Pain Level

[DustysMom]

Maggie developed a lump on her shoulder. Hoping for arthritis but apparently not. X-rays on Saturday showed some bone holes, not a lot. Needle aspirate from fluid came back as spindle cell. Do I want to do a bone biopsy? Don't want to cause her more pain. Waiting to hear back from specialist. She is limping. Currently on Novox twice a day. It is definitely helping with pain. How do I rate her pain level? Appetite is fine. Yesterday she wanted to play. Assuming it's osteo, how do I know how much pain she is having?

 

Sorry for such a disjointed post. Just want to do what's best for my girl.

😩

[greysmom]

I'm usually against further bone biopsy as you need to take a good sized plug that further weakens the bone. Osteo typically presents as a "moth-eaten" appearance on xrays. If you're seeing holes through the bone, her risk of a catastrophic fracture is higher.

 

Just like with people, pain management is subjective, and you really just kind of have to watch and see how they react. The usual combination of drugs for osteo pain is an nsaid (whatever is tolerated best by your dog), a pain reliever (again, what is tolerated best, either tramadol to codeine usually), and Gabapentin (a human drug for seizures now being used to control nerve pain). Gabapentin is well tolerated by most and has a huge dosing range, so it is very useful for pain management.

 

If you want a second opinion you can have your vet send the xrays to Dr Couto. His email should be in the first post of the current Osteo Thread, along with many other useful links for info and advice.

 

{{{hugs}}}

Edited March 9, 2018 by greysmom