rimadyl

[Kelly]

Owen has had a run of bad luck. Went to a show and came home with a stomach bug 2 weeks ago. Bad diarrhea. He was on a bland diet for a week along with a prescription from the vet. We barely get over that and now He's very lame, sore in his lower back. We had company (they brought their dog). Owen is an only dog, not used to the roughhousing. He was a little sore the night they left but seemed to be getting better. Two nights later we were in bed, my son got home late and "startled" Owen. We don't know exactly what happened but I heard Owen crying and jumped out of bed. He was all bunched up and shaking terrible. He was in a lot of pain. The vet thinks he has pulled a muscle. He didn't have any pain in his hips. It's mostly right above his tail. (the lower lumbar spine area) Anyway..They sent us home with Rimadyl. It has worked wonders for his pain, he's almost back to normal, however this morning when I got up, he had diarreah on the floor. (sorry this is so long) Anyway. I hopped on the computer to see if that was a side effect of the medication and much to my surprise I found lots of articles about how dangerous rimadyl is. They talked about kidney failure, sudden death, necrosis of the small intestine..etc...There were also other articles about dogs being on it with no problems. Owen has three more doses. Now I'm scared to give it to him. Has anyone used this medication?

 

[Codes]

I am so sorry to hear about Owen's troubles. Poor fella! I sure hope he starts feeling better very soon. Arnica gel might help relieve a good deal of his pain and stiffness. Miraculous stuff! You can also purchase Arnica pellets at your local Health Food store. 5 pellets 2X a day should help.

As far as Rimadyl goes, I hate to scare the stuffin' out of you but yes, there have been many reported deaths because of that product. In fact one of my Saintly friends lost her beautiful pup last year just a week or so after he was put on that med. He was perfectly healthy until he started Rimdadyl. There's a list on Yahoogroups that was set up specifically for people to talk about Rimadyl and what their pets have been through while on it. The list is called doghealth2@Yahoogroups.com

Now while there are many, many folks whose pets have had adverse reactions to Rimadayl, there are probably just as many who sing its praises. Just be careful and be aware of the risks. If someone is still set on using Rimdyl, I would suggest they use a Homeopathic product called Milk Thistle. It can be found at the health food store and it helps support the liver.

 

[sarnewfie]

Any drug has side effects.
for example my sister GSD lived to be 14 years old, unheard of practically and for seven years she was on rimadyl without side effects, if you take blood after being on it to make sure nothing is happening with it, emmett has been on rimadyl on and off for many years since his injury in SAR to his neck with no ill effects.
many dogs i know have been on rimadyl with success due to follow up visit at the vet for proper blood test to be sure it is not hurting them, the dermaxx that is out scares me! but many said they have had their dogs on it and they were fine, again you need to have your dog tested to be sure that nothing is happening to the organs.
good luck
i am sure he will be on the mend soon!
when they play they need to be supervised and both parties should make sure no one gets to hard and if they do play to hard, they are smart to pull them apart, make them down for a while, take a break from the play and than let them play again, if it has to be on leash, than it has to be to keep them from hurting each other.

 

[kzdz]

From what I've been told, rimadyl is fine for short term use, but if a dog needs it for long term pain management - like months at a time, vets will run blood tests on a regular basis to check for liver or kidney damage (I can't remember off hand which it is.) All of my dogs have been on it for a few days at one time or other in their lives without any side effects. I'm not an expert, though. I would suggest calling the vet (and maybe another for a second opinion) and discussing your concerns.

Kelli

 

[Annie Milliron]

I've no experience with rimadyl.... just wanted to let you know that I'm sending good thoughts and prayers for Owen and all of you!

 

[Newfs Forever]

Kelly,

I'm with Codes on this one, for sure.

You might want to find an holistic vet that does chiropractic.

Within the space of 2 weeks, Dexter jumped off the couch and yelped, then jumped out of the car and yelped. He was also walking with a frontal limp.

I got him to my holistic vet. She found that he was having problems in his spine area just above the shoulders. One chiropractic treatment and NO more yelping. So, I am a firm believer in it.

Sue
PS. Every 3 months he gets a treatment.

 

[Kelly]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to give the vet a call regarding the rimadyl.
I am also going to look into a holistic vet. I'm not sure if we have one in the area. (remember this is Vermont!)
I feel awful about what happened, but I did take precautions. The dogs weren't left out alone. We were all out with them. They were racing around, but weren't real rough with each other. Next time I will definately keep them on a leash!
Thanks again everyone for the good thoughts coming Owen's way. He is doing much better!

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

My lab has been on rimadyl for years, and it has worked wonders for him. He goes for blood tests to see if he is ok with it, but there are no side effects and it really helps him. But I have read the stories of the bad side effects with some dogs. Hope he is feeling better soon and this is all a temporary set back.

 

[IrishMist428]

I don't have any experiece either but wanted to wish him well. Here is a link to holistic vets in Vermont from the American Holistic Verinary Medical Assoc. http://www.ahvma.org/referral/index.html

 

[ardeagold]

Rimadyl does work wonders, but I wouldn't consider using it for anything other than short term use.

We used it on our 17 yr old Lab for about a year...she just got worse and worse (the side effects were pacing, panting, disorientation, etc). Then I read that Labs are ultra-sensitive to Rimadyl and it isn't recommended for them. It waas a little late for her...but the truth is that she was very old anyway, so it was necessary to keep her comfortable (free of pain from arthritis).

I'm glad that your Lab is doing well NY...and I do hope that everything stays good for him!!

Kelly...it's good to hear that Owen isn't hurt badly...it sounds like he just "overdid" it! I wouldn't worry too much about the short term Rimadyl...just keep your eyes open. If he doesn't "need" it...just use Ascriptin for a few days.

Hugs to Owen!!

 

[Leslie]

We use Arnica too and it does work wonders, even for my accident prone bicyclist husband. Chiro and massage techniques are also very high on my list (not that that means anything in the grand scheme of things).

I think the thing about Rimadyl is that it is not supposed to be administered without a blood test to check the function of the liver and/or kidneys and then comparative blood analysis during treatment to check for changes. I read an article that said less than 10% of the vets do these prelims. He's only short term so I'm not sure about that. What I worry about with pain meds like Rimadyl is that they work so well, the dog forgets he's hurt and moves normally without letting the tear/strain/injury heal. Arthritis or chronic injury is a different story.

We're sending healing wishes for Owen. It's so hard to see our babies in pain.

 

[Newfs Forever]

Kelly,

I think Codes lives in Vermont. Perhaps, you would want to pm her and see whom she uses for various and sundry veterinary practices.

Sue

 

[Redhead5639]

What did people use for their dogs before Rimidyl? My dogs live so long I don't remember. My old Chows were 14 yrs old when they died 3 years ago. The larger one had a sway in his back that made his stomach almost touch the ground. The smaller one would cry just getting up and barely walked around. Our Vet said their vertebrae and joints were disinigrating. She did lab work to compare liver function later and put them on Rimidyl. She is young and really keeps up on meds and things. She told me about the problems and gave me literature on it. They were on it about 1 1/2 yrs and had liver function studies every 3 months. It worked wonders for their pain.
That said, after reading up on the problems people have had I don't think I would give it except as a last resort to an old dog. One of the members of a Saint Board that I am on said they gave their dog 3 doses only when the throwing up etc started. They researced the drug and found out about the problems thought that they stopped it in time and the dog still died. Awful.
What about Glucosamine Sulfate and Chondritin Sulfate? Some food manufactors are adding it to their kibble but I don't know if it is enough. Perhaps some of the breeders would know.
Bonnie

 

[EILEEN]

I have a lab (11 yrs) that has very bad arthritis, he's been on Rimdyl for over a year, daily, and it helps him very much. There are defintely problems with the drug, as with any drug, if you read the side affects, especially with labs and Rimadyl, but I've had no problems with it, I have his liver checked every three months to make sure he can handle the meds and he's fine, for him the "possible side affects" don't compare to the relief that he gets from the drug, in my opinion, it's a safe drug, but of course it can have very bad side affects for some. If it's helping him and he doesn't seem to show any ill affects I would continue his dose until it's completed.