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.
I also love basset hounds, and have been owned by three of them...Jones, who lived to be 13, Bridgeport who lived to just 4, and then Miss Helga, our last basset hound, who lived to 13....
I love all dogs, and have had many...different breeds, some just mutts, but all of them, have been the loves of my life...but I have to admit, the basset hound is my favorite...they are stubborn, they can drool all over, their fur sheds constantly, some of them have a strong 'houndy' odor, they want to run away all the time, and they eat like little pigs...but I absolutely adore them...
*chuckle* Maybe I should be glad that someone else adopted both of those bassets I told you about.
My husband had one when he was a kid. His name was McBain. My husband said that he was mean to everyone but his mother and the litter of kittens that he adopted when their mother abandoned them. He would carry the kittens around by the scruff of the neck and he wouldn't let my husband or his brothers anywhere near them.
Bassets are truly not for everyone....so many of them wind up in shelters, or in rescue groups...I think when people get them, they just dont realize what they are getting themselves into...they are comical looking, which is why I think many folks get them....but when they have to contend with the slobber, the shedding fur, the 'houndy' smell, and have to worry about them running away, following the scent of whatever they have picked up on, well, people just cannot cope sometimes with them...
Me, I love them, all those 'faults' included....
It sounds like it takes a lot of dedication and patience to own one. Do you breed them?
That's a decision your neighbor will have to make. You can't really give her any advice because if you do, she may end up doubting she made the right decision. She will know when the times comes.
No I sure dont...just have had 3 of them....they are just my all time favorite dog...Helga, my last basset died a while back...and since then we have not had another dog... because my hubby retires soon, and then we are going to hit the road and live most of the time in our RV, traveling and seeing the USA...just feel its unfair to keep a dog cooped up for long in an RV....but should we ever make the decision to stay put in the house, I will be sure to get another basset hound...
You're right. I can't tell her what to do and I don't want to. As I said in another post, I haven't told her how I feel about it. I just wondered what other dog owners would do or have done in similar situations.
You're right. That probably wouldn't be a good life for a dog. But it sounds like a great one for you. So when are you going to hit the road and where do you want to go first?
I recently had to let my Wolfhound go. He had lymphoma and we tried chemo. The last week was hard, but when the time came, I knew it was time and he died with my arms around him. I don't know how to explain it, but you just know when they can't fight anymore.
Well, the hubby retires, the last day of April...we will just take short trips for the rest of the year...We live in Washington State, so the first trip will be up to the Peninsula of Washington State, for a few weeks...then during the summer, we will just take short trips here and there, trying out the new RV...then in the fall we will be going down to northern Calfornia for a month or so, to visit relatives down there...then return home, here, for the holiday season...and then beginning in '06, we will just close up the house, and take off, to wherever our inclinations take us...we sure are looking forward to it...not having to be tied down to work schedules, and being able to go where we want, and go when we want, sure sounds good to us...
One of my last dogs, a wonderful mutt name Sheeba, was about 11, and not just feeling right...I soon realized she was probably dying, just something instinctual about how she was acting...I made an appointment for her at the vets, but warned him, I knew my doggie, and he should be ready to put her down if need be...
I sadly, put on her leash, and hugged her, tears in my eyes, and told her I loved her, and promised her I would do my best for her...I walked her out in front to the car, and as she crossed in front of the car, she laid down, breathed twice and died, right there...it was a shock, the way it happened...my husband said, it was as if she said, "no way, I am going to die at the vets, I will die at home"...and die at home she did, on her terms...
It sounds wonderful. I envy you.
And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Angel (the Yorkie) isn't ready to go yet. I don't know her like her owner does. I'm sorry about dog. How old was he?
That should be "I'm sorry about your dog."
Well, we have our fingers crossed that all our plans go ahead as planned...the hubby took retirement as early as he could, turning 62 in April....yeah, he could work a few more years, we could squirrel away more money, but life is short, life is to be enjoyed, so we figure, hey we have got enough for what we want to do, so lets do it...
My younger boy laughs, saying he tells his friends, that his parents are about to turn into 'geriatric gypsies'...but he is glad as well, that we are getting to do what we want...
Are you going to have computer access while you're traveling? Would you be able to give up FR? :-)
Well, we are going to get a laptop...I am not computer smart at all, having to have my younger son set up my computer at home, and he always is the one who has to help me when I have a problem with the computer...
But he says, that many RV parks and campgrounds have computer access for a fee...we are also going to have a satellite put on the RV roof, for TV access, when we are in remote areas..so I have to see if the satellite can also work the computer...
Gads, we dont even have a cell phone yet either, which will be a necessity for traveling in the RV... as the son says, we will need to upgrade our hi-tech instruments, to make them RV friendly...besides we will need the computer, to access maps, and points of interest in the areas we will be going to..and of course, we will need the computer to point us to the local pubs, and breweries...
My hubby would dearly love to sample every beer made and served in America...
How on earth have you managed to survive without a cell phone? ;-)
Your husband sounds like mine. I'm not much of a beer drinker so I can't appreciate the nuances of different brands.
I know....I suppose everyone in America has a cell phone, except us...but we will be getting one soon, thats for sure...
I am not much of a beer drinker either...but my husband enjoys trying beer from around the world, and from various little micro breweries...and we certainly live in the right part of the country for that...micro-breweries abound in Washington state, Oregon, and California...makes me wonder how far we will get in that first year of travel...other parts of the country have micro-breweries, but nowhere near the abundance found out here...
I told the hubby, we should get a bumper sticker for the RV, which reads something like 'Beer tasting our way across America'...he says we will probably get arrested...
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