Sigh. My poor Missy dog has days where she just hurts. Im trying to figure out the next step in pain management. Got a vet appointment scheduled, but want to get a good handle on what's available beforehand.

Quick recap - Miss is a 12 y/o Border Collie, on good days, she still moves really good (plays easy games of ball, walks, nicely active for a 12 y/o dog) but she's had a couple different times now where she is just sore and doesn't want to move. She eats raw, is on enalapril for CHF. She has been on Cetyl M advance for joint support, but I'm wondering if that isn't working as well as the Joint Strong that she used to be on.

I've used rimadyl a few times with her. I know the issues with it (and that it's not good for long term use with enalapril) and don't like to, but it works for quick pain relief and sometimes that trumps everything else.

So I'm wondering if there are other drugs that are safer that I can ask about? Other natural joint support/pain relief products that I can look into/ask about? Other suggestions?

All JMO:

Well, you know the NSAID drill. All potentially dangerous, and all potentially huge quality-of-life aids.

Both Deramaxx and Metacam have better safety records than Rimadyl, but that doesn't mean they don't have all the potential NSAID dangers (including aspirin, BTW).

The benefits to dogs vary, too; I now know that some dogs on Rimadyl just did not get the relief needed on other NSAIDs. (The other way around is just as true -- it's very individual.)

I personally would try all the alternatives before Rimadyl.

There are also treatments that are much safer but very expensive:

Do you know about http://www.caberfeidh.com/Adequan.htm ?


Also, if you are in or near Canada, do you know about http://www.cartrophen.ca/product.html ?

 Quote: Mara Jessup

.... I've used rimadyl a few times with her. I know the issues with it (and that it's not good for long term use with enalapril) and don't like to, but it works for quick pain relief and sometimes that trumps everything else.

No question that pain management often trumps everything. I have a senior on daily NSAIDs.

It was/is needed. He has quality of life with, and did not have, without.

I had the pre-protocol blood work done, made myself very familiar with all the signs of GI problems when we started, and do regular re-testing (liver and kidney).

My Tessa is on 35 mg of Vetprofen daily. She is 13.5 years old and I figure at this point I would rather her final days be in relative comfort than to worry about the potential long term side effects.

Like Connie, I did the pre-protocal bloodwork and redo it every 6 months to make sure that all is kosher. She has been on it for about 6 months now and is doing quite well with no visible (or indicative in bloodwork) problems.

Ask your vet about gabapentin, neurontin. Related to narcotic, not really a narcotic. Stepped up slowly. Operates at a different site than other drugs, used only for chronic pain, not acute. Supposed to mediate the way pain is perceived,
keeps the sting from "ramping up". A human drug. Heard about it at a pain talk I attended this fall. In a show of hands on "who is using this for chronic pain in their patients?" about 1/3rd of the room raised their hands.

I'm in Michigan.

Just read the link on Adequan I'd heard a little bit about it but had never looked into it. It's pricey, but doesn't seem too out of line. And if it works, I'd figure out how to get it in the budget. Rimadyl is still about $1/day from the vet.

Thanks Ingrid and Betty - I'll add those to my list of things to discuss with the vet.

Tramadol
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tramadol.html

It's also relatively cheap. About $12/100 pills of the 50 mg dose. The pharma tech I've been dealing with said she sells a lot of Tramadol for use by dogs. It can be used in combo with another drug (whose name escapes me at the moment) to help ease spinal pain.

A vet friend has also used acupuncture to good effect on her dogs who have joint and spinal issues.

I am a big Tramadol fan.

It's a different action from that of NSAIDs, but it is a real boon for me (and for my dogs on occasion too).

 Quote: Charlie Snyder

Tramadol
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tramadol.html

It's also relatively cheap. About $12/100 pills of the 50 mg dose. The pharma tech I've been dealing with said she sells a lot of Tramadol for use by dogs. It can be used in combo with another drug (whose name escapes me at the moment) to help ease spinal pain.

A vet friend has also used acupuncture to good effect on her dogs who have joint and spinal issues.

I am friends with my vet and the last time I was in we were chatting about Tramadol and he mentioned that he is getting careful about tracking the amount of time between refilling up the script for it as there are people who abuse the drug and while it is not a controlled substance, he has had instances where people are using the script to abuse the drug because it can give opiate like effects.

I didn't know that.

What I like so much about it is the LACK of those effects that the opiates give.

For me, it's effective, without the "stupid" side effect (like Vicodin), and much less GI effect.