Buprenorphine?

[silverfish]

Jack is suffering badly with his arthritis right now, especially since, to treat his episcleritis, he cannnot have Metacam. He's been on Pred tabs and eye drops, but his arthritis is worse, and the other day he stepped in a hole (some *&$*&&* idiot stole a street sign and it was dark) and pulled something or stirred things up.

 

So, he's been panting and restless. I took him to the vet this evening and he was given a shot of pred in addition to his tablets and a shot of Vetergesic (buprenorphine) and he hasn't settled at all since we got home. He's panting non-stop. I don't know if it's the stress/handling which has made him so much more uncomfortable, or if it's some kind of weird side effect of the Vetergesic - or even the larger dose of pred. Anyone have any insight? None of mine have had morphine based painkillers before.

[RobinM]

I take buprenorphine as suboxone in a 2 mg sublingual pill. I know nothing of it for dogs. I use it for withdrawl.

 

I have been on it for years.

[tbhounds]

Buprenorphine (or Buprenex) can have that reaction. I found that it can really knock these sighthounds on their butts. My boy recently hurt his neck and for other reasons he can not have steriods. Tramadol wasn't helping so we tried Buprenex--well, I think it did help the pain but wow, he had the narcotic blues.

He did seem funked out and instead of lasting 4-6 hours it lasted a solid 12 hours. Would I use it again-yes but, in a much smaller dosage. BTW, the dosage my dog received was 0.25ml/10#.

 

Oh, I wanted to add that while cats and humans can take it sublingually dogs must get it via an injection.

Edited May 9, 2008 by tbhounds

[silverfish]

Thanks, Tracy - I wondered if it was that because he obviously wanted to lie down but wouldn't. His back end kept sinking till it was nearly on the carpet, then he'd drag himself up and stagger on. Poor little guy. The vet said the injection would last a couple of days, so I don't know if maybe this is a longer acting variety, but he seems more settled this morning.

 

Hopefully the 'Help! What's happening?' stage has worn off and he's just getting the pain relief part now!

 

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

One of mine, Morgan, can't take opiate pain killers. They cause him to pace and pant. He gets Neurotin if he needs a pain killer.

[Burpdog]

How is he?

[Guest paulamariez]

Aw, poor little Jack. It sounds like he's suffering so much. I will keep your precious Jack in my thoughts and prayers for a quick healing. Tiger, Bueller and Domino are sending Jack some healing doggie kisses.

[silverfish]

Thanks, everyone.

 

Jack is a bit better. He recovered quite quickly from that major stress/pain/disorientation/whatever episode ... the next day he was a lot better, but he's been panting all week. It was confusing because it was unseasonably hot here, and he's old and he has a thick coat. He's also off Metacam while he's on pred, so his arthritis was playing up more. Pred can also cause gastritis and he's already on Zitac for that, so that was another possible factor, AND he put his foot in that hole and we didn't know how much damage he'd done.

 

Well, I spoke to the opthalmologist today who put him on the pred tabs. His eye isn't sufficiently improved to make it worth continuing to take them, so she's decided to wean him off those. She did say that excessive panting can be a side effect of pred, so that's another reason to ditch them. We'll get him off those, increase his eye drops again, and wait until he's 'clean' before we start the Metacam again. At that point we can make a decision on what is best for his overall health in terms of pain meds and anti-inflammatory meds.

 

It's always a bit of a balancing act with the old guys, but I don't like to see him so stressed. He's actually having a hard time getting comfortable on his beds right now. Sadly he is NOT a candidate for acupuncture because he's such a spook. We've discussed it, but decided it's not going to work for him.

 

So, a question for you all. which maybe I'll also put in a separate topic. She recommended trying Doggles. Does anyone know what size a greyound needs?