Lottiee
New User
Hi All, apologies in advance for this very long message.
Jack, my 7 year old collie x German shepherd was diagnosed with acute arthritis in June this year.
He was only showing slight signs of stiffness at the start so it came as a shock to me and the vet to find out what state his right hip is in.
So, Jack was started on Metacam, Cartrophen injections, and Synoquin. However, he is now showing more signs of pain and had a really bad day yesterday and was in a lot of pain. We went back to the vet and he has told me to increase his metacam by 5 which is more than this recomended dose, but he said that this would be ok, however the side effect is that if we keep increasing it to find another level that helps with the pain, the more likely it is for his kidneys to suffer, but he felt that there was nothing to lose. He also has given me Tramadol to give to him for really bad days. (I gave him one last night and he was showing lots of improvement within a couple of hours)
My problem is i want to keep him going in terms of pain relief for as long as he is happy and is having more good days than bad, he is only 7 and apart from his hip he is fit and healthy, he has put 3 kilos on over the last 3 months as we have had to stop agility (now weighs 23kg) but he still get 2 walks a day and loves nothing more than to run about on walks, or playing with toys.
I feel slightly responsible for what seems a reall acceleration in the deterioration of his hip over the past 3 months, however, I know how miserable he would be if I didnt allow him to run when he wanted to and play.
Has anyone got any recommendations of anything I could try for pain relief as an alternative to pumping him full of metacam and tramadol? And any other suggestions on how to make sure that he is as as comfortable as possible?
Apologies again for the essay.
Lottie
Jack, my 7 year old collie x German shepherd was diagnosed with acute arthritis in June this year.
He was only showing slight signs of stiffness at the start so it came as a shock to me and the vet to find out what state his right hip is in.
So, Jack was started on Metacam, Cartrophen injections, and Synoquin. However, he is now showing more signs of pain and had a really bad day yesterday and was in a lot of pain. We went back to the vet and he has told me to increase his metacam by 5 which is more than this recomended dose, but he said that this would be ok, however the side effect is that if we keep increasing it to find another level that helps with the pain, the more likely it is for his kidneys to suffer, but he felt that there was nothing to lose. He also has given me Tramadol to give to him for really bad days. (I gave him one last night and he was showing lots of improvement within a couple of hours)
My problem is i want to keep him going in terms of pain relief for as long as he is happy and is having more good days than bad, he is only 7 and apart from his hip he is fit and healthy, he has put 3 kilos on over the last 3 months as we have had to stop agility (now weighs 23kg) but he still get 2 walks a day and loves nothing more than to run about on walks, or playing with toys.
I feel slightly responsible for what seems a reall acceleration in the deterioration of his hip over the past 3 months, however, I know how miserable he would be if I didnt allow him to run when he wanted to and play.
Has anyone got any recommendations of anything I could try for pain relief as an alternative to pumping him full of metacam and tramadol? And any other suggestions on how to make sure that he is as as comfortable as possible?
Apologies again for the essay.
Lottie
