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I have a 6 year old furry dog son with WD and since he is a dog...insurance won't cover Syprine so I have been paying out of pocket. He had a life threatening lung reaction to Cupramine and is doing well on the Syprine. At 4 pills a day, 4.50 a pill I am falling into serious financial debt to keep him alive. Does anyone have any leads on where to find Syprine cheaper????
If you seriously have a dog with wd (I'd love to know how it was discovered) you probably could just give the dog zinc gluconate or picolinate 50-75 mg 2-3 times a day--if you can manage to get the dog to swallow the tablets or capsules without food as zinc and all wd meds must be taken on an empty stomach to be absorbed properly.
Unfortunately, the zinc may upset his stomach and then he'll likely throw up and you might have no choice but to give a little bit of food with the zinc but it won't be as effective in binding the copper.
Dogs, just as humans, may have the disease if both mother and father carry the recessive gene for wilson's.
We found out when we took him in to the vet for a full blood panel. His liver values were horrible and my vet...who is very heads up said lets test for Wilson's. They sent the slide to a very expensive lab in Colorado that specializes in this and sure enough...it came up positive. He also had a liver biopsy. Since we got him at the humane society when he was just 9 weeks...we don't know his history but would love to know if his brother or sister had it. I was told by my vet that Zinc Acetate will only be affective if all the copper has been chelated as it is not a chelator in and of itself but rather keeps anymore copper from penetrating the liver. It might be very tough to get him to drink the amount of water needed to help the zinc get through the system. He does have a bit of a delicate system. My vet has suggested I go back to the cupramine and hope that the lung episode was a horrible coincidence as Jake has a very comprimised immune system. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Just try over the counter zinc--it's just as effective as zinc acetate--no need to spend big bucks for prescription zinc; zinc is zinc. I, myself, used to take otc zinc gluconate for my wd.
The zinc will help to get rid of the zinc--it will be a slow process but it WILL gradually decopper him.
Esther
I am glad you told me that as I have been looking everywhere for ZA. I have an appt with a holistic vet on wed so I will run it all by her. He has been on the syprine for about 8 months so I think most of what needed to come out...hopefully came out. My vet says it is a much slower process in dogs and there really haven't been good studies done in dogs though I don't know why as the Westie breed is genetically suceptible to WD
Well, let me know how he does with the zinc gluconate or picolinate (also otc). Other supplements that will help detoxify his liver are turmeric and milk thistle. I get mine from swansonvitamins.com--their prices are excellent and they also sell inexpensive zinc gluconate and zinc picolinate.
My suggestion is to try the zinc picolinate as supposedly it is better assimilated but the zinc gluconate will work as well. Just hope your dog will be able to tolerate it on an empty stomach and not throw it up. Since it's a not a large dog I would probably give him only 25 mg dose (rather than the 50-75 mg I had earlier recommended) 2 to 3x a day one hour before eating or 2 hours after a meal.
Unfortunately, most dog foods have copper added among other minerals and vitamins but it shouldn't be an issue as long as he's on the zinc.
Best of luck!
Esther
P.S.
I love that you are such a devoted pet parent!
have you tried contacting the drug company that makes syprine?
Hi -
Just wondering how your dog is doing on the zinc. Are you able to give it to him on an empty stomach? Hope he's not throwing it up.
Esther
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