Syl Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hi everyone am new to this site and must say I think it is brilliant. My beautiful best boy is a GSD in his senior ears and sadly has hip and joint problems now. Cartophen used work very well for the last couple of years but now is not quite as effective and my vet suggested stopping the Catrophen going on Rimadyl which cost $125 for a hundred and to give 2 a day. I was recommended to another another vet for opinion by someone at the GSD club who put him back on Cartrophen plus 3 Rimadyl a day and needing another lot of Rimadyl I was charged $198.50 for a hundred which quite took my breath away. How is that possible for just anti inflammatory tablets in this case a month's supply to be that much. Added to that he gets fish oil and Joint guard. Does anyone know if one can buy Rimadyl anywhere other than at the vets. Thanks Syl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Perhaps ask your vet is they could get you a generic? There are a couple of generic options, regular Carprofen without flavouring and also one that is flavoured. I remember when I was using the unflavoured generic, it was close to half the cost of Rimadyl. That was a few years ago though so things might have changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karly101 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 NSAIDs are all quite expensive ... the generics are definitely an option. Tramadol is another option that I've seen a few people use for arthritic dogs (usually those with kidney issues) with good results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 But be aware of Tramadol side effects, especially the one about how they can turn into berserker dog. There are a number of NSAIDS similar to Rimadyl. I don't know that any are cheaper or better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Lab Love Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Actually - while on the subject my girl was prescribed them a few weeeks ago for a soft muscle tissue injury... I noticed a change in her behaviour after giving her one with her meal when we got her home.... very lethargic etc.. Did a bit of past thread searching on here and was alarmed at the number of people who wouldn't use it... esp on Labs / GSD's ?? Is this still the case as I immediately stopped giving her any more and she has healed nicely without it.... This has been on my mind a bit in case of needing it again in the future..... May I ask what is the current general concensus on usage ? Is there an alternative ? sorry if I am hijacking) but as the OP has a GSD.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchnauzerMax Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 All anti-imflammatories have side-effects. In a very small minority of dogs these side-effects can be immediately serious and have fatal consequences. In the majority of dogs the side-effects are neglible BUT the longer the drug is taken and / or the older the dog the more chance of problems. Rimadyl is a COX-2 inhibitor - think Celebrex or Vioxx for dogs. Those drugs caused such a furor because of the long-term side-effects (heart attack and death). I have had 2 dogs develop pancreatitis while on long-term anti-inflammatories (both dogs with Previcox and the second dog with Rimadyl as well). Tramadol in some dogs causes disorientation and what Sheridan describes as beserker dog. Its a balance between effective pain relief and minimising the side-effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Lab Love Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 All anti-imflammatories have side-effects. In a very small minority of dogs these side-effects can be immediately serious and have fatal consequences. In the majority of dogs the side-effects are neglible BUT the longer the drug is taken and / or the older the dog the more chance of problems. Rimadyl is a COX-2 inhibitor - think Celebrex or Vioxx for dogs. Those drugs caused such a furor because of the long-term side-effects (heart attack and death). I have had 2 dogs develop pancreatitis while on long-term anti-inflammatories (both dogs with Previcox and the second dog with Rimadyl as well). Tramadol in some dogs causes disorientation and what Sheridan describes as beserker dog. Its a balance between effective pain relief and minimising the side-effects. Many thanks SchnauzerMax - I appreciate you taking the time to reply.... I guess you would have to closely monitor when administrating and take it as a case by case scenario...and be aware of the risks of prolonged usage... It just worried me that alot of the past posts seemed to involve Labs so I was probably being over cautious... as usual :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedaler Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 (edited) Personally I would not use Rimadyl. A dog I bred died after a brief time on it. He had kidney function tests done prior to being administered the drug and all was fine. After one week he went into renal failure and died. The cause Rimadyl! He was not an old dog - almost 6 and had been fit and healthey all his life. Edited July 26, 2012 by Airedaler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I cannot use it on my Whippet as she starts vomiting and going very quiet and off colour. Rimadyl is quite expensive, probably a good idea to ask about the generic brands. At the moment my girl is on Metacam as she has had an orthopaedic surgery and she has no issues with that do far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherds Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I have dealt with severe arthritic issues in my 12 year old shepherd for a few years now. One of the easiest and really helpful things to do is to remove all wheat from their diets. Wheat is a huge inflammatory agent and it was amazing the change in my boy when I changed his food. Also look towards herbals and I recommend these people http://www.herbal-treatments.com.au/herbal_treatments_for_dogs.html Depending on the severity of your dogs issues you may be able to help him and cut back on vet pain relief. When I first made the above changes I was able to cut out all vet medication. Sadly time continues to march on and it has again become necessary to provide additional pain relief via vet medication and after trialling a few different medications (after appropriate wash out periods) have settled for Onsior which is working very well for him. Others I tried were at the maximum dose rates and not nearly as effective. Onsior is not cheap either but more cost effective than being on maximum dose of other meds tried. If giving fish oil in substantial doses you also need to look at supplementing vitamin E as well. I wish you and your boy the very best....our oldies are special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 where are you in Vic Syl? Rimadyl made my rottweiler very sick I used Norocarp which seemed to help but not very well. Contact Kim Lim ASAP and get an appointment with her http://www.geelongcreatures.com.au/ she is a qualified veterinarian and helped get my young rottie off his NSAIDs totally and live 4 times as long as he was given by others. Your dog is getting way too much NSAIDs, it means he needs alternative ideas not just being pumped full of meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Lab Love Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 From what I am now reading it seems that Rimadyl is not something that I would want to risk using in the future. As mentioned I have used it once on my female Lab and was not happy with the way she reacted to it and had the same concerns about a year ago for my boy with his patella issues. I have had two different vets give it to me for pain relief / anti inflam after consultations and I think next time I will specify that I would prefer to use an alternative ... Could I please ask the experienced owners here what I should be asking them for ? Thanks in advance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I have used Norocarp with a few dogs with no visible side effects, Tramadol was a disaster (saying that a working Mal in a lot of pain is always a disaster) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Lab Love Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I have used Norocarp with a few dogs with no visible side effects, Tramadol was a disaster (saying that a working Mal in a lot of pain is always a disaster) Thanks Nekhbet.. Will make a note of that for future use.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentchild Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) I've tried almost all the painkillers in existence.. with Rimadyl the generic ones are definitely cheaper. My girl has never had a reaction to Rimadyl (thank god) but it is also not my drug of choice, I would always choose something else over it. In terms of similiar NSAID pain relief, I use Meloxicam as my drug of choice, it comes in liquid form and I find it tends to last a bit longer than Rimadyl. It is also slightly cheaper. Metacam is another one that I would (and have) use, although bear in mind they are all more or less similiar in terms of risks and long-term side effects - Rimadyl just has a lot more cases brought to public attention in regards to deaths and all that. With arthritis have you considered getting Carprofen(carthrophen? lol I always get them mixed up) injections? Earlier on in her years my girl was also prescribed Rimadyl daily for the rest of her life for arthritis, but I did not like that and she also had some courses of the injections before. By keeping her lean and improving her diet I was able to cut out the Rimadyl entirely and she was happy and mobile with just Joint Guard and a good quality diet with just light exercise. Tramadol is more an opiate, it has no anti-inflammatory properties that Rimadyl, Meloxicam, Previcox etc have so in the long run may not be that beneficial - its main purpose is solely for pain relief. It may make your dog a little spacey... my dog will just sort of randomly stand up and stare into space like she's been smoking some weed if she is on Tramadol LOL, if you think about the effect an opiate drug has on a human, it is sort of similiar for a dog. Tramadol is stronger, in terms of side effects it is generally safer as well. Edited July 27, 2012 by silentchild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 tramadol turned my Malinois into some movie creature ... wide bug eyes, pacing and scuttling about ... I swear if you shone a torch onto her she would have hissed and flashed off in a blur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) The use of Carprofen needs to measured against the dog's actual arthritis both with what you see on xray and what level of pain is ascertained by the Vet. Also the types of behaviours you see at home that are related to chronic pain. No-one on an internet forum could or should tell you to stop a prescription treatment. If you are concerned about cost absolutely phone your Vet and ask to speak to them about it (you shouldn't have to go in for a consult for this, they have a responsibility to communicate with you on drugs they dispense). Regular liver and kidney function blood tests plus getting down to the lowest level of medication needed per day are the sorts of things you need to discuss. It's not appropriate for us to be making huge assumptions about any dog's level of pain over the interwebz. If you needed to discuss your chronic pain you would be seeing your GP and same goes in this instance. Apex are the company that make the flavoured and non-flavoured carprofen and for the big dogs we have found it's just as good. Schnauzers particularly mini are renown for pancreatitis, and in older Schnauzers 7+ that is vomiting with fever and bellly pain it's pancreatitis until we are proven otherwise by blood tests, just to give an idea of how common it is. :p Edited July 27, 2012 by Staff'n'Toller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 tramadol turned my Malinois into some movie creature ... wide bug eyes, pacing and scuttling about ... I swear if you shone a torch onto her she would have hissed and flashed off in a blur. Tramadol turned Grumpy into a berserker alien. He spent 14 hours in the car, tried to attack anything that moved, and has freaked out in the car ever since. It's supposed to last 12 hours; I had to take the week off work and he didn't return to normal for four days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syl Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 where are you in Vic Syl? Rimadyl made my rottweiler very sick I used Norocarp which seemed to help but not very well. Contact Kim Lim ASAP and get an appointment with her http://www.geelongcreatures.com.au/ she is a qualified veterinarian and helped get my young rottie off his NSAIDs totally and live 4 times as long as he was given by others. Your dog is getting way too much NSAIDs, it means he needs alternative ideas not just being pumped full of meds. Nekhbet thanks so much for your help as well as all the others too.. I am in East Malvern. Personally I have always tried to avoid meds if at all possible be it personally or my dogs I have even researched stem cell treatments which apparently are not yet exactly a proven therapy but costly in the extreme. I have dropped back the Rimadyl to only 1 per day, and then I will try 1 every second day---ween him off them Saci seems OK with Rimadyl but he does get yoghurt with it, but long term I would not consider it either and will check out the naturals also. What I have found that works so well with him is I give him an all over massage working all the muscles and joints and particularly down his spine, every night but on occasion if I missed I notice he is quite proppy next day I get a formulation of of Omega 3-6-9 and joint guard but for some reason at the moment he won't eat the food with it on. Fussy bugger tooooo used to all the good stuff- but certainly not spoilt not my boy????? For now he is a happy I want to play nearly all day boy which as you all would understand makes me so happy Thanks again for all your help Syl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) For now he is a happy I want to play nearly all day boy which as you all would understand makes me so happy Thanks again for all your help Syl Most likely because he has some constant pain relief. If he does have osteoarthritis then I'd urge you to speak with your Vet about a low-dose treatment plan rather than taking him off entirely. Some dogs go well without it over the Summer but definitely need the extra help during Winter. You wouldn't with-hold arthritis medication from a human member of your family, would you? Why do it to your dog?? For all the scare mongering about this drug on the net there are thousands of dogs benefiting from this treatment who have no problems and die of old age - not every dog develops liver or kidney problems and blood screens are the best way to make early treatment decisions. Edited July 28, 2012 by Staff'n'Toller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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