There are quite a few products on the market today extolling their virtues about joint pain relief, joint tissue repair and promoting a general wellness in joints of dogs. For many years, a great majority of Veterinarians have been prescribing one product in particular, Cosequinâ .

At our kennels and training facilities we have seen first hand the tremendous value of this product. Labs with injuries and joint problems have been put on Cosequinâ , and the results have been astonishing. Labs with mild joint soreness were back to normal in less than a week, Labs with more serious injuries recuperated much faster while on Cosequinâ

In the June 1998 issue of Dog Fancy Magazine, on page 45 your are greeted to a full page spread of the product Cosequinâ, there is a young maiden holding a beautiful yellow Labrador retriever. The advertising reads*; "Because his quality of life and safety are important to you."

Further into the full page advertising, you see where it reads; "COSEQUINâ can help "turn back the clock" by providing the materials the body needs to replenish joint cartilage which is so vital in maintaining optimal joint function"

Scanning down the page; "A recent survey of over 3,000 veterinarians conducted by two leading veterinary schools reported Cosequinâ use in over 28,000 cases. Cosequinâ showed "good" or "excellent" results in up to 89% of the cases with no serious side effects reported. Since 1993 over 17,000 veterinary clinics have used Cosequinâ successfully on millions of pets without any serious side effects attributable to Cosequinâ ."

In the May 1998 medical section of the periodical, DogWatch (published monthly by Torstar Publications) is an article entitled Cosequinâ : Breakthrough or Hype? The short, half page essay ponders the benefits of this product, known in the trade as a "nutraceutical". A nutraceutical is a product that is neither a drug nor a food, yet has the characteristics of both.

According to this article, veterinarians today have a choice in treating dogs who suffer from stiffness and pain associated with osteoarthritis. In the past the course of treatment would entail injecting hyaluronic acid in affected areas to slow down the breakdown of cartilage and help it rebuild. For the pain and swelling of those areas vets. were using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or more commonly known as NSAIDs. Great for pain, however at high doses NSAIDs also causes further erosion of cartilage and can cause gastric problems. While today, vets. can use Cosequinâ , which seems to provide the same beneficial properties of NSAIDs and the injectable treatment, however without the side effects.

The article explains the function of the product in relationship to the need. Articular cartilage is surrounded by synovial fluid, which in a normal situation will afford a very smooth interaction in joints and their proper movement. With dogs suffering from osteoarthritis, the cartilage material has broken down, causing the bones to come in contact with each other, rubbing against each other and causing pain and inflammation.

Cartilage is a complex structure that is made up of special soft tissue cells that are surrounded by a matrix that they manufacture, known as a collagen/proteoglycans mix.

The collagen in this mix gives the unit strength and the proteoglycans give the matrix the resilience.

Cosequinâ , according to the article, helps to replenish the building blocks of collagen and proteoglycans and at the same time slows down and inhibits the further break down of the cartilage area.

Cost analysis was upwards of 75 cents a day for a large dog.

What's in Cosequinâ that works so well, that has so many veterinary schools; animal clinics and health care professional so excited about the possible positives afforded by it.

Two rather intimidating sounding ingredients, Glucosamine Sulfate and Chondroitin Sulfates.

• Glucosamine (pronounced GLU-cose-mine) stimulates the manufacture of collagen. Remembering from above that collagen gives cartilage strength; it also helps to hold joints together. Collagen is also the main component of the shock-absorbing cushion articular cartilage. Articular cartilage can be seen as the white smooth surface covering the ends of body joints in toes, pasterns, hocks, knees, hips and shoulders.

• Chondroitin (pronounced Con-droy-tin) Sulfate - acts like a magnet to attract the synovial fluid into the proteoglycans molecules. This has the dual function of sweeping nutrients into the cartilage area and also providing greater material in that area that act as shock absorbers for the joints.

According to the label on the bottle, the two main ingredients of Cosequinâ are Glucosamine 250mg and the Chondroitin Sulfate at 200mg.

The claim on the bottle says, "The synergistic effect of each ingredient performing its primary function concurrently is what makes Cosequinâ unique and the only true broad-spectrum GAG enhancers."

According to the label instructions, Cosequinâ is sold directly to veterinarians by Nutramax Laboratories. It is  not sold through distributors. This ensures that the capsules are available only through veterinarians.

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