Long Term Tramadol Useage

PorkChop

PorkChop

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 June 2010
Messages
10,646
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Does anyone have experience of using Tramadol and Loxicom long term on their dog?

Our old Cane Corso has been x-rayed today for a lameness in her hock, presenting as a bony growth. We are unsure yet whether it is arthritis or tumour but the bottom line is that she is not a suitable candidate for chemotherapy or to have her leg removed. So we are looking at a fairly high doseage of Tramadol and Loxicom to keep her comfortable :(

I am wondering just how long will be able to keep her on this, and have yet to see if it will actually enable her to be sound.

She is such a darling, and we want her to be comfortable in her twilight years, any thoughts much appreciated.
 
My weim bitch has been on Tramadol for the last 3 years at the maximum does, along with the maximum dose of Rimadyl and she's still doing fine. She's lost a bit of weight but thats all and this keeps her pretty much sound, she's crippled if we try and take her off them
 
catherine22 said:
My weim bitch has been on Tramadol for the last 3 years at the maximum does, along with the maximum dose of Rimadyl and she's still doing fine. She's lost a bit of weight but thats all and this keeps her pretty much sound, she's crippled if we try and take her off them
Click to expand...

Yay, thank you, that makes me feel soooo much better :D
 
My Rott was on Metacam (Loxicom is the same stuff IIRC?) for about 4 years, just when he needed it to start with and for the last two years on a daily basis. He couldn't tolerate Tramadol at all - very dopey on it and within a couple of days it would really affect his stomach. I know other dogs that have been fine on it longterm though so it was probably just him and his delicate tummy.

If it is arthritis, can I recommend hydrotherapy? It was near miraculous for him - a dog that didn't have one good leg out of four and not the greatest hips - it brought him back from a wobbly, badly muscled limpy wreck to a fit, happy, bouncy dog ie before he had to be lifted in and out of a low car boot to being able to leap into the back of a 4x4 within 6 months. The fact that it was a stranger's car at the park was just a bit embarrassing...:)
 
My collie has been on metacam for 4/5 years now and was originally on tramadol for a year or two and did very well on it. I ran out over the weekend and the vet said I could use codeine (which we had in the house anyway) and she was a lot brighter on it do have kept her on the codiene since then. She's gone from a high dose of tramadol to a low dose of codiene and has less side effects and I'm convinced it's better at managing her pain (she has severe hip dysplasia and arthritis).
On the tramdol although brighter than with no pain meds she was quieter than she is now and had to be on laxatives (we used lactulose on vet advice) as she got too constipated otherwise. She's brighter on the codiene and doesn't need any laxatives on the codiene (plus it's a lot cheaper than the tramadol) so I'd ask about trying that.

Second hydrotherapy as it really helps meg plus she has green lipped muscle and she's as sore if she misses 2/3 doses of that as if she misses several doses of metacam so definately recommend that as well.
 
cbmcts, I think we have a local hydrotherapy unit, I will look into that, thank you. We have tried Loxicom by itself and it makes no difference at all :( she really is quite bad unfortunately. I have given her the first Tramadol tablets tonight, I will see what effect it has on her. It doesn't matter if it makes her a bit sleepy as she is on "light duty" as such - free to roam our big garden but not up to being taken for a walk.

mynutmeg, that's interesting about the codeine. I am taking her back to the Vet in ten days to discuss her progress and any other results, I will mention it, thank you. She is already on a joint supplement which contains green lipped mussel :)
 
I would never subject ANY animal to a permanent diet of ANY suppressive drug. If any animal needs such treatment, then we're not doing it for the animal, but ourselves.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
I would never subject ANY animal to a permanent diet of ANY suppressive drug. If any animal needs such treatment, then we're not doing it for the animal, but ourselves.

Alec.
Click to expand...

If you saw my collie dog on the opiods you'd soon change your mind. Before she went on the tramadol/codiene she was very subdued and obviously sore - I was thinking she wouldn't last the winter before we had to say good bye, now on the meds (although they have a slight sedating effect, esp if she needs extra cause she's done too much) she is happy and bouncy most of the time - she doesn't get long walks as she gets to sore but she fetchs toys, is eager to play, loves her swimming, loves going to obediance and in general is a happy dog - the day will come when the meds don't control her pain or when she needs so much pain meds that her quality of life suffers too much and at that point she'll get a dignified end but in the meantime she has had 3/4 years longer than I initially expected and she's comfortable, enjoys life (especially making a lot of noise!!) and is happy - when she is no longer all three things THEN I'll say goodbye but not before while she's happy.
If I was doing it for myself I'd be putting her through two hip replacements so that I wouldn't have to deal with her life being much shorter due to eventually being unable to give a good qualitiy of life however I won't put her through 3 months crate rest per hip, never mind that she struggled with the aftermath of a lump removal so instead I'll keep her happy and comfortable for as long as I can and when I can no longer do that I'll say goodbye to her.

Sorry for the complete lack of punctuation :p When she started on the opiods I couldn't believe how much brighter she became - I honestly hadn't realised how bad she had become, now she has her codiene with her dinner and she'll go and wriggle around then bring toys demanding to be played with.
 
Last edited:
LJR said:
cbmcts, I think we have a local hydrotherapy unit, I will look into that, thank you. We have tried Loxicom by itself and it makes no difference at all :( she really is quite bad unfortunately. I have given her the first Tramadol tablets tonight, I will see what effect it has on her. It doesn't matter if it makes her a bit sleepy as she is on "light duty" as such - free to roam our big garden but not up to being taken for a walk.

mynutmeg, that's interesting about the codeine. I am taking her back to the Vet in ten days to discuss her progress and any other results, I will mention it, thank you. She is already on a joint supplement which contains green lipped mussel :)
Click to expand...

You will be amazed at the difference a good pain regime will make, it's all about getting the balance right for that dog, and unfortunatley accepting that it's a delaying tactic, but so long as they are bright, happy and comfortable then go for it.
 
Alec Swan said:
I would never subject ANY animal to a permanent diet of ANY suppressive drug. If any animal needs such treatment, then we're not doing it for the animal, but ourselves.

Alec.
Click to expand...

I completely agree, most of my dogs are working dogs, and I am not someone who would shy away from PTS any animal when the time is right. I do not want to keep any dog "going", however this particular dog is bright and I owe it to her to give it a try, if only for a limited period of time. I don't know how long the painkillers will take to kick in, at the moment there is no improvement at all :(
 
mynutmeg said:
You will be amazed at the difference a good pain regime will make, it's all about getting the balance right for that dog, and unfortunatley accepting that it's a delaying tactic, but so long as they are bright, happy and comfortable then go for it.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I completely agree, fingers crossed.
 
If you give codeine, are you giving just codeine phosphate or cocodamol?
Am I right in thinking you cannot give a dog paracetamol? I have googled about dogs and human painkillers with extreme responses in either direction, both from vets and dog owners.
My 11 year old Retriever bitch has just started taking Metacam for arthritis and is showing good improvement in her mobility already, but interested in alternatives in case she cannot tolerate Metacam long term.
 
debsg said:
If you give codeine, are you giving just codeine phosphate or cocodamol?
Am I right in thinking you cannot give a dog paracetamol? I have googled about dogs and human painkillers with extreme responses in either direction, both from vets and dog owners.
My 11 year old Retriever bitch has just started taking Metacam for arthritis and is showing good improvement in her mobility already, but interested in alternatives in case she cannot tolerate Metacam long term.
Click to expand...

codiene phosphate - normal dose is 15mg twice a day, she gets 30 on sore days and I believe she can go higher but we haven't got there yet.
Dogs cannot have paracetamol - my vet said they can have a tiny dose on occasion without damage but personally I wouldn't risk it.
 
LJR said:
I completely agree, most of my dogs are working dogs, and I am not someone who would shy away from PTS any animal when the time is right. I do not want to keep any dog "going", however this particular dog is bright and I owe it to her to give it a try, if only for a limited period of time. I don't know how long the painkillers will take to kick in, at the moment there is no improvement at all :(
Click to expand...

I would say I saw an improvement within a day or two - certainly I see an improvement within 30 minutes or so of an extra dose of codiene on sore days. If you haven't seen an improvement within a week of tramadol then I wouldn't think it's doing the job.
What meds and what dose is she on? Meg was on 50-75mg of tramadol a day which is at the top half of dosage for a dog her size (21kg), and less than that wouldn't have been enough for her.
 
My dog has calpol occasionally as told by my vet, she went to a lecture and it is very good for stomach pain relief he has an amount recommended by the vet if he gets an IBD attack.
 
mynutmeg said:
I would say I saw an improvement within a day or two - certainly I see an improvement within 30 minutes or so of an extra dose of codiene on sore days. If you haven't seen an improvement within a week of tramadol then I wouldn't think it's doing the job.
What meds and what dose is she on? Meg was on 50-75mg of tramadol a day which is at the top half of dosage for a dog her size (21kg), and less than that wouldn't have been enough for her.
Click to expand...

No difference yet unfortunately - she is a 48kg dog, is having top dose of Loxicom and 100mg of Tramadol twice a day, the Vet did say this was the most he was happy for her to have. She has been on Loxicom for a week now with the extra Tramadol for two days including an injection of painkiller, not sure what, when she was sedated for x-ray. We are back to the Vets next Friday, we will need to discuss if we need to try something else.

Thank you for taking the time to reply in detail :)
 
LJR said:
No difference yet unfortunately - she is a 48kg dog, is having top dose of Loxicom and 100mg of Tramadol twice a day, the Vet did say this was the most he was happy for her to have. She has been on Locom for a week now with the extra Tramadol for two days including an injection of painkiller, not sure what, when she was sedated for x-ray. We are back to the Vets next Friday, we will need to discuss if we need to try something else.

Thank you for taking the time to reply in detail :)
Click to expand...

No probs. Def ask about codiene as I fohnd it more effective - interesting that he's not happy for more than 100mg for your dog - that was the maximum for meg whos only 21 kg. the loxicam type drugs take longer to kick in but id expect the tramdol to take effect quickly. Meg had a week off the metcam recently due to a tummy but and it probably took 10-14 days for her to be back to normal from a hips and paun point of view so it does take a while to stabalise a meds regime. Def consider adding green lipped muscle - I was finding meg was regularly needing extra codeine so we tried doubling the green lipped muscle and her need for codiene reduced within a few days without anynother changes so its good stuff, totally safe and not too expensive either
 
mynutmeg said:
No probs. Def ask about codiene as I fohnd it more effective - interesting that he's not happy for more than 100mg for your dog - that was the maximum for meg whos only 21 kg. the loxicam type drugs take longer to kick in but id expect the tramdol to take effect quickly. Meg had a week off the metcam recently due to a tummy but and it probably took 10-14 days for her to be back to normal from a hips and paun point of view so it does take a while to stabalise a meds regime. Def consider adding green lipped muscle - I was finding meg was regularly needing extra codeine so we tried doubling the green lipped muscle and her need for codiene reduced within a few days without anynother changes so its good stuff, totally safe and not too expensive either
Click to expand...

Sorry I may not have made it clear, she is on 100mg twice a day, so 200 mg, which sounds about right? She is already on green lipped mussel, has been for a while. Tbh if there is no improvement by Monday I think I will pop back to the Vet, see what he thinks about trying Codeine, thank you.
 
My bitch is about 23kg and she has 150mg twice a day along with 60mg rimadyl twice a day (which is the complete maximum for her, and will probably need to be reduced next time she goes to the vet as she's dropped more weight) so I would have thought yours would be able to have quite a bit more?
 
LJR said:
Sorry I may not have made it clear, she is on 100mg twice a day, so 200 mg, which sounds about right? She is already on green lipped mussel, has been for a while. Tbh if there is no improvement by Monday I think I will pop back to the Vet, see what he thinks about trying Codeine, thank you.
Click to expand...

The dose of tramadol in the BSAVA small animal formulary is 2-5mg/kg so if your dog if 48kg then top dose would be 240mg so you can dose up to that morning AND night. I don't have the book to hand but I am sure its now been changed to THREE times daily but I would have to double check. Plenty of room for dose increase.

Loxicom is a NSAID so regular checks for liver/kidneys but many animals are on it long term without problems. There are lots of other NSAID's on the market and they work in different ways so if loxicom isn't helping try something else maybe.

xxxx
 
twiglet84 said:
The dose of tramadol in the BSAVA small animal formulary is 2-5mg/kg so if your dog if 48kg then top dose would be 240mg so you can dose up to that morning AND night. I don't have the book to hand but I am sure its now been changed to THREE times daily but I would have to double check. Plenty of room for dose increase.

Loxicom is a NSAID so regular checks for liver/kidneys but many animals are on it long term without problems. There are lots of other NSAID's on the market and they work in different ways so if loxicom isn't helping try something else maybe.

xxxx
Click to expand...

Thats useful info :-)

Meg gets blood work every 6-12 months to check kidney and liver function - her liver is on the high end of normal and creeped up since she started the metacam but not at the level we worry about and she is 10 1/2 - I kinda have the attitude that the drug usage may shorten her life due to the liver/kidney strain it has but it's better for her to have a shorted life thats happy and comfortable than a longer life in pain - quality over quantity etc
 
Interesting, so there is definitely room to up her dose - I will be going to Vets on Monday or Tuesday as she is no better - thank you for your replies.
 
Just a wee update. I took Pootle back to the Vet on Tuesday :(

We have taken her off Loxicom, doubled the Tramadol to 400mg a day and added Prednisolone at 50mg a day. Considering these are a relatively fast acting drug I am disappointed so far - there is an improvement, but only a little. Booked to go back at the beginning of next week, though I have a feeling this will not be doing the trick unfortunately.

I did ask about Codeine, but the Vet has said it is not suitable for Pootle. He did also say that bone tumours/growths are incredibly painful :(
 
LJR said:
I completely agree, most of my dogs are working dogs, .......

....... I don't know how long the painkillers will take to kick in, at the moment there is no improvement at all :(
Click to expand...

LJR said:
Just a wee update. I took Pootle back to the Vet on Tuesday :(

.......

I did ask about Codeine, but the Vet has said it is not suitable for Pootle. He did also say that bone tumours/growths are incredibly painful :(
Click to expand...

So SIX days later, and you're still no further forward, but still despite veterinary advice that tumours and growths are painful, still you continue? Honestly? Is it an honest opinion that you want, or are you hoping that others will tell you what you want to hear?

Sometimes, harsh is the only way. I'm sorry, but that's how it is.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
So SIX days later, and you're still no further forward, but still despite veterinary advice that tumours and growths are painful, still you continue? Honestly? Is it an honest opinion that you want, or are you hoping that others will tell you what you want to hear?

Sometimes, harsh is the only way. I'm sorry, but that's how it is.

Alec.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry too.
 
LJR said:
Just a wee update. I took Pootle back to the Vet on Tuesday :(

We have taken her off Loxicom, doubled the Tramadol to 400mg a day and added Prednisolone at 50mg a day. Considering these are a relatively fast acting drug I am disappointed so far - there is an improvement, but only a little. Booked to go back at the beginning of next week, though I have a feeling this will not be doing the trick unfortunately.

I did ask about Codeine, but the Vet has said it is not suitable for Pootle. He did also say that bone tumours/growths are incredibly painful :(
Click to expand...

Yes I am afraid that bone tumours are considered to be one of the most painful tumours in dogs and pain relief generally doesn't touch the sides. There is also a risk of pathological fractures occurring too.

Generally the options are 1) amputation or 2) euthanasia - because of the pain not being well controlled. Sorry things aren't going well.

xxxx
 
Are they treating the tumours at all? Or just trying to manage the pain? In which case depending on where the tumour is could surgery to remove the affected area be an option - if it's a leg then they manage very well with 3 legs and would immediately remove the pain source.

Good luck with her
 
Mynutmeg - thank you :)

Treating the tumour is a no go I'm afraid, I did ask first off when she was still under for the x-ray if the leg could be taken off, but the size of her ruled that out.

I just wanted to give her a chance as she is still bright in herself, and I do not regret it at all, however after speaking to the Vet again today we decided to pts :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top