My dog is Limping - Can I give her pain meds?

[dragondawg]

Perhaps you should re-read the quote you just posted since Smith and Foster also suggest confirming anything one reads with their own vet.

"A lot of medicating your own dog is a combination of doing your own due dilligence along with common sense. Part of that due dilligence might be to contact your Vet.

In fact my assumption is that the original poster will confirm with their Vet anything they read if they have never tried it with their dog before.
The other major part is for the dog owner to educate themselves."

Then what's the problem? We both made the same assumption. I like Turquoise.

[mike001]

I'm against giving pets anything on the advice of a pet owner's advice. What may be good for one, could be fatal for another. Rimadyl is a very potent pain killer, but lots of dogs throw up bile and have to discontinue it. It is hard on the liver, as are most meds. I would take the dog in for x-rays, she might have a hairline fracture or another fixable problem...at least you would have peace of mind.

[applesmom]

Then what's the problem? We both made the same assumption. I like Turquoise.

I like turquoise too!

[Catlady711]

Several comments here...

1) Always call your vet before doing ANYTHING! A phone call can't possibly cost that much and they are far better trained to answer specific questions concerning your own dog that they have a history with and know any existing medical conditions about that would affect treatment.

2) It's possible what's wrong with the dog could be arthritis, but it could also be a torn ligament, a boney tumor, or even a fracture. NEVER assume you already know what's wrong with your pet and treat the animal based on your assumptions or what you read on the internet unless you have a degree in veterinary medicine.

3) Ibuprophin is DEADLY to pets!!!

4) Aspirin should ONLY be given on the advice of your vet. Aspirin can cause upset stomach, and cause certain known or unknown medical issues with your pet worse! If it turned out your pet does not have the ailment you assumed, then aspirin could seriously interfere with any medications your vet needs to use to help your pet! We just had a case like that yesterday, now the poor dog has to go a whole week without any kind of pain medication because the owner went ahead and self prescribed aspirin without knowing what was wrong with the dog had nothing to do with arthritis!

5) Rimydal is not the safest arthritis drug available. Our hospital stopped using it a few years ago, and now use Metacam, Previcox and a few others.

6) Most vets will require lab work before starting, or periodically during treatment with true arthritis drugs to make sure there is no organ damage going on.

[Jakesmom]

My 10 year old Golden has arthritis and disk disease, so I have been through the range of pain relief options for him. When he first started having problems, I put him on Synflex (google it, you'll find website, and can order. Its a liquid, I put on his food and he has no trouble chowing down). After about 10 days he was like a new dog. As things got worse, we added metacam (same class as rimadyl), then acupuncture.

Since your dog is just starting to have problems, I'd try the glucosamine. Synflex is an excellent preparation, is well absorbed, and tastes ok apparently. Give it a week or two, I'll bet you see improvement if arthritis is his problem.

Jake's mom

[Hero715]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I hope I didn't stir up too much trouble.

I talked to another friend who is also a vet and she also said NO NO NO to ibuprofen, naproxin and tylenol.

My dog isn't getting any worse and actually seems a little bit better. I've cut down on her walks and been giving her some good rub downs.

My friend suggested the glucosamine/chondroitin supplement...so I'll probably pick up some of that as well.

Take care everyone!

[dragondawg]

I am a Vet Tech and have been for over 7 years. I see this almost everyday, aspirin is fine to give, BUT you have to be careful, in that I mean, if she needs to have surgery or for whatever reason needs to be put on Prednisone(which is a steroid) you would have to wait for a wash out period before giving any NSAIDS(non-steriodal anti-inflammtories), and in some dogs it can cause GI upset..ie ulcers or just a yucky tummy. It would in the long run be more benifical for her to be on Rimadyl , or another kind like Deramaxx or Previcox, all NSAIDS. these would require her having bloodwork done on a regular basis to make sure there are no liver changes. SO there are things you need to consider and your best bet would be to have your vet do a through exam on her, bloodwork, maybe x-rays.

I just got done leaving my Clover Ann doggy off at the Vet. Seems that when puppies and barb wire encounter each other (old farm land/woods), the barb wire always wins. One of the things I told the Vet was no Rimadyl. Reports of irreversible liver damage with the first dose -rare but possible, doesn't seem worth it. On the other hand Duramaxx or Metacam seems to be safer NSAIDs. As you point out any prolonged use of the NSAIDs should have liver panels once every 4-6 weeks. There are some Vets who overlook this. Little Clover (70 lbs) will have Torbutrol the first night, and then Duramaxx.

A curioso I've run across in the literature is that Enteric Aspirin tablets given as a means to protect the stomach has the draw back that they are unable to dissolve in the dog's stomach, and several may collect in the stomach dependent on the amount of gastric motility present, along with Enteric tablet size. The net affect is therapeutic levels in the blood are never obtained. Also ran across a couple of articles that concluded the H2 acid blocker Cimetidine (Tagamet), or the proton pump blocker Omeprazole (Prilosec) will not prevent stomach ulcers with prolonged aspirin use, but will decrease the severity.

The elimination of Aspirin from a dog including its secondary metabolites is probably in the range of 72 hrs. Quite unclear, and probably the reason the Vets err on the side of caution of waiting a week. In keeping with the spirit of the thread I won't mention the therapeutic dosage for Aspirin is 25 mg/kg every 8 hrs. Encountered an article that suggested most dogs will have gastric irritation after 15 days of use. Also one report of a 12 yr old greyhound that had massive bleeding after 5 doses, and required multiple transfusions to stabilize. Ironic- as the greyhound is the universal blood donor of the dog world.