy isn’t like Fiver in that I can get him to eat pumpkin. And he WILL notice if something is sprinkled on his lettuce or parsley and such. He DOES love the greenish-sort of bananas, but I haven’t been trifling with his stomach lately because of this new metacam intolerance. He’s been off it for two days now and he was perkier yesterday and eating well, today you can tell he doesn’t feel so chipper. The pain must be back. Plus it’s a kind of overcast day and even I’m aching pretty bad, so I use myself as a back-up barometer for his arthritis. Still have to call the vet on the possibility of switching him to tramadol.

I did order the cosamin form Walgreen’s last night, thanks Kat! It’ll be here in a few days or so…unless they use the dogsleds again. >.<

I didn’t notice if the Walgreen’s one contained the MSM BB…that is interesting info though. I’ll try starting it slowly and getting it up to the 100 mg he’s supposed to have everyday. Pray that he doesn’t realize I’m spiking his food! 0_o; Thank you for all the help.

[Author]

Messages