Justice and Rimadyl

[ordcavms]

Rimadyl, should I be worried? See below, all comments welcome. Thanks.

Justice is a 9 1/2 yr. old male rottie with a great tempermanent. He recently moved from the inner city to the suburbs with a nicely fenced green back yard and loves to buck in a circle to play He's so cute!!
Unfortunately, he no longer is a puppy... and he has a tendency to agravate his front right leg and it kills me to see him like that. He has trouble laying down, every time he tries to, he may spring up quickly with a little cry. I would make sure to rest him up, but recently it's become a few times too many. The last time he looked hunched not wanting to pick up his head, looking completely lame.

Originally I tried buffered aspirin and it seemed to be okay. He seemed to recover...

Friday we went for a check up with his two non rottie brothers and mentioned to the vet his recent issues. The vet gave us rimadyl, enough for about 5 days and told us that if this did not help that sedation would be necessary and xrays next. I thought to myself, my poor dog.

So I type this because I am amazed at his recovery and behavior in just less than 24 hours and had to research what this wonderful drug was! Only to find out that there has been some issues and now I am terrified that he has ingested it, but how can I stop when it seems to have worked so well.

Here is my experience with Rimadyl.

DAY 1 May 12th, 2006
Today we returned from the vet and Justice received his Rimadyl with his dinner at 6pm.

Day 2 May 13th,2006
This morning Justice awoke wanting to play, play, play... but the vet warned me to keep him very rested and avoid too much exertion or stress on him. He spent most of his time in his crate resting today, but when we let him out tonight... talk about flying with the wind. It was wonderful to see him glide like when we use to run over those picnic benches in the forest preserve in his better days! Time to go out... Did he just jump two steps from our upper deck to lower deck, holy cow!

[observer]

I would NEVER give Rimadyl. Period. My coworker lost his dog to a reaction to Rimadyl that happened within days-- many others have. Pfizer has paid money to lots of them. It's not worth the risk, in my opinion. There are other drugs. And, regardless of the drug you use, do try to keep him relatively quiet in terms of activity, even if he seems to want to do otherwise.

[Patty1231]

Rocco has been on Rimadyl several times with great results and no ill side effects. I wouldn't use it long term but it is good for a 1-2 week course. All drugs have that certain percentage that will respond adversely to them. The same drugs that cure most kill some - unfortunately, that's the way it is. Still, I would try to limit him in his running around - he might not be feeling the pain but the problem needs time to correct.

[Sharon Marples]

YOU need to control his activity! Just because the medication is MASKING his pain does not mean he should be running "like the wind" and being allowed to jump from deck to deck! Get a grip on his activity, if he were mine, he would not be allowed out without being on a leash. You are only going to make the problem worse.

I for one have to question the vets use of Rimadyl without doing bloodwork first, without xraying first and determining exactly what the problem is. There are many serious problems that start in the legs, why are you not researching this more?

We NEVER use this medication. After seeing a friend's dog die within 24 hours of using it, that is enough reason why for me. There are many dogs that tolerate it well, but without continued bloodwork while they are on it, you have no idea of what it is doing to their liver.

Your dog is 9 years old, he needs to be supervised and kept quiet if you are going to keep him sound and out of pain. It is not fair to him for you to allow him to do what he wants and then let him suffer in pain because of it.

[AngelBunny]

I was wincing as I read you posting. The pain is still there--your dog just can't feel how badly he hurts.

I also recommend you keep him very lean. An achy dog doesn't need to carry an ounce of extra weight.

[MARYDVM]

Rimadyl belongs to a class of drugs called NSAIDs - nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. All NSAIDs can cause rare cases of severe and potentially fatal side effects. That includes the OTC human NSAIDs - people die from taking ibuprofen and tylenol every year. But the vast majoritity of people and dogs benefit immensely from pain relief. Your dog was suffering before you started the medication, what you see now is a return to a happy, pain-free pet.
If you are going to continue Rimadyl or any NSAID long term, bloodwork should be done to monitor liver and kidney function while on the drug.

[flyballmom]

Like ALL drugs, side effects can occur with Rimadyl. Rimadyl is an NSAID, in the same drug class as aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. Rimadyl has a higher possibility of causing liver damage, hence the comment about having lab work done prior to starting it. Some dogs have had horrible side effects and have died from it...and if one of them is YOUR dog, the percentage seems huge. All that said...I've used it in the past with great results. It's not only the job of the owner to keep the dog quiet during recuperation, but also to watch for side effects...ie: not wanting to eat, vomiting, blood in stool. I agree with the others...the pain is still there, the drug is masking it. Please limit his activity along with giving the Rimadyl if that's what you still choose to do. Give the med for a few days, then after a couple weeks start allowing him a bit more activity. If he's still limping, then I'd be looking to get those x-rays.

[ordcavms]

Thank you everyone for your comments, they are very well appreciated. Please understand that normally I would limit his activity, this just caught me off guard in working so fast, but in this case I should say masking the pain. I knew deep down inside that it was to good to be true, for some reason Vicadin popped in my head when my back was really bothering me a few years ago. I will limit his activity and keep him on a leash as I normally do. Justice is actually at a perfect weight for himself of 97 lbs., he has never been an overweight dog. Many think he is a puppy, when in fact he is a senior dog with a great weight and personality.

I don't think the intention was to have this used long term from the vet, but after the research what really surprises me is that the vet NEVER mentioned anything about side effects or issues or never received any type of pamplet. A matter of fact we have a puppy that was just neutered last Tuesday and they sent him home with a little stash of his own for after surgery, but again we received nothing on information. I think because the puppy was sent home with the same, I didn't think much of it until I saw the reaction Justice had... I will finish up the few days he has, and hope that the ability to rest him will help.

[targonrotts]

where i work, we do pre-op bloodwork before surgery, so after the surgery they go home with a small amount of rimadyl if all checked ok for a few days.
i use it on my dogs when they get hurt doing strenuous racing in flyball for a few days at a time with no problems.
like everyone has mentioned, everyone reacts different.
if you are going to use it long term, you need to do follow up bloodwork to make sure nothing is being affected or if a previous condition is there.
keep his exercise limited at first and slowly introduce him back into activity, and if limping continues, do the xrays.

[Anne]

With Rimadyl you need to watch your dog carefully. Mine has been on Rimadyl a few times now and it is an excellent drug for this dog. I keep her on it for only 5 days and wean off rather than a sudden stop.

She has had blood work done prior to Rimadyl being prescribed, on each occasion. She had 2 x TPLO surgeries and recently a bilateral arthroscopy. Rimdadyl was prescribed on each occasion. Always given with food.

I certainly agree with very limited activity as Rimadyl masks the pain very effectively.

[ordcavms]

Two months later and Justice is doing great. The drug and rest has done hime some good. I haven't any issues yet, but still have to keep him limited with his activity as I worry about him. Thanks all.


xoxoxo- Justice

[Miss Greta]

I'm glad Justice is doing well. I have used Rimadyl on my rott for almost a year now (HD and arthritis) with careful monitoring by my vet, and no issues. I noticed no one suggested a glucosamin/chodrotin/MSM/vit C supplement. If he has some chronic changes from age related deterioation of the joint, this could be very helpful. And maybe, provide enough relief so you don't need any more NSAIDS. Just a thought

[calebmyboy]

I am glad Justice is doing great. I have used Rimadyl on both of my Rotts, one stayed on it til he passed away, my current dog cannot take it. But we had his hip replaced 4 months ago so he does not need anything now.

Please consistently monitor with blood work and watch for any sypmtoms.

I see no problem using Rimadyl on an older dog to give them comfort and relief.

[rottielover2004]

Harley was on rimadyl for a whole 3 days before he started to have a nasty reaction to it, so off he went. I did not want him on metacam either, so we had no choice and put him on codiene( vet reccomended). Just because the drugs are freeing him of the pain at the moment, does not mean it does not exist. Be careful with him, minimize activity as reccomened by the vet.