Dog owners beware....Rimadyl

[stamper]

To all the dog owners here on the DIS,

Just want to make you aware of a drug called Rimadyl. It has been around for several years (late 90's I think) and was meant to relieve pain from arthritis, hip dysplasia, surgery, etc. It is being widely given as a general pain med at the moment. While it has wonderful results in relieving pain, it has very serious side effects....especially in certain breeds it seems.

My puppy was just given it for "lameness from over use" - nothing serious. After the 3rd dose he began show signs of an adverse reaction to the drug. If I hadn't been researching it, I wouldn't have known that it could have life threatening! He got no more and is now fine. Others have not been so lucky. Read some of the reports on the site for the Senior Dog Project.

I'm not here to say that it is ALWAYS bad and to be avoided by all dogs. I am just asking (begging really....for the sake of your dog) that no matter what the drug....RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! Find out what the risks are, the symptoms of a reaction and how it has been known to effect your particular breed (yes, they really are different).

 

[Serena]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm glad you were able to stop things before they got worse for your puppy.

 

[poohlover]

HI, just wondering what the side effects you noticed were?? WE had a rottie on the same med after a case of lyme & it seemed to help. Just wondering as we may have to put a Mastiff on it.

 

[WilmaBud]

One of my beagles, Wilma was on it for arthritis. She tolerated it well for about a year or 2. Then, she suddenly developed hemorrhagic gastroenteritis from it. She almost died. That was about 5 or 6 years ago. We took her off that and have been giving her Glucosamine w. Chondroiton ever since. She's almost 14, and she's been doing great with her arthritis.

I do have to add that my mom has had Weimaraners on Rimadyl for years, and they have done fine with it. I also used it briefly on my Wilma when she had ACL surgery. We only used it for about 4 days as a painkiller for her.

 

[lisajl]

This is why most vets...especially where I work...will tell you there can be problems with the drug. We recommend testing an ALT level to make sure your dog has no problems to begin with.
Then we check it every 3-6 months depending on the breed.

Lisajl

 

[stamper]

Signs of a reaction are diarrhea, tarry stools(bloody), vomiting(may contain blood), increased drinking, increased urination and others I can't remember.

For really good info check the Sr. Dog Project

The symptom we notice was mild diarrhea and knew to stop giving it. He had only 3 doses before this started.

As I said before....it is good for what it does and is fine for some dogs. But in certain breeds and individuals....it's not so good!

For long trem use be sure to have regular blood tests done to be sure that liver damage is not occuring. And a also before starting so you have a "baseline".

 

[stamper]

Lisajl,

Glad you popped on. Yes, blood tests are a great thing. I just wanted people to not just wait for it to be "blood test time" when their dog may be showing signs of a reaction and they may be passing it off as something else.

Also, want owners to know more about their own breed as drugs don't effect each breed equally. For instance, I have Samoyeds. As with all white coated breeds(and for some reason Dobes and Rottis too), they are sensitive sulfa drugs(study by Dr. W. Jean Dodds). It seems that Sams are sensitve to Rimadyl and related drugs as well. Labs have a higher rate of sensitivity to Rimadyl than other breeds. I'm sure there other examples as well.

Bottom line...know what to watch for with any drug as you are the one living with the dog.

 

[lisajl]

Exactly...thanks for clarifying!

But, Please, please...don't believe everything a breeder tells you or you might read on the internet.

We had someone come in with a Mastiff and said, "We don't want heartworm preventative, because this type of dog does not get heartworms."

Any and all dogs and cats, too, can get heartworm!

Lisa

 

[poohlover]

thanks for the info about the side effects!

Our rottie was only on it briefly after her case with lyme. We have tried the glucosumine (?sp) for our MAstiff with no results.

I am leary of putting her on it for long term use. I'm hoping with the spring & warmer weather she will get better so it won't be year round.

Anyone have any good ideas for a dog with arthrits? She's only 4 years, but at 180 lbs she's a BIG dog!

 

[Lanshark]

On the other side of the coin it can be a life saver for some dogs. My golden died last year at age 12. He had hip problems that bothered him the last couple of years of his life. The rimadyl worked wonders for him by making him a lot more comfortable. We used buffered aspirin, as recommended by the vet, until it no longer worked and then switched to the rimadyl.

 

[Lanshark]

PoohLover

I don't know much about the breed but is 180 a normal weight. When my golden first started having problems he was overweight by about 25 pounds. With the help of the vet we put him on a diet and he lost the weight in about a year. This made a huge difference for him.

 

[ugadog99]

Thanks for the info. My 11 year old dachshund has arthritis and we are using Deramaxx (sp?). It has been great for her. She has her kidneys and liver tested yearly and we have been told about any side effects we should look for. Right now it is working, but I will certainly keep an eye on her.

 

[stamper]

poohlover,
Gotta love those mastiffs! Such big dogs! There are some herbal type remedies....they were just posted on a Samoyed email list from a book called "All You Ever Wanted to Know About Herbs for Pets," by Mary L. Wulff-Tilford and Gregory L. Tilford. I haven't personally read it, but I think it is now on my wish list!

This is what was posted - "In addition to the glucosamine/chondroitin and boswellia, some other natural anti-inflammatories
you could consider would be omega-3 fish oils, yucca, MSM, SAM-e, ginger, devil's claw, vitamin E
and vitamin C. "

I'm not recommending any of these - just listing them as an FYI with advice to do some research. After this week's run in with Rimadyl I personally would rather find more natural, less toxic treatments to use in conjunction with treatment from our vet.

As lisajl pointed out....don't blindly believe everything you hear, read or see. Do your own research and I have to say that for me that also includes what my vet says (sorry lisajl, just how I feel). Vets have a vast amount of knowledge, but can't possibly know everything about every drug/tretment/disease as well as how it pertains to every breed.

 

[RNMOM]

We had our golden on it a couple years ago and he vomited blood after about one week on it. We immediately took him off.

 

[DocRafiki]

So how is this any different from any other Rx med? If they didn't all have potential side effects, they wouldn't be Rx.


Poohlover -- you should keep your dog on glucosamine & chondroitin for life. I've never heard of any significant side effects. You don't always see the effects, but it is helping. Get a brand that has been tested and is recommended by your vet. Some of the better ones will also include things like sAM-e, EFAs, MSM, etc.

Every pet that I see who has ever had any sort of joint trouble is put on it for life. I even take it myself.

PS -- any of you who are using the anti-inflammatory pain meds without using the joint supplements should really look into them. A lot of pets on the supplements are able to come off of the pain meds. Besides, they actually help with the problem rather than just covering up the signs and allowing the degeneration to continue.