Rimadyl Vs Tramadol

[Guest Greensleeves]

Nelly has severe arthritis in her femur and pelvis from a break as a puppy (there's a pin in her femur). She's been on Rimadyl (twice a week) and Adequan for the last five years, and the leg hardly seemed to bother her. She'd limp a little if she'd played hard or had a really long walk (all day at the Renaissance Fair), but since she started the Rim/Adequan, she's seemed strong and pain-free.

 

Since her kidney diagnosis a month ago, she's been off the Rimadyl, and taking Tramadol twice a day instead. Three separate vets have told me it's a great medicine for bone pain. But she just isn't getting anywhere near the same relief she got from the Rimadyl, which *baffles* me. How did a drug she got twice a week give her more pain relief than a narcotic she's getting every day? I was at a conference all day today (normally I work at home), and when I came home, she wasn't even bearing any weight on her leg. She hasn't done that in six years.

 

Does anyone have any insight?

 

Thanks!

[patricia]

Our Angel Queenie had arthritis in her spine which really made it hard for her to walk. She also had renal failure. It got to the point where Tramadol did nothing for her pain. We had VERY frequent blood tests due to her renal failure and put her on the medication that worked for her. It came down to her "quality" of life. We did home fluids for months...and from the time of her diagnosis of renal failure until we lost her to this dreaded disease, we had 4 years all quality except for the last 3 months which weren't as good but she still was enjoying life. It's a hard call and I know how you feel.

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

We had no luck with tramadol for Vinnie, though it seems others have had great success with it.

 

We used metacam

 

I hope Nelly gets some relief.

[Guest longdogs]

Rimadyl is an anti-inflammatory as well as an analgesic and Tramadol (I believe) is purely an analgesic. Tramadol does give much better pain relief but arthritis is an inflammatory condition. I would go back to your vet and discuss the options. Nugget needed both anti-inflammatories (Rimadyl and later Metacam) and strong analgesics in combination to deal with her bone pain.

[CaliforniaGreys]

I have a girl with kidney disease and when it comes to needing a pain reliever, it's tough. Rimadyl, like Metacam, Previcox,Deramax etc is an anti-inflammatory and not safe long term.My girl who just had surgery on all her feet, was really hurting and was able to take Previcox but only for 6 days. She's also on Tramadol, every 6 hours. I can't remember if you have tried acupuncture or not but that helps as well. You may want to talk to your vet about increasing the Tramadol

[iluvgreys]

That's a tough one. A combination of NSAID + tramadol works well for pain, like osteosarcoma. It takes a pretty high dose of tramadol alone to work, and some hounds have weird side effects from it. What dosage did your vet recommend? Holding Miss Nelly in my prayers...

[Batmom]

Talk to your vet. The NSAIDs generally are NOT NOT NOT recommended for dogs with kidney disease, but they don't affect all dogs the same way. We had a dog with kidney disease who took butazolidine (an old, bad NSAID) every day for years with no worsening of kidney condition. (She died at a ripe old age for her breed, of something completely different.)

 

It could be, once her kidney condition is stable, your vet might consider trying the Rimadyl or another NSAID again.

 

If you're not expecting her kidney condition to become stable, then you may want to take some risks based on the quality of her life.

 

Hugs and scritchies to all of you.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Batmom

[tbhounds]

You may want to as your Dr about adding Gabapentin--works very well for bone pain.

[Guest MyCody]

Cody who is 12 and has protruding discs and LP is on Tramadol every 7 hours and Rimadyl one in the AM and a half in the PM, 100mg tabs. His vet said Tramadol does not work as well alone as it does with Rimadyl. I did not like him taking Rimadyl but so far he hasn't had any problems from it.

[Guest MonsterMomma]

Tramadol is a good drug for pain, but it sounds like the dose is too low. I've given doses as high as two 50mg tabs as frequently as every four hours. If you don't want to increase the frequency, perhaps your vet will let you increase the dose. Once you get a handle on the pain, you may be able to lower the dose again.