Can I crush my dog's Tramadol for pain relief after surgery?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

• Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

  Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

  For most forms of tramadol, it's perfectly fine to crush up the tablets and mix with food if needed - we frequently recommend doing this for patients who are difficult to medicate :) There is an extended-release form of tramadol that is used in humans that is not meant to be split or crushed, but it would be extremely uncommon to prescribe this in dogs in my experience - it's much more costly than "regular" tramadol, and its effects are a bit unpredictable in dogs since the extended-release formulation is based on a human's GI tract. So I doubt very much that this form would have been prescribed for your dog.
  
  If you still have concerns, you could call the veterinarian who prescribed the medication to verify that "regular" tramadol is the kind that was prescribed. As long as this is the case, there's no problem at all with crushing the tablets if needed.

  

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