Pain and NSAID sensitive dog

[dani0303]

Sorry if this is long. I’ll try to keep it TL;DR

I have a 9 year old beagle mix with some pretty severe arthritis thanks to orthopedic surgery she had as a pup. My vet decided to put her on a 2 week trial of Rimadyl. It was a night and day difference in her pain levels. At her 2 week recheck, however, her ALT levels went from 140 (normal is under 150) to 719.

Vet immediately pulled her off carprofen. We have her on a course of Denamarin for her liver and tramadol for the pain. Unfortunately the tramadol is pretty much useless and I’m having a lot of trouble controlling her pain levels. Since it’s the the weekend and my vet is closed I’m just looking for ideas to bounce off my vet once she opens up again tomorrow.

Are there any other pain meds that are appropriate for dogs with NSAID sensitivities? Do you think her dose of tramadol (25mg 2x daily) is too low? I just HATE seeing her in pain like that. We’re 10 days out from the bad liver reaction so I’m hoping to bring her back in this week for a bloodwork recheck and maybe to tweak her meds.

[Houndhill]

Have you talked to your vet about Galliprant? It is an NSAID, but not a cox-2 inhibitor which seems to cause problems for some. It is expensive, but for a beagle sized dog shouldn’t be too bad.

Tramadol just doesn’t work for some- mine have taken pretty big doses with small effect. I’ve given a 163 pound Wolfhound 200 mg four times a day and it did nothing.

in addition to the Galliprant, you might ask about gabapentin.

of course you can try the Adequan injections.

Cold laser therapy might help.

Joint supplements like Dasuquin might help.

[Marshfield]

We know now that very few dogs can effectively metabolize tramadol.

[Simkie]

Ask about gabapentin? Have had a few friends that have found it really very effective for their dogs.

[Cooper]

Definitely ask your Vet about Galliprant

[Saskatoonian]

Second the gabapentin. Sorry you’re going through this.

[dani0303]

Thanks guys

I had to rush her to the vet this morning because of severe pain. The vet is re running her bloodwork, put her on buprenorphine to get get comfortable, and then try and come up with a game plan moving forward. She did mention gabapentin as a likely option.

[Magicboy]

Can CBD be used for pain? I have a dog that has responded well to using this for seizures

[Incantation]

There are FB groups dedicated to tumeric as anti-inflammatory. I had an old girl with stenosis in her back, a partial crutiate tear, and a history of ulcers. Gabapentin, and weekly massage/laser/water treadmill kept her very, very comfortable and active right until the end. It was explained to me that as the muscles compensate for the arthritis, they tighten and atrophy, which is what actually causes much of the pain. If you can increase blood circulation to and strength of the muscles, much of the pain goes away.