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| I have had many dogs through the years. As of today, I have three 14 year old friends. (Airedale,Dalmatian,Heeler)
I have had very good luck using ibuprofen to alleviate the arthritis in my Dalmatian. It has helped him tremendously in the last 5 months. I give him 1-200mg in the a.m. and 1-200 mg in evening. As a note, the otc bute is coated and I rinse off the gel coating then place pill on the corner of a slice of bread. I let the pill stand and dissolve a few minutes (it expands). I tear off piece and give it to him; letting him eat the rest of the slice right after. Remember that my animals are in the last stages of their lives, and until they stop eating, drinking and wanting to get up, I will continue this regiment. Don't be fooled into more expensive solutions if you don't have to. We should rely more on the old fashioned remedies, remembering that some work just as well as the new stuff. P.S. I have tried baby aspirin and halved 325 mg aspirin as well. These did not have any effect on him. It does on my horses, however. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by Bumblebeez (My Page) on Fri, Feb 3, 12 at 21:39
| I've always read ibuprofen is poisonous to dogs. it's one of the big meds to avoid at all costs. |
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| It is not recommended for use in canines. It's also not an 'old fashioned' remedy. I have had dogs on aspirin regimen, but under a vet's guidance (and his recommended dosage) when doing it and also having to give another medication to prevent side effects to the gut. Yeah.....it can work to alleviate the arthritis, but at what expense? You could trade in joint pain for something worse. I urge you to discuss this with a vet, and soon. |
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| Ibuprofen is not the same as Bute. Also, since your dogs have lived to a nice age of 14 yrs., why shorten their lives now by giving them something that could possibly lead to an earlier death. Here's some info taken from a Dog Arthritis site: "Dogs are much more likely to develop the ibuprofen side effects of gastro-intestinal problems than are humans. At therapeutic doses, Ibuprofen side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, gastro-intestinal bleeding, and kidney infection. Ibuprofen consistently causes ulcers in dogs after 2-6 weeks of use. Ibuprofen side effects will eventually cause ulcers of the stomach as well as vomiting. |
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| They are your dogs, it's obvious that you love them and it's your own business, but I hope that your read what annz posted carefully. We give our arthritic labrador chewable Rimadyl tablets from the vet, but we also have to watch her for gastrointestinal problems, just like you should with the ibuprofen. We give glucosamine-condroitin-MSM tablets and fish oil capsules too, so between those and the vet's medication and she is walking well now. |
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| Had a doctor (MD) client a few years ago give his 2 dogs Ibuprofen for a week, and wondered why they were vomiting. Turns out both had severe kidney failure and bleeding stomach ulcers by the time he brought them in - lost both dogs. Ibuprofen is nasty stuff! Dont' use it in dogs (or cats!) ever. As an emergency veterinary clinician, I see quite a few Ibuprofen toxicities, and though most survive, why risk it? Phenylbutazone was an NSAID alternative we used in dogs some years back, but it, too, caused a lot of severe stomach problems in dogs, but more from chronic use. Dogs can die very acutely from Ibuprofen exposure. Aspirin is not that safe, either, and I have seen quite a few dogs have GI ulcers from aspirin (never lost one I know of, though). Aspirin and Bute also can cause long term joint damage, which is the opposite effect you want with a joint pain medication. Low dose aspirin, however, seems relatively safe for dogs and is used frequently for some forms of autoimmune anemia (helps keeping them from making small clots in the wrong places in the body). Drugs like Rimadyl and Metacam are not only MUCH easier on the guts and kidneys, but are joint sparing as well (do not cause joint damage long term). That is why those sorts of NSAIDs are recommended for canines. Tylenol (Acetominophen) while not an NSAID is still a commonly used painkiller in people, also has problems with use animals... dogs develop liver problems with chronic use and cats usually expire from a single dose. It sucks as a painkiller for dogs, so why use it anyway? |
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- Posted by arkansas_girl (My Page) on Tue, Feb 14, 12 at 17:51
| When my dog was old and could barely walk from his sore hips, I gave him baby aspirin in a piece of cheese. It helped him a lot. He took them for a few years before we had to have him put to sleep at 14 y/o. |
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- Posted by montana800 (My Page) on Tue, Feb 21, 12 at 13:52
| Kris-M - I urge you to stop giving them something that will hurt them and spend a few extra dollars on cosequin which I have my dogs on and helps them tremendously. Petaloid - IF you do any amount of research on labs and Rimadyl, you will stop giving your lab Rimadyl immediately and ask your vet to switch her to Tramadol. |
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| My mother had a wonderful, large mixed breed she rescued from a wild area and who had questionable (at best) nutrition and shelter as a pup to young adult. It suffered terribly from arthritis and in its older adult years required medication to allow it to function and live a quality life. We held off on rimadyl as long as we could, worrying about her chem panels and side effects. Yes, it eventually impacted her liver. However, at that time it was the drug of choice and we figured a shorter, pain free life was a good trade-off. |
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- Posted by montana800 (My Page) on Thu, Feb 23, 12 at 9:01
| Calliope, There are other choices out there today, so many other choices. And, for whatever reason, there is evidence that labradors are particularly harmed by Rimadyl more than other breeds. Tramadol is the one I have found to have the least amount of side effects in all breeds of dogs and the most pain relief. The real drug that works absolute miracles are shots of Adequan. They used to give it strictly to horses, but now they lower the dose and give it to dogs. We use a combination of Dosequin and Adequan. Adequan also has few, if any, side effects. |
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| Yes, I'm sure the therapies are better now and that's a blessing. So many dogs and cats suffer with arthritis. |
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