My senior boy is 13 years. He is doing well except for major arthritis in his back. This has required him to be on Dermaxx 100 once a day for the past 2 years to allow him to continue to walk.

Now my vet says Dermaxx is back ordered indefinitely and has put him on Rimadyl 75 mg twice a day....it is running me $80 a month.

I would like to find somewhere to buy in cheaper.
Yes my vet will write the prescription and
yes my senior gets blood work every 6 months and liver is fine.

thank you for any suggestions.

Try the generic, such as Novox. Check out petfooddirect.com and other online pharmacies in the US. You would need a prescription. I have not used petfooddirect.com but I do see that you can get 180 caplets for under $100 at that quantity and in the generic form.

When possible, buy the caplet form, not the chewable, for safety. An 11 year old Lab of a friend's chewed through the box, the bottle and ate most of a mailed box that a pet sitter put on the desk for the owner. Ten days later, in spite of treatment started within an hour at an emergency clinic, with round the clock hospitalization and fluids, etc. , Samantha died suddenly. The two other dogs in the household were also ill, but they made it. The chewable is apparently VERY tantalizing in its aroma. If the dog is hard to pill, I'd use a part of a pill pocket or old fashioned butter or liverwurst to coat it instead.

Please don't give Rimadyl to your Labrador.
There are other very good choices, such as Meloxicam.
Rimadyl is often toxic to the liver in labradors.

FWIW, Meloxicam 7.5mg tablets are $4.00 for 30 tablets. Calculated doseage for the average sized lab is 1/2 tablet once daily. Do the math. That's 2 months meds for just $4.00. Charlie has been on it for a while now. Your vet will have to call in a script. Hope this helps.

All the NSAID's have the potential to be toxic, meloxicam included, why bloodwork needs to be done when used. Rimadyl has been literally a life saver for many many Labradors, my own included. To say it is often toxic is not true, there have been cases yes, but it is not the majority. Any drug has risks. There are many different generic versions that are just as effective, your vet may even be able to provide you with one if you ask.
Also dogs respond differently, just like one person's headaches may have a better response to Advil and some to Motrin. I had a senior boy who did not improve as much with deramaxx or meloxicam, but responded better with rimadyl. Another one of my dogs did better with deramaxx. Sometimes you have to try them all to see which one works best with the particular dog.

Meloxicam can cause many side effects that include stomach ulceration, unusual bleeding and kidney failure. It can even lead to hepatopathy reaction, that is, liver disease.

We have been using Novox for a few years now with great success. We had one dog that could not tolerate meloxicam at all however with a combo of tramadol & gabapentin, plus the novox, she is able to live a comfortable life in old age. We get our Novox from Dr's Foster & Smith. There are reactions to all of the medications we give and you just have to use what works best for your specific situation.

For the past 6 months, 2 of my older pack members have been taking (and depending on which dog)1 or 2 tabs Tramadol twice daily. Both take 1/2 tab Meloxicam once daily and the very old boy also takes gabapentin. Every 3 months I have blood work on both old boys to check liver function levels. So far no elevated levels and they are comfortable and able to enjoy their days with an occasional burst of puppy like energy.

Good luck with your oldster.

I have had several elders on various things for arthritis, all liver normal even after 2 yrs or more of treatment.

1 currently takes the scrip Meloxicam ,7.5mg, 1 tablet every 3rd day for arthritis in his back. Initial dose was daily for 2 weeks, then maintain at some interval that works effectively. Vet uses this on his own dog. My dog is 82lbs. This is $4.00 for 30 tabs

1 takes varied generic forms of Rimadyl, 75mg 1x day for arthritis in knee. She has been on this DAILY for 2 years with no problem. She is 68lbs. I buy from my Vet for around $60.00/month

Vet says NO Meloxicam to dogs under 75 pounds. I have used this on one of my larger girls and it made her vomit and she obviously had stomach discomfort because she wouldn't eat. My other girl got irregular heartbeats on this, but tolerates Duramax and generic Rimadyl.

1 took Duramax successfully long term. I buy from my Vet for $115.00 for 5 month supply. Dog was on 1 tablet daily. He was 85lbs.

I think just like in humans, some are more sensitive than others and sometimes a lower dose is effective.

My Vet has also given us Tramadol 50mg, this is pain relief only, not with anti-inflamatory. It is still hard on the liver, as are all pain/anti-inflamatory meds.

My Vet also stresses proper weight, safe exercise, and gluclosomine/MSM/chondriaton(sp.)/Vit C flex type medications as well to complete therapy.

Hope this helps

FYI Advil and Motrin are brand names. The active ingredient is ibuprofen in both, 200mg.
There is NO difference in them. So it's your imagination that one works better than the other.

Tramadol should actually be dosed every 6-8 hours at a minimum. It is only effective for about 2.5 hours in humans -- we do not have any duration studies in dogs.

You may want to ask your vet about gabapentin -- it is extremely safe (no known long term side effects) and is the drug of choice among pain management specialists for long term arthritis treatment.

this is not really a pain issue but more neurological
I did speak to the vet about some of the other choices.
we may try the metacam in pill form.

Wish Dermaxx was not on back order, he did well on that but not doing well on Rydimal.

so after talking with the vet we decided to try
Meloxicam in pill form, purchased from Pharmacy.

Since she has never used anything but the liquid form she worked up the dosage
at one pill the first day and 1/2 pill every day after.

I has helped him greatly with his mobility, he seems happier. BUT I have notice looser stools and sometimes when he sleeps he is leaving skid marks on the blanket.

Can I add something to help firm him or do we need to re evaluate the meds?

Glad to hear the Meloxicam is working! Try giving probiotics with it in the food and then backing off to 1/2 a pill every other day.