Posted on 02/14/2005 1:31:12 PM PST by ambrose
Popular pet painkiller has serious side effects
11:19 PM CST on Friday, February 11, 2005
By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA-TV
Not long ago King Billy the Golden Retriever was so stiff with arthritis, a veterinarian said to put him down.
"He had so much life in him I said I just can't do that." So owner Vince Sharkey put his old pal on a non-steroid painkiller called Rimadyl.
"Before I had him on Rimadyl, he was not even able to walk," Sharkey says. "He would drag his back half of his body. The moment we got him on Rimadyl, he was back to being his normal self again."
But then there's the other side. The 2-year-old Saint Bernard named Honor.
"He'd been sitting in my lap. And he looked up at me, and he died," says owner Lynne Bradburn.
Pfizer, the maker of Rimadyl, warns of rare but serious side effects. Since 1997, the company has logged some 18,000 reported adverse effects, including 2,300 deaths.
But that's out of more than a billion doses given to 15 million dogs.
Mansfield veterinarian Roger Kendrick prescribes Rimadyl more than almost any other drug. "I think it's an excellent drug," Dr. Kendrick says.
Houston-area veterinarian Bob Rogers is an outspoken critic of Rimadyl. He blames veterinarians for overdosing dogs, mixing incompatible medicines, or giving Rimadyl to dogs that already have liver or kidney problems.
"Clients should be warned of the side effects," Dr. Rogers says.
The problem, he says, is too many veterinarians get too much information from drugmakers and not independent sources.
"I think there's a huge conflict of interest when a drug company comes to town, buys dinner, gives a sales pitch, and vets get continuing education for that."
Pets, like their owners, are living longer and taking more drugs. Unlike their owners, though, they can't ask what those drugs will do to them.
Veterinarians say all dogs who get Rimadyl and similar drugs need to be screened for liver and kidney problems, and closely monitored for tummy trouble.
It can give dogs years of extra life, but it's not completely risk-free.
REGARDING RIMADYL The drug was introduced in England in 1994 and in the U-S in 1997. It is in a class of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflamatories. (NSAID) After it's introduction in the U-S, the FDA began receiving complaints. Pfizer has since updated its warnings.
According to Pfizer, the risk of adverse side effect is .0009 percent. Critics suspect the incidence is higher.
Vets who use it, and most do, recommend that owners pay attention to changes in appetite, vomiting, lethargy or any other signs that develop and report them promptly to your vet.
Answer: Toy poodle in the microwave.
I assume you didn't run out and join PETA when you left the ACLU? LOL
But you do need to monitor appetite, water consumption, stool condition, and be aware of any changes in behaviour. They can't speak about what they feel.
Ive got a good vet who doesn't want to push medications on my dogs all the time for exactly the reasons stated in the article.
Our Vet preferrs to try glucosamine variants ( with chondroitin or MSM ) first, but our old girl could scarcely stand up after the rat episode.
The downside is that rather than snoozing half the day, she is constantly charging the fence and gates, and challenging every imagined intruder.
"glucosamine variants ( with chondroitin"
Ive got a bottle of it right here and I take it too. It's one of those things that may or may not be helpfull but it isn't harmfull in moderation (according to the vet) Personally I think it works for me and the dog. I don't seem to have as much pain in my joints as I used to. So far I haven't begun charging the fence but we'll see once it gets warm.
That's just wrong...
I'd like to get the opinions of dog lovers here. My neighbor has a 15 year old Yorkie. She's blind and deaf, she can't walk and her kidneys are shutting down. If she were your dog, would you let her go on this way until she died or would you have her put to sleep?
That, and plain old asprin- she was taking the newer junk- advil, celebrex, or ultram- and it really didn't give enough relief-- last month she was kicking me out of bed, she was so restive and miserable.
I suggested she try enteric asprin- a couple of 5-grain tablets every four hours, and the difference has been remarkable. She's finally comfortable again.
I would have put her down when she was having trouble walking.
I let my precious dog Bear die with some dignity after he could no longer get in position to poop without being in horrible pain. He got beer & steak dinners for 4 days first...
If the aspirin causes stomach trouble, she might try Alka Seltzer. That's what I use for RA, and it works extremely well.
That was my feeling, too. But it's not my dog so I can't make the decision. My neighbors are a mother and daughter. The daughter is in her mid-40's and her mother is in her late 60's and she has a lot of health problems. They have five dogs and one of them is a puppy. The mother is having a hard time taking care of all of the dogs while the daughter works and she isn't able to dedicate the time to the Yorkie that she would like to. The Yorkie is hers and the four dachsunds are her daughter's. She didn't want the puppy, but she didn't want to tell her daughter no.
I'm sorry about your Bear. I'm sure that he enjoyed his steak dinners before he left you.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind-- so far, the enteric tablets haven't produced gastric distress, but that is a very common complaint with asprin.
Time for the poor little thing not to suffer any further.
I agree. Every time I go over there and see her laying there in her playpen, I feel so sorry for her. They keep telling me that she's not in pain, but I don't believe it. I think they want to believe it because they don't want to let her go.
I had a 4 year old yellow lab that was one of these 2300. Wiped out his kidneys and liver in a matter of a few days. Based on my experience of one case, I would urge caution.
Two Alka tabs in water have 650 mg of aspirin, same dose as two regular aspirin. I take quite a lot of aspirin, and when I can't have it with food, I substitute Alka.
Rimadyl is a tremendous relief to a dog after major surgery.
Yes, I would put her down with appropriate love and care. IMHO.
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