Can pets take carprofen and gabapentin long-term? Natural options?

Carprofen is an nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medication (NSAID) like aspirin or ibuprofen for humans. It's used daily for arthritis or other chronic pain, and short term for more acute/temporary pain. The half life is the amount of time it takes for half of the drug to leave the body (via the liver, kidneys/bladder, or gut). Carprofen can occasionally have side effects on the liver, so if he's going to be on it long term, it's usually recommended to check liver values after 2 weeks. That said, liver issues are rare. Intestinal upset (vomiting/diarrhea) are also possible side effects and if he had any of that you'd want to stop and figure out a different appropriate medication with his vet. With just 6 days of medication, no additional testing will be done. You can (and should, if that is how it was prescribed) give carporfen daily. Appropriate supplements could include fish oils and glucosamine and others, depending on what exactly is going on. I'd recommend asking about supplements for long term when you go for your recheck visit

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sometimes it can take a bit longer for these medications to kick in. It is generally not recommended to use these medications more frequently than how they are recommended as that can result in undesirable side effects such as gastrointestinal side effects with carprofen and significant sedation with gabapentin. For that reason, it would best to wait till the morning if that is what was recommended by the prescribing veterinarian. If you are asking if these two medications can be given together 4 hours apart then the answer would be yes. Good luck!

Tramadol is an opioid meant to alleviate moderate pain, however there are research papers now that determined it is not that effective. Carprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (like aspirin, but for dogs) which is given for certain types of pain such as arthritis. However Carprofen is excreted via the kidneys and if it is to be used, the dog receiving it needs to have a small blood test to verify that his kidneys are working properly. Also carprofen can cause stomach ulcers in some dogs. So unless your vet prescribes these medications for your dog, please do not give them. However, should your vet prescribe those medications for your other dog, you can tell him that you have them and then be informed of the proper dosage to give.

I wouldn’t recommend it -carprofen may not be safe for dogs that have underlying medical conditions like a sensitive stomach, kidney or liver disease. Older dogs are more likely to have an issue like this. If Goose was prescribed carprofen in the recent past it might be a little safer but otherwise I’d recommend talking to your vet first. Sadly there is not another over the counter pain option that I’d consider to be safer so if you feel he’s in significant pain you may want to consider seeing a vet tonight.

Unfortunately there are no safe over the counter pain medications for dogs, as the ones we use in humans can cause liver toxicity and stomach ulcers. I would recommend consulting with your veterinarian for a pain medication. The most popular are NSAIDs such as carprofen, meloxicam, and deracoxib. For long term/mild Arthritis pain a glucosamine chondroitin joint supplement like Dasuquin can help but must be taken daily for about a month before results are seen.

There is really no maximum time that a dog can be on this medication. Some older dogs are on it daily for many years at a time for arthritis or other chronic conditions - it's generally quite well-tolerated and does not tend to cause any health problems, even with long-term use.

Yes, it is safe to give gabapentin with Metacam and the joint supplement. Gabapentin is a drug that affects the nerves in the brain that are involved with the pain response. It can take up to three weeks before the body is used to the gabapentin and is not affected by drowsiness. The drowsiness is not something you have to worry about, it will go away. Be patient, it will take at least a week , up to three weeks.