Vet Advice On Rimadyl....or Experiences?

[Guest alannamac]

Bandit was recently put on 75mg 2X daily dose of Rimadyl.....which is apparently some sort of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. He had a hip flexor injury from charging up the stairs pell-mell, and this med seems to have helped a great deal.

The vet suggested that I keep Bandit on it as he's older (9) and shows some signs of arthritis. Bandit does seem peppier than he has in years...so this might be a good idea.

I was doing some internet searches on this drug before deciding on a long-term plan for Bandit, and it seems there's a lot of questions regarding its safety particularly in labradors.

Are there any vets out there with advice....or people with positive or negative experiences with this drug in their grey?

Many Thanks.

 

[Guest CindiLuvsGreys]

When my 9 year old Greyhound Jesse hurt his foot he was taking it 2x day with no problems. He did look a bit drugged about 30 minutes after taking it but that wore off and he was not limping as much so it definitely was helping. I keep it on hand for days his Arthritis is bad. So far no problems.

[Batmom]

If he had a specific injury rather than arthritis, I wouldn't continue it indefinitely -- shouldn't be a need for it once the injury has healed.

 

If you are going to use it long-term, you want to do bloodwork periodically, to make sure there are no ill effects on kidneys, liver, etc. You also want to always give with food and/or add pepcid to dog's regimen.

[Guest alannamac]

Bandit does have what the vet described as "trauma induced" arthritis symptoms (he presumed it was from racing...Bandit didn't retire until he was 4 1/2), but I hadn't realized how much he had slowed down and gotten "gimpy", until he was on these meds for the hip injury (which was very very painful for him). He now does very little of the creaky old man behaviour I had noticed of late.....which is why I was considering the long term treatment.....however, any drugs do make me leery.

Batmom, your recommendation for Pepcid I assume is for the stomach upset caused by the Rimadyl. Do you know what type of dose I should give if I choose this long term? (Bandit's 74 lbs.)

Thanks again.

[feemandvm]

I would have no problems using it longterm if it was needed. As Batmom said, bloodwork will be necessary to continue using it and rechecking it periodically is important!

 

Consider some other things as well like a glucosamine supplement, Adequan injections, Duralactin which are all safer (although less potent) longterm options.

 

 

[ShantisMom]

My girl is on NSAIDs for arthritis and she is 3. She is on Previcox (firacoxib). It is a little "nicer" than Rimadyl. But, it is still a NSAID. I have her liver and kidney functions tested every 6 months. I also give her Milk Thistle to help her liver. I give it to her with dinner a couple times a week. Someone recommended that you give it a couple days, then a couple off. So I do.

 

Have you asked your vet what other alternatives you have? Kona, when she was 13 got put on it. It did nothing for her and I hated the risk. She got put on Deramxx and did well. Again, still a NSAID.

 

Have you tried a good glucosamine supplement? I had a lot of luck with Synovi G3. I have tried TONS and this one did the best with my girls. Omaha Vaccine has it much cheaper than any pet store or vet. My neighbors lab who is 2 has hip problems. She put him on the Synovi and he is a whole new dog!

 

Good luck!

[RobinM]

The vets by us who do all the veting for both Long Island based greyhound rescue prefer deramaxx over rimadyl.

[Batmom]

For pepcid, I give 10mg (one regular strength) twice a day, about 30-40 minutes before a meal. Then I give my meds (antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, what have you) right after the meal. Always assuming I don't have meds that have to be taken NOT with food ..... LOL

 

My pups have never had trouble with Rimadyl or Deramaxx -- I just give those at mealtime, or with a slice of bread if between meals. BUT I have dogs with cast-iron stomachs, and we've never had to use those meds long term.

[Guest longdogs]

As with any NSAID you need to be alert for side-effects which can be serious in individual dogs. Most likely there will be none. I personally would not bother with pepcid as I can't see how it would help.

[BrGreyhndz]

We have used Metacam with Chloe for the past 2 years- she's going to be 13 in April and had a nerve embolism when she was 5 that resulted in muscle loss and bone rubbing skin as she aged and lost muscle tone. It keeps her moving well. We blood test every 6 months and use an herbal supplement to help her liver so far so good. It certainly gives her a good quality of life. I like the metacam because its liquid and you can adjust the dose down to what works for yours dog. She takes a 45lb does and currently weights 55lbs.

 

For arthritis I would tend to go through the products aimed at fixing the problem like glucosamine, chondrotin, msm etc. adequan is pretty amazing when it works. We use it with a friend's older horse and it has really improved her comfort.

[Burpdog]

For arthritis I would go with supplements, acupuncture and chiropractic which will help correct, not just mask pain. There is a study (I'd have to look again) which shows rimadyl actually is not good long term for arthritis.

 

If you do use an NSAID, make sure you get the appropriate blood work and become familar with the side effects.

 

Since I lost my first grey to a "side effect" of rimadyl, I refuse to use any NSAID and have managed 20 seniors since without them.

[Guest alannamac]

Ok, judging by responses so far, I think I'll keep a bottle of rimadyl on hand, but use it only sparingly, when Bandit seems to be having a rough day (or night), rather than an everyday thing. Having to check liver enzyme levels every so often indicates to me that this is pretty nasty stuff, so I'd rather not use it on Bandit on a regular basis. Thank you all for your opinions! I will also check in to your other recommendations for glucosamine and herbal supplements and see if they help.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

I only use those meds as an alternative to euthanasia, and it has brought us time. Our late chihuahua was getting very arthritic at 16. We put her on Rimdayl, and she did better for awhile, and lived to be 17.

Edited December 25, 2007 by EmilyAnne

[NevadasMom]

My 15+ year old Nevada takes it 2x daily for her back pain. It seems to be working quite well. Unfortunately, with a dog this old we're not talking about really long term. I just watch for any side effects.

[Batmom]

Ok, judging by responses so far, I think I'll keep a bottle of rimadyl on hand, but use it only sparingly, when Bandit seems to be having a rough day (or night), rather than an everyday thing. Having to check liver enzyme levels every so often indicates to me that this is pretty nasty stuff, so I'd rather not use it on Bandit on a regular basis.

 

If he does have arthritis that bothers him frequently, it's certainly worth a trial to see how he does. We had a non-grey who took butazolidin -- an older, nastier NSAID -- for YEARS with no problems at all.

[Hubcitypam]

Rimadyl never really has done much for us. Deramaxx worked on my boy with an iffy tummy but was a hit in the pocketbook. If you know someone that can go to Mexico the human version of Metacam is .05 a pill and your vet can help you figure dosing.

 

Just a side note. My sister has Hep C and is on the tranplant list at Baylor. The ONLY pain pill she is allowed to have is tramadol. At least in humans it is much gentler on the liver and kidneys.

[Guest sirsmom]

we had a large breed dog with ruptured cruciates at 3 years old and after the surgery he was on rimadyl for 6 years and did very well.

[greytlucy]

I've used Rimadyl with both dogs for short term pain relief with no issues. I've also used Metacam and generally prefer to use that first as my vet tells me it's a bit easier on the dogs.

 

I have an almost 12 year old with arthritis issues that were getting pretty bad...I started her on Adequan in the early fall to see if it would do anything before we went to daily pain meds. I've been really happy with results we're seeing in her so far and I haven't had to give her any regular pain meds since we've started it( I did give her some metacam when she slipped and fell on our tile a few weeks ago to make sure she wasn't sore afterwards but that was just a one day thing and I haven't done any regular dosing of any pain meds with her). I'm goign to start her on accupuncture in the new year as well now that the Adequan seems to have helped her.

 

I'm sure eventually we'll have to use the pain meds and when that time comes we will to keep her comfortable as long as we can but I definitely wanted to try some other options first to see if we could avoid taxing her system before we needed to....