Arthritis medication

Jacqui-S

Jacqui-S

Moderator
Location
Fife, Scotland
Had Lilly at the vet today for a checkup after asking for a further prescription of Rofecoxib (Previcox).
We started her back on this before Christmas as we felt she was a bit flat on the Tramadol, so weaned her off her steroids for her lupus so we could retry NSAIDS.
Her lupus incidentally seems to be in remission, yay!
Vet said both her elbows are quite arthritic and stiff, and of course, her hips are decidedly dodgy from her hip dysplasia.

Vet talked about other options to the Previcox. Namely.....
Onsior
Amantadine
Tramadol
Gabapentin
Cartrophen injections.

I'm not keen on the Tramadol, we felt it made Lilly a bit flat. Concerned the Gaba may do the same (but also it's a right pain to have to order every month with these being CDs)
I think we may have mentioned Onsior quite recently in the context of ?Reuben and it being only licensed for short term post op analgesia eg 3 to 7 days. A quick search and it looks like both Doug @SwampDonkey and Casper @Beanwood have both used it previously, possibly for longer.

I think a few dogs have benefited from the Cartrophen @David Lady I remember for sure. Given I don't have insurance for Lilly, I'm guessing this may be the most expensive option, and although a consideration if definitely doesn't exclude it.

I haven't heard at all of Amantadine, and wonder if anyone has experience of it?

My thoughts right now are to get her on a proper dose of Previcox, see how she is, then consider adding Gaba or Amantadine in due course. She is currently only getting half the dose for her weight she could take.
Not sure when I would opt for Cartrophen trial.

We have her on Fish4Dogs food, good for the Omega3s, and she has been on YouMove since she was a year old.
She gets fortnightly hydrotherapy swims. Gentle exercise, probably 30 mins in the morning, with 20min later most days. Still up for a chase with Oreo now and again but definitely slowed down. Never known her NOT to be at the front door if she thinks we are going out 😀 and her tail never stopped wagging on our walks last week.

Anyway, I know this isn't exactly a new topic, but there are some newer drugs to consider perhaps, so any experience welcome!
 
SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

Doug was onsior and tramadol for a long time and did very well on them. He was a happy dog had hydrotherapy weekly and still went out for little walks at 14. Combinations seem to work. I hope you can find a good solution for Lily it's harder with a dog how has a comprised immune system. I wish I could have that time again with Doug there seems so many more options now. I know you will find something suitable for Lily
 
M

M.F.

Have you considered adding turmeric paste? I give Snowie a teaspoon every morning and have a teaspoon myself. I’ve heard so many good things about it, and I’m sure it’s helped me, too (achey hand joints from time to time, very sore back).

For pain meds, can you add paracetamol? We find it very effective when Snowie has a back flare up. It seems the least harmful of all the pain meds. I realise it might not touch sides for severe pain, but it has been effective for Snowie.

So sorry Lily is in pain. How old is she now?
 
Atemas

Atemas

UK Tour Guide
Location
North Cambridgeshire
Sky was on Meloxidyl for several years for her arthritis. It suited her well. She was very stoical. As far as walks were concerned, we were guided by her. She had Yumove and Salmon oil. I disliked Tramadol as zoned her out. I don’t know whether vets use Meloxidyl anymore. She also had a magnetic collar which I felt helped but not sure.

Hope you find the right medication for lovely Lilly
 
Joy

Joy

Location
East Sussex
My last dog was on Metacam for the last 18 months of his life (from 13 years) and it was transformative for him - he went from being almost unable to move due to pain to looking relaxed and enjoying walks once more. I know that some dogs can't tolerate it but for him it was a great solution.
 
Loraseal

Loraseal

Location
The Hague, The Netherlands
Interesting @Jacqui-S as I am about to start discussing pain relief for Hunter with my vet.
Restricted walking, supplements, salmon oil and golden paste have been working well but we have noticed in the last few weeks that he is starting to limp more and is very stiff when he stands up. His elbows click when he does his good morning bow and he seems to be having problems in his back legs too. Still a happy idiot but I can sense that something is not quite right.
I use Novocam for his pain relief. I currently have been using it once a week for his "off day" However over the past few weeks it has been 2 or 3 times.
My pain relief vet has stopped working due to a nervous breakdown and her practice has been taken over by a huge company.
So I will see what my "normal-go-to-vet" suggests and let you know what she recommends.

So happy that Lilly's Lupus is under control X
 
UncleBob

UncleBob

Administrator
Staff member
Hi @Jacqui-S

Harv is having Cartrophen injections. They, combined with YuMove supplements, have made a huge difference: what led to us going to the vet and getting the arthritis diagnosis in the first place was the fact that Harv was limping on pretty much every one of his walks and was clearly uncomfortable, whereas now there is no limping on his walks at all.

If he has a particularly energetic outing - like coming across one of these bloody people with a ball-chucker who insist on chucking it towards us! - then he may suffer for it later that evening. We then just give him some Metacam for pain relief and he is fine again the next day.

I know it is all relative and different people have different concepts of what is expensive but I think the Cartrophen is good value. There is a course of 4 injections, one week apart, and they are £17.10 each at our vet. At the moment one course lasts a year for Harv. As he gets older it may be necessary to increase the frequency, we'll see how it goes.
 
Selina27

Selina27

Location
Herefordshire, UK
The only experience I have had of this would be the cartrophen injections in a working collie going back about 17/18 years. I think it was cartrophen anyway. He had monthly injections periodically from when he was about 8 , he lived a very happy active lifestyle until he was 15 and half ! It made a huge difference to him.
 
Oberon

Oberon

Location
Canberra, Australia
Obi is on Cartrophen (called Zydax here...used to be Pentosan) every 6 months (has the 4 x weekly shots). It’s definitely helped him.

He also gets about a third of his diet as Hill j/d kibble (the vet only joint stuff) and we reckon that this has helped a bit too.

Normally when he gets close to the 6 monthly point he becomes a bit reluctant to jump up on things (ie our bed) but the Cartrophen fixes this. Since he’s been on the Hills this reluctance has gone away too. He’s due for his Cartrophen this month but he is actually fine and the vet said to push it out a little bit.
 
Natalie

Natalie

It's really interesting reading everyone's experiences. This is Monty:
- he's been on meloxicam for six years, an I have found it to be the best overall thing for him. We did two / three months of the Previcox tablet before this, but noticed no improvement.
- He has had regular cartrophen injections, (starting with an intensive course six years ago,) but on reflection I don't think he's had one for six months now, and there's no noticeable difference- though I will get one done again soon.
- We have a supply of tramadol, and recently gabapentin for flare ups - honestly, as a one off, I'm not sure they make a huge difference but he's never had them for more than a few days. No apparent side effects at all for him, which is good
- We turn to paracetamol as the first port of call for 'top up' pain relief, I do think this works a bit.
- We've used laser treatment sporadically (I think this works for Monty for acute flare ups not ongoing management of chronic issues).
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Elbows - definitely Cartrophen. 60% of a dogs loading is through the front end, so if there is an existing problem around the elbows then for sure Cartrophen should make a difference. This is the reason Benson has Cartrophen.

Yumove - check dose, you may need to significantly up the dose. We use Yumove Plus. Cheap as chips when you buy bulk with a good discount.

Yep, Casper is on long-term Onsior plus paracetemol when in a lot of pain. Gabapentin will be the next step if we start to see neuro deficits, which is very likely now.

A good rehab physio - if you can, to help ease those joints, work with the musculature and keep an eye on gait.
 
M

M.F.

Just remembered that Snowie had laser treatment when his back problems got really bad. The result was remarkable! I think he had 3-4 treatments about a week or two apart (I need memory pills!!). A few years later his back problems raised their ugly head, and again the laser worked well. Touch wood he hasn’t had any back problems of late, which I think is a happy side effect of an enforced slow down due to our severe lockdown last year, and now he doesn’t injure himself doing mad racing around because he’s got too slow/lazy to bother with racing around. A nice staid pace keeps him pain free!
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Ginny has Osteopen, which is the same medication as Cartrophen. She had a loading of four doses over four weeks, and now is on one every three months. It seemed to make a small immediate difference, but there is obviously a lot of damage and a lot of wear and tear in her case, so it's not a miracle cure, and in some ways it's not comparable to a quadruped. We also use a heat mat on her spine and hips on a regular basis. I'm not sure if this does anything really, but she loves it, so there's no reason not to continue.
We also use a supplement Hialo Active XL which is similar to YuMove Plus with some added benefits, such as collagen and devil's claw, which has been noted to be apparently effective at reducing osteoarthritic pain (although more studies need to be done).
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
Nelly has a small dose of gabapentin as and when she needs it . She also has occasional metacam which she tolerates well with no visible side effects .
I`m so pleased that the Lupus is in remission , thats really good news and Lilly is looking wonderful in your photos xx
 
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