Treating dog with arthritis?

lamom
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:24:02 +0000

Our dog is about 13. He was a lab rescue reject-the lady thought he might have mastiff. At his best he was 110#. His elbows, knees & hips are bad. He was diagnosed when problem was too severe to operate. Vet tx originally with rimadyl inj and glucosamine/chondroitin. He did well with just the suppplement and occasional injection About 4 yrs ago mobic was started, it did wonders. The oral remidyl just didn’t do the job for him. Mobic (melodicam) is now generic and the cost decreased from $100 a month to <$10 for 100 days. 2 years ago he was again in pain. A substitute vet perscribed torbutrol, a controlled substance - I call it doggy stadol he takes 5mg twice a day. 2 months ago vet suggested tramadol in place of torbutrol. $200 vs $10 a month. Dog was addicted to torbutrol so we tried tapering off torbutrol while adding tramadol. Dog started doing better with decreased dose of torbutrol plus tramadol. He is still on meloxicam and glucosamine/chondriitin. Dog is pain free-we’ve seen him in pain so that’s why we say he is pain free. He walks v slowly. He has a history of stomach problems but the occasional gi upset is usually treated with pepcid. Vet tested liver & kidney labs and he came out great. Frankly if his tests came out bad, we probably wouldn’t have changed anything. We feel like we are doggy hospice and let him have just about any treat he wants. Good luck just wanted to say our vet has been able to find several options for us. Got to go time for 5pm tramadol