Carprofen

[danda]

My elderly Golden has sprained her back right foot, after x rays etc the vet says it is not broken. It is not really weight bearing and has swollen. He is prescribed Carprofen, one a day for 10 - 20 days and rest. He warned me about possible side effects and to get back if he is not eating well and drinking too much etc. After looking up this anti inflammatory drug on the internet, it looks quite worrying. Has anyone good expetiences please?

 

[Aru]

After 90 days of use a respectable amount of dogs had minor gi issues with carprofen in one of the studies preformed so generally I'm not a fan of using it for longterm management but it works well in the short term for most dogs and doesn't often cause issues...despite what the internet will tell you.

I dispense it a lot especially for the larger dog's as its one of the cheaper nsaid's to use as a short term pain relief...and have yet to run into any issues in the last 6 years or so. I've met a handfull of dogs who are down on the medical record as sensitive to it so use other nsaid's for them...but never experienced any issues first hand.

Always give with food,avoid the temptation to give extra and keep an eye out for any changes in appetite, drinking excessively diarrhoea or odd poo etc....but the risks are very similar as human ibuprofen and thats free to buy over the counter for us humans.. Aspirin actually I suspect is quite a lot more dangerous.

We always advise to monitor for any signs of gi issues and do go back to the vet if any issues do occur.
But you would be very unlucky to have this happen.

Google will tell you the worst of the worse stories of any medication if you ask it...always take them with a pinch of salt and remeber very few people post positive reviews of meds online...causation and correlation are a whole other discussion as well.

Overall I wouldn't worry to much as long as its agreeing with your girl you should be fine.Hope that helps!

 

[danda]

Many thanks for your quick reply, that is quite reassuring and he will be taking his first one with his meal today so hope he eats up with the med in it.