Ali is in pain

[lovemypuppies]

She woke up today making little yelps of pain when she tried to change position. It seems to be the acl repair that she had 5 years ago. We gave her two rimadyl to help her through the night Ali is almost nine, in good health and we are very against her suffering. I hope that a redo on the knee will work again but I am open to suggestion.

[Anne]

What strength Rimadyl did you give her...not 100mgs each tablet...I hope.

Did she have TPLO done or the tradition ligament repair?

I guess you will be taking her to the vet ASAP and I wish you and Ali all the best. Hopefully it's something minor. Please let us know how it goes.

[lovemypuppies]

Yes in desperation I gave her 2 100mg chewables about 2 and a half hours apart. I hope that isn't a giant mistake! The first tab didn't make the slightest difference in her pain. (yelping with every move! ) I hesitated (I am normally very conservative with any med) but on Pfizers web site it says 2 mg per hundred lbs. can be split in 24hours or given all at one time. She had a full stomach and didn't chew the tabs. Ali had a traditional acl repair about five years ago. She had a very active week. (Dog event at the park yesterday) This situation happened a few months ago and I took her to the emergency hospital. After the usual forever wait and strange young vets and ct scans they found nothing. So I want to hold out til Monday morning to see her regular vet. She is very comfy now and stopped limping we did a nice short walk and she wanted to stay out! She was in pain just long enough to make us miss a family christening today! Advice welcome!!!!

[moondog]

Originally Posted by lovemypuppies

Yes in desperation I gave her 2 100mg chewables about 2 and a half hours apart. I hope that isn't a giant mistake! The first tab didn't make the slightest difference in her pain. (yelping with every move! ) I hesitated (I am normally very conservative with any med) but on Pfizers web site it says 2 mg per hundred lbs. can be split in 24hours or given all at one time.

I hope you mistyped this....if the Pfizer site said "2 mg per 100 lbs", you would have to have a 10,000 lb dog for a 200 mg dose to be appropriate.

Originally Posted by lovemypuppies

Advice welcome!!!!

Get her to a vet..if she is in that much pain, I can't imagine doing anything else.

[MonicaBH]

# The recommended dosage for oral administration to dogs is 2 mg/lb (4.4 mg/kg) of body weight daily. Total daily dose may be administered as 2 mg/lb of body weight once daily or divided and administered as 1 mg/lb (2.2 mg/kg) twice daily.

If I were you, I'd lay off the Rimadyl for the next 24 hours or so. For a 100 lb dog, the 100mg pills (one pill every twelve hours) would be an appropriate dose...

I agree with moondog... if Ali is that painful, take her to the vet. :( And make sure you tell them she had Rimadyl today.

[lovemypuppies]

YES I mistyped!!!! 2mg per lb! Ali is perfectly fine now. The pain started at about 9pm when she awoke from a nap. (She had been at the park to play at a dog exhibition and played extra hard.) I gave her a single 100mg pill at 10pm and another at 12:30am. She was clearly over the pain by early morning. Her prescription was for one pill twice a day. I took a risk because it seemed reasonable considering...Pfizer site says "2mg/lb." The Animal Medical Center is open 24/7 and is a great institution, but I prefer my own vet when possible. I appreciate the replies and please don't worry--Ali will be at the vet tomorrow morning!!!!

[lovemypuppies]

DARN! Just as I was replying to Moondog our wireless connection went kablooey! I was so anxious to to more research but we couldn't get back online. In any case, Ali has had ONLY those two Rimadyl and she is still just fine. We will get right to our vet in the morning--I know very well how stoic our dogs are which is why I was so shocked at her little cries!!! She has had a very small amount of Rimadyl in her lifetime but enough that our vet feels comfortable using it. I knew in my heart that if we went to the emergency hospital that late at night she would have suffered for hours in the waiting room just waiting to be seen. And even then they would not be sure of what to do until an orthopedist looked at her anyway! I have been there many times with my dogs and friends dogs. It's not only a long wait but the vets who work late at night seem to be a bit inexperienced (in my experience ) Nevertheless, if the pain returns later this evening I will go to emergency if you really think the double dose is that dangerous. Once again, I do not mean to criticise a great institution, and thank you for the advice.

[lovemypuppies]

We went to see our vet and I am SO glad we waited. There is a lot to be said for a great vet who knows your dogs! Ali seems to have a bit of arthritis but her ACL repair is ok. We are waiting for the blood, urine and fecal test results. The vet said that I did the right thing with the second Rimadyl 100mg tablet. It is fine (if necessary) to give the dose once in 24 hours as opposed to dividing the dose into a 100mg tab twice a day. Believe me, it made a big difference to Ali! Thank you all.

[Xenasmom531]

I'm glad things improved. However just a note...
PLEASE!!! Be careful with the Rymidyl!! My rottie had a severe allergic reaction to it. It took about 3 weeks to show up. She had to be hospitalized for over a week. Her symptoms were vomiting blood, diarrhea with blood, listlessness, loss of apetite, and dehydration. I'm not saying this will happen to your dog, many dogs do very well on Rymidyl. I just want to pass on the information to you to watch for any signs of side effects.

[lovemypuppies]

A week?!! Poor doggie! Thank you for the warning! I was reluctant but the drug was necessary. We are going to keep testing her blood and urine. As far as her reaction we have been joking that we have to cut back on the meds--she has been as playful as a puppy!

[Xenasmom531]

I should have thought of this before... If you do need to change your meds for her perhaps you could inquire with your vet about Tramadol. This is what my girl is on now. It runs a much lower risk of side effects.

The Dangers and Warnings Against Rimadyl for Arthritis is Pets

You may want to read this article on Rimadyl. I found this when I was researching the drug before. It is lengthy but very infromative.

[lovemypuppies]

Thankyou! Ali was prescribed BOTH! I have already tapered the Rimadyl to one a day and only will use the Tram for a flareup. Or I may switch! We are in close contact with the vet on this issue. We are also massaging and being very careful to keep her gently active with no jumping and running.

[MonicaBH]

Be careful with Tramadol also. Dogs, like people, can build up a tolerance level to the drug and have to take more and more and more to get feel better. They can become addicted and experience withdrawl when taken off of the drug.

I think your idea of using Tramadol as needed is the best way to go, esp. if your pooch is being monitored closely for any allergies or metabolic reactions (liver/kidney issues).

[lovemypuppies]

Thank you so much. I am very cautious (i think she has taken one Tramadol in her life. I am committed to testing and retesting--but she is doing very well so we may be able to avoid these drugs for a good while. I am looking into dgp. Of course i will put Ali's quality of life FIRST. If she is in pain i will find a way to relieve the pain no matter what that takes. As i said earlier, it is helpful that our vet knows her almost all her life. He also knows to never hesitate testing for financial reasons. Thank you again. This is an important issue.... I do worry sometimes that dogs are undermedicated (as are many people) because they can't speak up for themselves. Some folks have a resistance to drugs for moral or cultural reasons and that may be as unfair as damaging a dogs health with indiscriminate dosing with drugs. Like everything else in this life we have to do our research before we make these choices.

[observer]

Marianne-

Missy's physical therapist recommended giving her straight Bromelain. It is derived from pineapple stem, and is found in the DGP, but not in the quantity he has found to be therapeutic. He gets it from a company called DaVinci -- his wife does acupuncture and other remedies, and gets this and other stuff from this company. I give her one pill per day.