Cystease side effects?

[TraceyE]

Hi everyone, I have seen on this forum that some of you use Cystease for your guineas with bladder issues. I have an elderly guinea (almost 7) who has ongoing issues with bladder sludge & stones, she has passed 3 stones in the past, and despite a low calcium diet still suffers with sludge. She has also got arthritis, currently dealt with by metacam only, so the Cystease could be perfect for her with the glucosamine, however after having had a google it seems that glucosamine can potentially cause gas, my girly struggles with this as well (managed with infacol) so would't want to do anything that might aggravate it. Does anyone have any experience with Cystease causing gas? I have also come to realise that there is a similar product called Cystaid, containing the same amount of glucosamine but has slightly different ingredients, one of them (L-Tryptophan) is also listed as having the potential to cause gas, whereas the ingredients in Cystaid don't seem to list this side effect. Has anyone tried Cystaid? I assume this would also be suitable for guineas? I do have a good guinea savvy vet so will run this past her to but was hoping for some first hand experiences.
Ingredients in both products-
Cystease- glucosamine, L-Tryptophan, hyaluronic acid
Cystaid- glucosamine, L-Theanine,quercetin.
Many thanks in advance for any advice.
Tracey.

 

[DMS260820]

Hi, sorry i cant help much with the cystease advice, but i know infacol can make bloat worse

 

[alpacasqueak]

My piggy's been on Cystease for 2+ years and I've never noticed any negative side effects with him.
Haven't tried Cystaid so can't help with that, sorry.

 

[TraceyE]

Thank you for sharing your experience alpacasqueak. Glad to hear you haven't had any issues.
Thank you skypipdotberni regarding your comment on infacol. I have not heard this before. I thought it was designed to help with gassy issues/bloating, my vet advised using it (although i don't find it hugely effective i have to say). Do you have personal experience of it making it worse, or is there an article i might be able to read up on it? Have you had any luck with any other product for gas?
Thanks again for your input.

 

[Adelle]

My girl crunchie is nearly 8, she too suffers with bladder sludge and bladder inflammation, as well as arthritis. She has been on cystease/cystaid for around 4 years for this, and has never caused her to be gassy despite being extremely bloat prone. Any changes in meds, veg, hay, if she has an anaesthetic.. She bloats. She was on cystease, 1 capsule twice a day when the flares first started with the look of reducing to ome capsule a day once settled. Reducing eventually caused her to flare again so she stayed on 1 capsule twice a day. I changed to cystaid, as despite being £60 for the bottle, it is 4x the strength therefore has 1/4 capsule twice a day. It is more expensive initially but is more cost effective in the long run. Infacol can make the gas collect in one big bubble which can make matters worse, although I have never used it or experienced this myself. I only use gripe water if the usual gut stimulants for bloat aren't working. Hope this helps

 

[DMS260820]

Thank you for sharing your experience alpacasqueak. Glad to hear you haven't had any issues.
Thank you skypipdotberni regarding your comment on infacol. I have not heard this before. I thought it was designed to help with gassy issues/bloating, my vet advised using it (although i don't find it hugely effective i have to say). Do you have personal experience of it making it worse, or is there an article i might be able to read up on it? Have you had any luck with any other product for gas?
Thanks again for your input.

I have used infacol and it has been ok, but i have been told on this forum that it can cause worse bloat. I use gripe water but i dont know if thatd any help either.

@Wiebke

 

[piggieminder]

I've had 3 boars on cystease (recommended by vet), not noticed any side effects.

 

[TraceyE]

Thank you to everyone for all your help with this. Adelle, could you please tell me if this is the bottle of Cystaid you are referring to?- the one that's labelled for dogs? Cystaid Canine - Dog Urinary Care
It appears that the dog one has only the Glucosamine in it and none of the other ingredients that are in the feline cystaid that people on the forum have raised concerns about before, so perhaps the dog one is a better option!? I would just need to consider what dose to start at, as if i have done my sums correctly going on weight and the recommended dose listed on the product, i think it would seem that a 1kg pig would need 1/10th of a 500mg capsule a day, or another words 50mg of glucosamine a day. They then recommend cutting down to giving only every other day after 4 weeks. I think if i have worked this out properly it sounds as though you, and i think others i have come across in previous posts are finding you are needing to dose much higher than this, so a bit of head scratching as to what dose to start at might be needed as not sure if it's possible to over do it or if this is not an issue with this product!?
Did you notice any difference in terms of the arthritis/mobility in Crunchie once taking this? I am hoping this will be helpful in my girl Barley. Fingers crossed she does as well as yours & is still going strong at 8, her and her friend Vanilla are 7 this month

 

[Adelle]

Thank you to everyone for all your help with this. Adelle, could you please tell me if this is the bottle of Cystaid you are referring to?- the one that's labelled for dogs? Cystaid Canine - Dog Urinary Care
It appears that the dog one has only the Glucosamine in it and none of the other ingredients that are in the feline cystaid that people on the forum have raised concerns about before, so perhaps the dog one is a better option!? I would just need to consider what dose to start at, as if i have done my sums correctly going on weight and the recommended dose listed on the product, i think it would seem that a 1kg pig would need 1/10th of a 500mg capsule a day, or another words 50mg of glucosamine a day. They then recommend cutting down to giving only every other day after 4 weeks. I think if i have worked this out properly it sounds as though you, and i think others i have come across in previous posts are finding you are needing to dose much higher than this, so a bit of head scratching as to what dose to start at might be needed as not sure if it's possible to over do it or if this is not an issue with this product!?
Did you notice any difference in terms of the arthritis/mobility in Crunchie once taking this? I am hoping this will be helpful in my girl Barley. Fingers crossed she does as well as yours & is still going strong at 8, her and her friend Vanilla are 7 this month

Yes that's the one. The equivalent glucosamine wise to 1 capsule of cystease twice a day is 1/4 capsule of cystaid twice a day. The original cystease dose was given by my vet and despite trying to reduce to one capsule a day, it wasn't enough for her. Obviously every pig is different and I would go on the dose your vet recommends.
Her arthritis didn't start until around 7, and as she was on the cystease/cystaid from 4 years old I really couldn't say how much it's helped on that front. However once her arthritis starting showing and she had xrays, one particular knee was badly affected with the joint degenerating. Since she's been on her laser therapy and supplements, there's been no further degeneration to her joints which is great. She is also on Metacam which helps bladder and arthritis- she's been on this for 4 years and I am under no illusion that she could manage without it!