# Question about hyaluronic acid supplement



## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

The dogs have been on a liquid hyaluronic acid supplement for a while now, and I recently purchased a different type and have some questions.

The original one I was using was one made for dogs- it was a multi-sup, had MSM and glucosamine in it as well. I was more or less happy with it, but the cost was getting a little high so I finally took the advise of Ridley's breeder and purchased a horse HA supplement for the same price but much more concentrated.

But clearly I neglected to completely research the particular one I purchased (Corta-flx HA), as I'm now seeing sodium benzoate as a preservative for the product.

Now, I'm no expert on this, but I also give them a Vit C supplement (as Ester C), AND this product has as ascorbic acid in it.... and from what I remember, these two things can combine to create benzene, a known carcinogen.

What are the thoughts on this? I'm a little afraid to give this now, as I don't want to do anything to harm my dogs, but I also worry I might be overreacting.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I recall reading about that carcinagenic combo happening in some soda pop a while back. I wonder if feeding the Ester C in the AM and the Cortafix in the PM would solve it? Dunno--that's a question for a nutritionist or holistic vet.

I've recently been using this human-grade supplement which has the hyaluonic acid with collagen II and chondroitin:
Vitacost Hyaluronic Acid with BioCell Collagen II® -- 100 mg per serving- 240 Capsules - Vitacost

I'm not sure how the cost compares to what you were getting, but I want the Collagen II for my senior's arthritis. A few weeks ago, it was on sale at Vitacost for buy-one-get-one-half-off, which made it pretty reasonable. (It's not on sale now, but I can PM you a code for new customers to get a $10 credit--just let me know.)


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

This actually looks perfect for what I'm wanting, I will definitely be PMing you!


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

Are you seeing a good response with oral HA? I understand a lot of of it is excreted right out through urine and not used. 

My senior, Kayos, gets it injected into her hip and elbow. It is a life saver. She cannot take NSAIDs. We hold Tramodol for bad days. She has had one hip replaced but the other hip started giving her problems about 18 months ago. Elbow bothers her too.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Kathy,

For me, the HA was a "bonus" inclusion in the Collagen II (chicken sternum) that I wanted to use as a supplement. Others here have had very good results with Collagen II (even extracted at home in broth from chicken frames)--GatorBytes has a good explanation about that in some old threads. For me, the HA was a nice "extra" in the supplement, since it _might _help too (and it's unclear whether the known benefits of the Collagen II are really from the collagen, or actually are from the HA). I found this article especially interesting about it:
Oral Hyaluronic Acid: Anti-aging, Skin, Joints and Healing:

I can't say what is helping my senior the most, as we're adopting an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to his arthritis and quality of life. I can say, though, that he's far, far better off than he was before we started this approach, and we faded off the NSAIDs entirely. He's on a super-low maintenance dose of Gabipentin at night, which is much safer than the NSAIDs. When I say it's working, I mean this 11 year old asks us to jog a little bit most days on his walk, as we let him set the pace according to how he feels--before this, he mosied very, very slowly lagging behind us on the walks. He plays again too. Some days, he even puts his front paws up in my lap to give me kisses when I'm sitting on the couch, with all his weight on his hips at least for a few seconds, which he didn't do at all before we started all this. He's enjoying life a lot more, and that's what I want for his last years.

He is on Adequan injection therapy. Additionally, he gets a natural eggshell membrane supplement, collagen II/HA supplement, a high dose of fish oil, mixed-tocopherol vitamin E, Ester-C, B-complex, CoQ10, and organic/unrefined coconut oil (the last 3 are not for arthritis--other issues). We're about to add some acupuncture into the mix too. 

My vet's view is that it's everything together helping synergistically, and he always sees the biggest improvement with this sort of multi-pronged approach. It's fairly expensive, but for a treasured old friend who's given me so much for so many years, every extra "good" year we get is precious.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

I'll go ahead and say I'm not positive if the HA is doing much for mine, as I'm using it more for maintenance. Originally it was just for Ridley (recommended by breeder after his 1 year hip prelims, which weren't bad, but not great either). I figured since I was already going to be buying it for him, I might as well do it for Mulder and my other dog, who don't have any hip/joint problems so I can't really observe any improvement/difference there. 

I'm more or less doing it on good faith that if it CAN help its worth it.


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## Soundguy (Feb 20, 2013)

I've been in the horse business for 35 years and have had six GSDs over the same time period. I've used Acti-Flex on horses since it came on the market probably 20 years ago and have literally seen it work due to the HA. I have always kept my dogs on Acti-Flex K9 and highly recommend it. The dog product is about $10/quart more expensive because it says 'dog' on it and has a slightly different ratio of ingredients, but I currently have Cas on the horse product, adjusting the dose, to see how well he eats it. It's apple as opposed to beef flavor. If I remember right, it's about 7-8 times more concentrated so will go a lot further for the money. You can Google it and compare the labels. It's made by Cox Laboratories and I promise you that it produces results.


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