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What other pain meds can I use for my dog??
My 13 year old lab has moderate hip dyspepsia coupled with cancer of the bone in her jaw. I was giving her 1 estolac? pill daily but got to the point the other day that I felt she needed something stronger. The vet then prescribed Deramaxx, 100mg daily for pain. This does not seem to be working as well, furthermore I am paying $2.40 per pill!! I wish I were in a financial position to "treat her at any cost", but I am disabled and on a fixed income. I want to go back to the original pain medication for her. My question is this, is it possible to subsidize her medication with half of a Hydrocodone-APAP 5/500 every other day?? She weights 47lbs. If not do you know of a reasonably inexpensive pain medication that I could give her?? Thank you.
Thank you for all your advice / comments. Of course I will not let my girl suffer and I will not hesitate to put her down when the time comes. Also I would not give her anything without informed research. Thanks again for all your posts.
Ultram is probably one of the worst drugs that has been developed for pain in the last 50 years. It was originally billed as "non-addictive" because it's technically not a narcotic, but it works by attaching itself to the mu receptor in the brain, which is the receptor that responds to narcotics. People were developing worse addictions to tramadol (Ultram) than they ever did to opiates like oxycodone or hydrocodone, because doctors were handing the things out like Halloween candy because they were non-narcotic! I remember when I was first going to the doctor for pain (before I ever thought of having the pinal surgery), our family doctor used to give me Ultram FREE! He once gave me one of those plastic bags like you get at the grocery store FULL of little bubble packs of Ultram. Each bubble pack contained two Ultram and it ended up he had given me something like 500 Ultram! They didn't work for my pain,but I can't help but think that my doctor wasn't the only one who was doling them out that way! Even now, many doctors think it's an OK drug, and they prescribe it fearlessly because it's not a narcotic, and after reading the substance abuse board, it's so painfully obvious that it's as dangerous as any opiate when it comes to getting people hooked on it. Not to mention that it's not even as strong as hydrocodone. It's probably only a little stronger than Darvocet.
It might be that the reason it works so well for dogs is because animals are basically naive when it comes to pain medications. We humans take them regularly (although not narcotic ones in most cases) for headaches, muscle aches, sprains, strains, you name it. Our bodies are used to having pain meds in them, whether prescription or OTC, so in most cases, a mild prescription pain med wouldn't react any differently on a human than, say, a heavy dose of aspirin or Advil. A dog, though, never has cause to take anything for a headache and, unless the animal is severely lame, most of the sprains and strains they get are taken care of by the animal realizing its own limitations and curtailing its own activities until it feels better. So in a naive (meaning it has never taken a certain medication) dog, even a weak painkiller would probably work extremely well. Add to that the fact that the dosage of Ultram is geared toward a human weighing anywhere from 120 to 250 pounds, so when you give it to a dog that weighs 40 or 50 pounds, there's a lot less body for that med to have to treat.
I suppose I'm glad that I've learned that Ultram is an acceptble pain med for dogs. At least the humans can see to it that the dog takes it precisely as it is supposed to, so the danger of addiction in the animal is practically zero unless the owner is stupid or cruel or stupidly cruel or whatever. I never like the idea of Rimadyl for dogs. Carprofen (the active ingredient in Rimadyl), even though deemed safe for dogs, still can cause too many adverse reactions and side effects for my liking. But isn't it a cryin' shame that vets have to be careful what they prescribe for pets because the owners will take it?!?! Sometimes I wonder how the human race has come as far as it has with so many idiots here to carry it on.
Sorry for the rant. Some things just tick me off.
Ghilly
It might be that the reason it works so well for dogs is because animals are basically naive when it comes to pain medications. We humans take them regularly (although not narcotic ones in most cases) for headaches, muscle aches, sprains, strains, you name it. Our bodies are used to having pain meds in them, whether prescription or OTC, so in most cases, a mild prescription pain med wouldn't react any differently on a human than, say, a heavy dose of aspirin or Advil. A dog, though, never has cause to take anything for a headache and, unless the animal is severely lame, most of the sprains and strains they get are taken care of by the animal realizing its own limitations and curtailing its own activities until it feels better. So in a naive (meaning it has never taken a certain medication) dog, even a weak painkiller would probably work extremely well. Add to that the fact that the dosage of Ultram is geared toward a human weighing anywhere from 120 to 250 pounds, so when you give it to a dog that weighs 40 or 50 pounds, there's a lot less body for that med to have to treat.
I suppose I'm glad that I've learned that Ultram is an acceptble pain med for dogs. At least the humans can see to it that the dog takes it precisely as it is supposed to, so the danger of addiction in the animal is practically zero unless the owner is stupid or cruel or stupidly cruel or whatever. I never like the idea of Rimadyl for dogs. Carprofen (the active ingredient in Rimadyl), even though deemed safe for dogs, still can cause too many adverse reactions and side effects for my liking. But isn't it a cryin' shame that vets have to be careful what they prescribe for pets because the owners will take it?!?! Sometimes I wonder how the human race has come as far as it has with so many idiots here to carry it on.
Sorry for the rant. Some things just tick me off.
Ghilly
Tramadol (ultram) is for any kind of pain, not just cancer-related. It's actually pretty mild on the narcotic pain med scale. Tramadol can be taken by humans and dogs. It's a synthetic "look alike" to opiate-based medications. Docs love this stuff because it's supposed to be non-addictive. It didn't take long before people started showing up in rehab addicted and going through withdrawal. Veterinarians also have to be careful in prescribing narcotics for their patients. It's not at all unheard of for owners to take their animal's meds. Sick, but true.
wow didnt know that tramadol was for cancer ,my vet gave to me for my baby boy kiz when i though his legs were hurting, but now after x-rays his dr did say he might have a mass in his stomack, maybe his dr knew all a long unless the med used for everything, my kiz is gone now no more pain cant stand the look of help me . kiz was taking 1 and halk pills of the tramadol some times it worked sometimes not , so not sure how stronge it was. i wish you all the luck with her, plz do whats right for her she depends on you to make her safe and not in pain.
I lost one of my dogs to bone cancer last year - My vet prescribed tramadol. It worked great for her. I'm not sure what kind of knucklehead would prescribe deramax for cancer ... especially bone cancer !
It's never easy to say goodbye to a beloved family member. I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but from what you have written, your girl is suffering a lot at this point, and if the drugs that your vet has prescribed are not working, it might be time to reevaluate the situation and consider letting her go.
Dogs and cats don't understand the concept of trying different meds in order to feel better, all they know is that they are hurting. If you do decide to try to keep her around a while longer, whatever you do, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE HER HYDROCODONE WITH APAP IN IT. APAP is the generic term for TYLENOL, and nothing will kill a dog quicker than tylenol or advil. It will cause severe bleeding in their stomach and is almost always fatal. If you must make her go on for more time, talk to your vet about a fentanyl patch for her, however if the $2.40 a pill is expensive, the fentanyl patches are going to be ridiculously expensive. But if it's something that you have to do in order to give yourself more time to come to grips with the situation, then that's what you need to do. But please, don't give her anything with tylenol or advil in it. You will cause her to be in much more horrible pain than she is already in.
Ghilly
Dogs and cats don't understand the concept of trying different meds in order to feel better, all they know is that they are hurting. If you do decide to try to keep her around a while longer, whatever you do, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE HER HYDROCODONE WITH APAP IN IT. APAP is the generic term for TYLENOL, and nothing will kill a dog quicker than tylenol or advil. It will cause severe bleeding in their stomach and is almost always fatal. If you must make her go on for more time, talk to your vet about a fentanyl patch for her, however if the $2.40 a pill is expensive, the fentanyl patches are going to be ridiculously expensive. But if it's something that you have to do in order to give yourself more time to come to grips with the situation, then that's what you need to do. But please, don't give her anything with tylenol or advil in it. You will cause her to be in much more horrible pain than she is already in.
Ghilly
wow is she in lots pain if so it might be time to make a decission about her, i know you love her very much, your doing all you can. am not sure about pain meds for cancer. i wish you all the luck. love her while you can.
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