Arthritis Meds

[hugapitbull]

I'm scheduling a consult tomorrow afternoon with Trouble's vet. I think all we are looking at is arthritis and the damned blasted Texas heat, and am hoping some of you dealing with long term arthritis could refresh my memory on some of the medication choices.

She is already taking glucosamine, and has had elevated liver enzymes when taking Remadyl in the past. I know this topic has been covered in the past, and will do a search later this evening, but thought some of you might just throw out some starting points for me. You don't have to go into great detail unless you want to.

[Marinepits]

Here's the sticky about arthritis: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29588

We've recently started Mac on Cosequin to see if it helps his right hip -- we had his xrays done about a month ago and his left hip looks pretty good, but his right hip is MESSED UP. Right now it's too early to tell if the Cosequin is working.

Katy has been on Adequan injections for a couple of months now. In the beginning, it was a Wonder Drug! She was walking really well and running like a puppy again. Now, it's not *quite* as effective, but she's still doing well on it. She was originally getting the injections roughly every four/five days for the first few weeks, and now we're tapering her off to one injection every three to four weeks. She's still on SynFlex and Metacam SID and gabapentin BID, plus her last senior bloodwork panel came back pretty clean.

[mnp13]

Though not a "PC" item by any means, shark cartilage was a literal God send to Agatha after her amputation. Of course, it all depends on what website you read as to if you believe it or not, but I know that it made a difference for her - with her hip problems due to arthritis, the loss of her front leg didn't make getting around any easier.

Personally, I take MSM for my hips, and when I run out I notice a difference very quickly.

[BullyLady]

Dermaxx is the NSAID we used for Sophie, maybe you could try that instead of Rimadyl? Her liver may react differently to a different NSAID. Also, we layered Tramadol on top of that on bad days.

[hugapitbull]

Dermaxx is the NSAID we used for Sophie, maybe you could try that instead of Rimadyl? Her liver may react differently to a different NSAID. Also, we layered Tramadol on top of that on bad days.

I already give her intermittent Tramadol when she has an off day or when we transport her and have to get her in and out of the vehicle. It just seems the times she needs it are getting closer and closer together. I'm thinking it may be time to start something more long term.

Having to postpone the consult til next week. Dr F is out of town this week - the nerve of him, not checking in with us first At least that will give me plenty of time to come up with the questions I need to ask.

Thank you all for the responses. On the shark cartilage, not sure she could tolerate it, she's allergic to shellfish. Not sure that would be any different. I'll have to do some searching.

[Malli]

I'd be surprised if she was allergic to shark, but I guess it depends on how specific the allergy is...
If you do use it, try to get something with a guaranteed analysis, because often many (not all) supplements are not regulated, and one pill/capsule etc may be effective when the other is not, differing consistencies, etc...

Oscar has Osteoarthritis, he takes Fish Oil(but I imagine you might be able to find this in other then fish) Omega 3 supplements, Cosequin DS, and Tylenol 3's for the occaisional sore day (he cannot take NSAIDS because he takes Prednisone daily) and they are cheap. Ideally I'd give him Tramadol and Cartrophen (I believe this is the same as Adequan), but until I know he NEEDS it, I can't really afford to give it to him; The joys of a budget

The thing to know about chronic pain is, its really important to break the cycle, because the longer the pain exists, the more sensitive the dog becomes to it, so it will hurt more and more Often I find one dose of pain meds and a couple days of shorter("round the block") easy walks without our "exercise" and he feels tons better.