Opinions on regular use of anti-inflammataries

PorkChop

PorkChop

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Hiya, I'm looking for some opinions on a situation I have with one of my dogs please :)

Background is, a six year old working springer. Last year we had a cocker spaniel who took a dislike to him and used to regularly hang off his right front leg - not in a good way :( He initially was lame on it, then came sound. He worked happily throughout the shooting season from October to January.

Since then he has been a bit off on the same leg. He is not lame, but I notice when he brings me a retrieve when he goes from flat out to stop, he does a couple of lame steps in trot.

He is on Yumove tablets, and he has been to the Vet for a work-up, including full leg x-rays. Nothing found.

Wwyd? Wait until shooting season and use medication as and when? Start him on medication now and periodically stop use and see if there is an improvement? See if some physio helps? Try something like Devil's Claw? Try a different joint supplement? Do nothing? Swim him more for his fitness?

Sorry for all the options :o My Vet is happy for me to do any of the above, it's more of a niggle really. I have obviously tried resting him completely.

Any suggestions much appreciated.
 
I would use the summer to try and deal with it without drugs, but with physio and maybe even hydrotherapy. Hopefully you'll mitigate it at least and be able to minimise the need for painkillers. My old vet used to rate Joint Aid as a supplement, might be worth a try?

I would be concerned that if you just mask the pain then he might end up doing more damage, just like we could if we exercised while on painkillers. So I'd have those as a last resort. :)
 
In your situation I'm not sure what I'd do - young dog and I would be inclined to worry that he'd injure it further because the pain isn't there to warn him to take it easy. Agree physio might be a good solution.

In my own situation I have an 11 yo BT who's arthritic. He's been on Metacam and Cosequin for a few months now (though we are currently trialling him for 2 weeks w/o Metacam to see if he can cope - however we've also just started him with acupuncture).

If I don't feel he is coping without the Metacam I will put him back on. When he is on it he's on a half dose (increased on days when he's getting more than usual exercise, ie big days out). I know that there are risks to liver/kidneys but we run bloods regularly to keep an eye on it - and to be honest IMHO, I would rather have him happy and moving rather even if it does shorten his life a bit -than to have him a few months/years longer and miserable in pain.
 
I would also suggest checking over by a physio, and possibly hydrotherapy. There are other physios around who are qualified and registered but not necessarily ACPAT - judge each individual on their own merits.
 
Good point about the qualified physios - as far as I know that legally you're not allowed to work as a physio without qualifications, but there are cowboys that do it anyway. A good indication that they are legit (other than showing you their quals) is that they will generally ask you to get permission from your vet to have your dog treated by a physio.
 
I worked in this sector and if dogs have arthritis they are better to be on pain meds as the research says that dogs are so good at hiding pain and that once arthritis has started the anti inflammatorys stop the joint from getting worse. However metacam is a very old version great for post op pain but not for long term use rimadil, prevacox or once a month tracoxil are all much better and safer drugs.
 
Holidays_are_coming said:
I worked in this sector and if dogs have arthritis they are better to be on pain meds as the research says that dogs are so good at hiding pain and that once arthritis has started the anti inflammatorys stop the joint from getting worse. However metacam is a very old version great for post op pain but not for long term use rimadil, prevacox or once a month tracoxil are all much better and safer drugs.
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oooh interesting. I'll speak to my vets about this one :)
 
Thank you for your replies. He definitely doesn't have any arthritic changes going on.

I agree I will go down the physio/swimming route. I only know Chiropractor's so I will need to do a bit of research into canine physio in my area.
 
Well worth trying physio and swimming.

But in the anti inflammatorys front dogs just dont get the side effects we do my dads dog was on a mixture of rimadil, trococil and prevacox for 5 years with no problems till they stopped working he is now on steroids they have horrible side effects but keep him pain free.
 
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