My senior Lab's arthritis isn't responding to Rimadyl. What next?

You should take her to your veterinarian for a re-assessment. THis may include changing to another NSAID, or adding other pain medication such as Gabapentin, or even opioids. You may also start with some physiotherapy such as swimming in warm water, to keep her mobile. Unfortunately more and more evidence points to Tramadol not being very effective in dogs for taking pain. I suggest you make an appointment with your vet soon.

You can talk to your vet about therapy laser treatments if it is available in your area as these can help with pain and inflammation. You can also see about starting Adequan injections to help with the joints or further pain medication such as gabapentin or Tylenol 3 or 4 in extreme cases.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is concerning as the Rimadyl is supposed to be helping but things continue to be about the same. This could be due to a neurological issue for example. I would encourage you to check in again with your veterinarian to have Lex reevaluated as she has not improved much. They could consider another medication such as gabapentin or more advanced diagnostics to try to diagnose the matter. Best of luck!

Hello. You can wean her off the pred onto the Metacam , or you can add additional pain medications such as tramadol or gabapentin. I, personally do not like long-term prednisone because of the possibility of side effects, but even Metacam can cause some issues. Regardless of what you & your veterinarian choose for Sydney, make sure periodic blood work is run to pick up any early signs of problems. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

The accepted dose of Rimadyl is about 1 mg per pound every 12 hours, so I would not give more than 50 mg in a 12 hour period. Rimadyl comes in 25, 75, and 100 mg tablet sizes and I don’t know which one you have. If she has already had an appropriate dose and she is still uncomfortable then she should probably be evaluated by a veterinarian as soon as possible. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Metacam is similar to ibuprofen or naproxen and has both anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties. In general I feel like drugs in this class work better for arthritis than medications that only treat pain like tramadol. Each dog is different, and some dogs need multiple medications to relieve the pain associated with arthritis.

If the vet didn't do x-rays at her last appointment, that may be the next logical step. She may also need pain medications to be used in conjunction with the Rimadyl if there is soft tissue pain. You can try applying an ice pack or frozen bag of peas wrapped in a thin towel for 15 minutes several times a day. Itching is probably not related to her pain, and can be caused by fleas, mange, lice, infections (bacterial or yeast), ringworm, allergies, among others. I would recommend that you discuss this with your vet at Avery's next appointment so that she can be appropriately treated for it. More prominent skeletal structures can be caused by dehydration, weight loss, or muscle loss. This is also something that should be discussed with your vet, since there can be so many things that could lead to any of these possible causes.