[roostershmoo]

Hi, my 8-yr old Clem has sever arthritis in both knees. Glucosamine did nothing, so we progressed over the spring to two deramaxx a day, a monthly shot of :blink: I can't remember, and tramadal twice a day.

He is very much top dog in the household of a younger meek girl basset, and a cat. When he gets his tramadal he becomes extermely agressive, growling and snapping at anyone who walks by him.

Yesterday, the vet said to take him off tramadol, but that she had never heard of agression as a side effect.

Has anyone had success with tramadal, or with managing sever arthritis so that your pup is as comfortable and as happy as can be?

I'm in Toronto, and worry that my vet doesn't understand bassets as well as she might.

Thanks for all the advice on armpit rashes, I got some great ideas from you guys.

 

[BubbaLeroy]

Clem is beautiful!! On the arm pit rashes, if it's yeast related you can use "Miconazole 7" which you can buy over the counter in the women's aisle used for women's yeast infections and is antifungal. Once it's cleared up we use "Tinacitn" antifungal foot powder for athlete's foot. We just sprinkle it on every other day, and Bogie hasn't had any more problems. Also works great on their paws for the same issues between their toes and pads.

 

[Betsy Iole]

Since tramadol is an opioid, do dogs develop dependence on it? Do they go through withdrawal when they stop taking it?

 

[roostershmoo]

Indeed, I was worried about it--I was giving him two a day, and I found that he would tremble slightly when it was time for a pill. I slowly weaned him down to one a day, but the vet said it was now ok to stop cold turkey from the one pill.

Tramadol is very addictive, but she did say that he wouldn't be in a position to go rob a drugstore (she doesn't know Clem that well, however :lol: :lol: :lol: )

At the beginning, he would get soo loopy when he'd take a pill--wander down the hall limping with his tail waving madly, looking for something to hump, and then go to sleep. After 4 months though, they just made him act very very cranky, to the point that we were worried he would bite. Unfortunately, in the 6 years we've had him, he has bitten my husband twice. I'm glad he is not taking them anymore-they just weren't right for him.

Since tramadol is an opioid, do dogs develop dependence on it? Do they go through withdrawal when they stop taking it?[/b]

 

[Maggie's Mommy]

Rusty was prescribed Tramadol when he had his rock surgery. The Vet stressed only as needed for pain. We didn't keep him on the pills for more than a few days. I just remember him sleeping alot during that time. I know he was exhausted from the whole ordeal. That's been my only experience with that drug.

When my Maggie Mae (ATB) got very old and her arthritis was very bad the rimadyl and other things just didn't work well. Her Vet prescribed Metacam liquid. It's for arthritis and inflammation. She did very well on it. Hope this helps!

 

[AmyB]

When Sadie was alive, she had severe spinal arthritis. She was on several different medications. After awhile on one, she seemed to become immune to it & it no longer worked, so we had to keep switching. Like Maggie's Mommy used for Maggie, Sadie took Metacam liquid & probably had the best results from that. Beware though, that these medications affect the liver. Sadie's vet regularly took blood to check liver function. After being on the arthritis meds for so long, she eventually needed liver medication to keep her liver functioning properly.

 

[shallhb]

Hi,
We had a poor response to tramadol also. Pearl had an abscessed tooth, and the vet prescribed it because she felt there were no side effects. She was on it about 3 days--the day before the fang surgery and a couple of days after. It made her loopy in a weird sort of way--she didn't look all that comfortable, but looked confused. She was on the lowest dosage, too. They had her on rimadyl at the same time, and after talking to the vet, we stopped the tramadol and just kept giving her the rimadyl, and she seemed just fine. It couldn't have been withdrawal from tramadol, because it was while she was on the drug. Is this the new drug of the month or something? I'd never heard of it until Pearl got it a couple of weeks ago. Seems like there's lots of other things for arthritis out there.

 

[biscuit]

I've never used tramadol, but I have an old German Shepherd girl, Lady, who has horrible arthritis and dysplasia.

She was on Rimadyl for maybe 6 months? and it was like a miracle drug. But she developed Old Dog Vestibular Disorder and, given Rimadyl can cause vestibular problems, I took her off of it.

I then was giving her a chewable dog aspirin that I was getting through drugstore.com. It worked (and is working - I've had to change the dosage) just as well as the Rimadyl - but then Lady got what appeared to be ehrlichia, a tick disease, although we could never get blood tests confirming it. Because her platelet count was so low, and because aspirin affects platelets, I dropped the aspirin, as well, for a month or so.

Now she's back on the aspirin, but at a very reduced dosage. Instead of daily aspirin, I give it to her 2-3 times a week. And it does work.

I've considered Metacam, but am pretty spooked about any of those meds because I am not convinced the Rimadyl didn't contribute to the vestibular disorder.

And glucosamine was worthless. I tried a very good human quality glucosamine and it didn't do a thing. Money wasted. I ended up putting it in the compost heap.

Now mind you, Lady's dysplasia and arthritis are pretty bad. But I've found the most important thing is to keep her as active as is reasonable. That is, she can't be a total maniac anymore like my younger pup, Yogi. But she has got to get up and moving every day, a few times, or she can't get up without extreme difficulty.

I also toss a little ground flaxseed on her food, as it appears to have anti-inflammatory properties, at least from what I've read.

And keeping them well hydrated is also important.

Good luck. It is tough to have a doggie with severe arthritis and other mobility problems. But you'll figure out a way to manage it.

 

[Rubydoo]

All I know about tramadol is from my own personal experiences. I have taken it on and off. One of the side effects on the pharmacy sheet is that it can increase the central nervous system.

So perhaps it does the same in a dog making aggression. ???

Personally, I can't take it for very long at all even tho my doc wants me to..yes it gets rid of the pain but it causes me to feel weird so I only use it "here and there".

Take care,
Janice

 

[Gidget's_mama]

I just took my Gidget to the vet today and the x-rays show she has severe arthritis in her hips. She's only about four years old (and a mix breed to boot so she's only about 33 pounds). Is it unusual for such a young basset to get arthritis? I was flabbergasted, she jumps around and has never shown any signs of being in pain until yesterday. Also do bassets normally pant with pain or just shake? She's my first basset mix and from my other dogs I would have expected her to pant when she's in severe pain, but she hasn't been panting with this at all.

 

[smimlitsch]

I have Walter who has VERY bad arthritis and has had 2 TPLO surgeries. I did give tramadol to him after the surgeries but I thought he acted lethargic and took him off it and also it bothered his stomach and his brother Freds stomach. I have him on Deramaxx and Dasuquin. That combo has been the best so far and both the boys are 12

 

[Soundtrack]

Definitely unusual. I would get a second opinion.
My 10 year old bounces around like a puppy.

 

[Mikey T]

never known a dog to pant from pain. it the pain makes them anxious they may hyperventlate but still not paning though similar.

It is unusually for a basset to have problems with the hips especial at a young age. This is not because basset have good sound hips compared to other breeds far from it they rank near the top of the list for worst hips when looked at via x-ray. but because they are dwarf the limbs are shorter and and much larger diameter which makes the joints bigger comparably while less torque and force can be applied to the joint because of the shorter length of the limbs so even with attrouchious hips bassets rarely have a problem.

The problem with mixes and the preception they are general healtier which is not true by the way, is a combination of traits that work individual for each particular breed when they come to gether in hodge-podge way often create problems like geting the poorly form femoral head and excess lacticity common in bassets but with relatively longer legs and less bulk/diameter as well is likely to add/contribute cause hip problems it is a total crap shoot how the various genes combine and you just don't have a reliable meand of even predicting it.

 

[Jnfr]

Below, I just posted in the other thread, then saw this about severe arthritis...

"Later, as she got older, and found a tumor in her joint, we had to switch to shots from Rymadyl (for the life of me I am drawing a blank on the name of the shot right now... but you start with several the first week, then one a week, then down to once a month). If anyone is interested, PM me and I will look up her records. The shot was not for the tumor, it was for arthritis.

The shot worked wonders. Sophie went from not being able to go up and down the stairs at all to romping like a puppy. However, on cold/damp days she did slow a bit, but so do I! She kept going for 14 wonderful years."

Jennifer

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

Jennifer, was the injection Adequan?

 

[Jnfr]

Actually, I was logging in because I remembered it was Anequan!

Really did wonders for Sophie.

 

[BassetBasti]

Your vet will prescribe you medications to manage the arthritis but other than that the active lifestyle that your dogs have must be change but not be eliminated. Arthritis can really be painful for a dog.

 

[houndmomma]

OK – we have to first address – what a cutie he is – those eyes are soooooo sad – and beautiful!!!

Two of my dogs have severe arthritis, Lucy I’m sure some is just from being 12 ½ years old – but she’s had it for years and years. She had an injury before we got her as a rescue that was never treated that caused it so young in life. My other little guy is my shipoo that has it along with being born with hip dysplasia. We have both of them on Deramaxx.

The Deramaxx alone seems to keep Lucy comfortable but Rickie not so much. There are times during the year he needs to be put on Tramadol for assistance in the pain management. When the pain gets too bad for the Tramadol to help – he then get Rimadyl. It’s always been the weather that’s kicked up his pain and with us having such a mild winter her in Chicago this is the first in a few years that Deramaxx has done the trick. Yea for Little Richard.

If you’re going to move to Rimadyl – make sure to get a blood panel done before you start – then again after two weeks. In some dogs it affects the kidney / liver and you’ll be able to see within two weeks if they’ll be able to take it. Then again if Rickie were to have to stay on it – he would get six month blood testing done to monitor him. So far we’ve been able to just give it to him for a couple weeks and he’ll be back to himself. We know that eventually he might need surgery – but until he tells us – I’m not in a hurry to put him through the surgery.

You mentioned something about armpit rashes but didn’t elaborate – the only time my guys ever have had an armpit rash was Lucy and it was in the summer. Hubby came back home from our other house and said that Lucy was lethargic for the last two days up there. I checked her over and didn’t notice anything – then the next day she was hanging on my feet when I was in my office so I knew something was wrong with her – she so much more clingy when she doesn’t feel well – so I turned her over – and it was then that her front paws were extended over her head that I could see a horrible rash under her arms. I took her right into the vet – all they had us do is keep it clean and keep baby powder under her arms. She’s my extremely full size gal – and when it’s hot – she gets no air under her arms. That was a least five years ago. Keeping them clean and baby powder when it’s warm has fixed the problem.

Jen~

 

[dpvespa55]

We have a 12 year old shih-tzu who was on medicine for arthritis we gave to her in liquid form and it didn't seem to help. She also developed dry skin and was scratching. Our vet tested her to make sure it wasn't an infection or infestation of some sort. She prescribed a fish oil every other day 1/2 tsp. but she started stinking and we cut back to 1/2 tsp weekly. This was last March and she is doing great and a side affect is she no longer is on arthritis medicine, isn't limping at all and has started jumping in and out of the car and up on the couch! The fish oil brand is Welactin 3 Canine.. ( a natural omega-3 supplement for dogs). I think I'm going to start taking fish oil-omega 3 myself! Reina has been on it less than a year and has not been taking arthritis meds at all during that time. We want to get another dog and are thinking of a basset hound.. any ideas? pros/cons?

 

[Mikey T]

want to get another dog and are thinking of a basset hound..

why?