Time For Pain Meds?

[XTRAWLD]

So I think tomorrow I'll be making a surprise visit to the vet with Kasey to try to manage some of his pain. Whether it's from joints or corns, he told me tonight rather clearly he's had enough. He's incredibly stoic when it comes to pain, so the fact that he showed me he couldn't stand and was limping too much means, it's time. First time ever he's held a paw in the air, and then the other, and then limped to the door to go pee. It came completely out of nowhere, he was sleeping for a few hours prior to this. Completely freaked me out! We've been battling corns for about 2 years (one on each front paw), but the are so solidly within his paw pad, I cannot even break them down to try to remove them. The best I can get is to file them down. This, coupled with old age and signs of arthritis during his checkup in May, I think it's the start of regular pain meds now.

 

So, what should I expect at my visit? What should I ask for? He's 11, will be 12 in Feb. He's on prednisone, a very light dosage (10 mg a week) to control allergies for many years. What works/doesn't work with this? What is a low dose med for arthritis that isn't very expensive? Can I perhaps consider a regular anti-inflammatory? Hoping to be armed with some info before I walk in the door tomorrow. Thanks all!

[iluvgreys]

You'll have to be careful with new meds, since he's already on Pred. I think it's NSAIDs that need to be avoided, but Tramadol would probably be okay. Follow your vet's advice. Hope your boy feels better soon!

[krissy]

All anti-inflammatories are out. Doesn't leave you with much. Just Tramadol and Gabapentin realistically. You could take him off the pred and put him on cyclosporine for the allergies instead, which would open up your options for an anti-inflammatory.

[dante2zoe]

I have never found a pain medication to help with corn pain. Does he wear boots? Therapaws helped Brady, along with regular dremeling down of the corn. I would actually use the use of the dremel head and dremel a divot into the corn, too.

 

I am not sure about what can be taken, but Robaxin with Gabapentin was helpful for us. It is a muscle relaxer and Maverick tenses up when he has a shoulder flare-up, so the Robaxin help relax the muscle, which helps reduce discomfort. Both Robaxin and Gabapentin are generics and can be purchased at any human pharmacy. Shop around. I get mine at Costco.

 

Scritches to your sweet boy.

[GreyPoopon]

We put Betsy on Vanectyl-P (steroid with antihistamine properties) one year for allergies, and left her on it because it helped her lameness as well. Oddly enough, it made her pee less than pred _and_ worked better for her lameness. I don't know how idiosyncratic those reactions were. She could no longer tolerate Metacam (NSAID), so it was a relief to find something that helped.

 

When her lameness got worse, we added Methocarbamol (Robaxin) and Tramadol. We also later increased both the Vanectyl-P and the Tramadol.

[XTRAWLD]

So he's acting perfectly normal this morning. If it's corns - that's one thing, and that's really for me to deal with and not the vet IMO. (Last night I soaked his paws in epsom salts, treated them for corns, and grinded his nails - just to rule out anything to cause limping). If it's joints well that's the pain med thing. He was licking his knee last night. He's done it before, but I dunno if that's a sign. There is zero heat in his front leg joints. Now I dunno what to do. My weekends really are the only time I have free to deal with this sort of thing, and I'm on the fence - what if this happens during the week?

 

Regarding the allergy meds - we've tried Vanectyl-P, and it wasn't something that worked for Kasey - I think it was also big time expensive if I remember correctly.

 

Also Robaxin - I cannot find the basic version for the life of me anywhere - I wanted to buy some for Ryder but can't find it at the pharmacy.

[Guest normaandburrell]

My old boy Brassy had some sort of chronic paw problem and eventually developed corns. He would suddenly come up completely lame on that foot. I agree that a dremel and a therapaw worked extremely well. I even went so far as to get a dental root extractor and core the corn, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you have some experience. Plus I see that you are not sure of the diagnosis. If you trust your vet, take your dog in and get a good exam done to determine cause, so you know better how to treat. I worked full time, and so I know having to suddenly take time off, cause now the dog is worse, is not always possible.

[Robin1017]

Robaxin is prescription...it's the brand name for methocarbamol. A muscle relaxant. But i get it at walgreens because it is a human drug too. With the Walgreens prescription plan, it's really cheap.

[GeorgeofNE]

With a greyhound, I would consider it somewhat risky to just assume that THIS pain is from corns or arthritis. Yes, I believe you he has both, however, we all know all too well there are other possibilities, and it's easy to overlook when there are corns, etc. If this is NEW behavior, but the corns are not changed, I'd ask for x-rays myself.

[NeylasMom]

I think you need to get to the source of the pain before you start putting him on medications, especially considering that he's already on a steroid. Getting an x-ray of the leg he's limping on is a good start. If you can also catch him when he's limping consistently, you could try nerve blocks on the corn toes to see if the limping goes away. Or at least put therapaws on him and see if the limping improves.

[XTRAWLD]

Re: x-rays - do they have to heavily sedate him for this? I've only had x-rays taken when they have been under for a dental. Kasey didn't really recover well from the last one, and I was advised not to go through that again, so I'm not putting him under again from risk of something dreadful happening.

[NeylasMom]

No, you shouldn't need sedation for a leg x-ray. I would be finding a different vet to do them if mine insisted he needed to. You might also consider an ortho consult. Staff is better at getting x-rays without sedation and would be better equipped to figure out what's going on.

[turbotaina]

I think you need to get to the source of the pain before you start putting him on medications, especially considering that he's already on a steroid. Getting an x-ray of the leg he's limping on is a good start. If you can also catch him when he's limping consistently, you could try nerve blocks on the corn toes to see if the limping goes away. Or at least put therapaws on him and see if the limping improves.

 

This is exactly what I would do.

 

For Turbo, we used Therapaws and tramadol and that worked most of the time for his corn pain.

Edited October 9, 2014 by turbotaina