Labrador Retriever Forum
My old fellow has developed an ulcer from using Metacam...
Has anyone used Tramadol long term for arthritis?
Any other suggestions?
Previcox? I haven't heard of anyone who can't tolerate it.
Maybe supplement as well? I use Wholistic Pet's RunFree together with alfalfa and it's done wonders for us.
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Replying to:
My old fellow has developed an ulcer from using Metacam...
Has anyone used Tramadol long term for arthritis?
Any other suggestions?
I have an eight year old male who has a bad elbow. He was on Prevacox for about 8 weeks and although it worked wonders, it started causing him quite a bit of stomach pain so I had to take him off it. I started him about two weeks ago on Tramadol. So far, not bothering his stomach, but the meds do not seem to work as well as the Prevacox did. Good luck.
Beth have you asked your vet about Adequan Canine http://www.adequancanine.us/ I have Lab and other sporting breed friends who swear by it. I used to use it for my horses and loved it.
Below is what I used for my arthritic girl with success. Never used NSAIDS. Included mild to moderate exercise to maintain muscle mass and fed a food with at least 26% protein to maintain muscle to support the joints, tendons and ligaments.
Vitamin C: high doses (to bowel tolerance) Vit C makes the adrenal gland produce natural steroids which helps reduce inflammation.
DLPA- DL Phenylalanine (all natural) - makes the body produce natural endorphins - the bodies own pain killers. Some drugs can not be combined with this product- such as MAO inhibitors and if certain other health conditions exist.
Glucosamine Hydrochloride and Chondroitin Sulfate:
EPA/DHA: (eicosapentaenoic acid/docosahexaenoic acid) Preferably (180mg/120mg) fish “body” (not liver) oil. This should be given with a vitamin E supplement if not already included in the product (same for humans).
You can get a lot of info on this subject and holistic approaches for pain at www.dogaware.com under the arthritis section.
Other products that some have found to help (to name a few):
Glyco Flex Stage 2 by Vetri-Science : http://www.vetri-science.com/
Beta-tyme (natural cortizone) : http://www.bestforyourpet.com/prod/betat.html
Dog Gone Pain: www.doggonepain.com
I have a 14 year old lady on Tramadol.. depending on the day she is having the dosage ranges from 200-600 mg a day,, 2-6 pills,, she also gets 1/2 to a whole pill of Dermax each night.. she has been on the Tramadol since June,, without it she cant get around at all,, shes happy eating well and enjoying laying out in the yard still.. its all about quality of life not quanity,, LeeAnne
Oaksill Perm Reg
www.angelfire.com/la2/oaksill
Have used Tramadol for my 12yo boy for cancer pain. Used it for about 6 months...until his death without any stomach problems. Did help a lot with the pain.
If the reason you are using the NSAIDS is for arthritis why don't you try going a alternate route? Glyco-flex and alfalfa would be good choices as they are anti inflamatories, I had one girl on the glycol-flex for 12 years and she never limped a day in her life... give it a try :}
Aloha,
Jackie
Yucca is also a natural anti-inflammatory. Nature's Farmacy (www.naturesfarmacy.com) has something called CCM Plus, which is all-natural and a wonderful product! Their Bone & Joint Formula is great, too.
We have an older girl her who is 11 1/2 years old , she has severe arthritis in her left front elbow and the opposite hip,partial cruciate lig issues in one hind leg, she was getting to the point where she could hardly get around and though she was on Adequan inj, Vit C, MSM , Glucosamine and Chondroitin and she gets regular Accupuncture and Chiro she got to the point where we were going to put her down, she was sick from the pred and all the other NSaids she couldn't tolerate either.
So after her appt knowing we were going to put her down in 3 days I brought her home and gave her a Tylenol # 3 and Celebrex 200 mg(BID at first), to make her the most comfortable we could for the next few days. The change by the 2nd day was so dramatic we cancelled her euthanasia appt. Well months later she is still going strong, she does have trouble getting up by herself on very humid days so she has been put on chinese herbs to help with the "fluid".
I know Celebrex is not commonly used in dogs but she has had no GI side effects and eats everything and still loves to flirt with Codey, but we are giving her this knowing she won't be around forever and to make her end of life very comfortable, she moves better than she did before we started trying the Previcox, Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Metacam, prednisone, etc. I don't think most vets would even consider it but this has made THE biggest difference and if we had to stop it tomorrow I think she would be gone in a few days. We have been so fortunate to enjoy this extra time we have had with her and I am lucky to have a very open minded vet who uses a holistic approach to her patients.
Thank you for the tip on buying Tramadol at Walmart. I didn't realize this was on their list. 
Tramadol is a very effectve pain medication.At a recent veterinary conference it was said that it is underdosed when it is prescribed. My vet says she is going to up the dosesshe prescribes -- if owners report their dogs are sleepy, she will cut back.
A new product called ZUBRIN is working well for my old girl. It dissolves in the mouth so it is much easier to get it down.+
Our 11 1/2 year old guy has been on 400-600mg of Tramadol a day since early Spring and without it he'd be gone. He has horrible arthritis in his spine and is incapable of movement without the pain meds.
He's eating, playful and still enjoys life. We've seen absolutely no aide-effects of the drug. So long as his quality of life is good, he'll continue on the meds.
