Radiographs of hip dysplasia and other arthritic  joint diseases provided by the makers (Zoetis)
of Rimadyl.

Some comments about Rimadyl and other pain medications commonly used in small animal veterinary practice.



Home: AnimalPetDoctor:
Includes a listing of all our topics about the love and care of pets

About Rimadyl

This page is brought to you as a courtesy of the FoxNest Veterinary Hospital of Seneca, South Carolina and obviously, The Pfizer Company, the makers of Rimadyl.

Rimadyl, if you haven't alreadly read about it on the previous page, has been a God Send for pets in misery.  Rimadyl is a really great medication for the relief of pain and inflammation of arthritis and other joint disease.


Just as with machines, in a live body, anytime there are moving parts influenced by friction, vibration, weight load, contact surfaces, sheering and other forces bearing down, there's apt to be trouble. It's amazing our joints hold up as well as they do.

The radiographs at right simply give you an idea of what we vets are looking for when we suspect joint disease. As you can see, the difference between normal and badly diseased is not very dramatic...the arthritic joint versus the normal joint is indicated simply by  areas of "fuzziness" and small bits of calcified material building up along the critical surfaces.

I have lots of comments about joint disease in general ...I'll get them written down fairly soon.




On Other Pages:

Skeletal Problems and Lameness: Page 1

Arthritis: treatment options and what to expect when you go to the vet

Hip Dysplasia

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries

Femoral Head Removal

Panosteitis

Disc Disease in pets





























Rimadyl (Carprofen), introduced by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in January 1997, has proven to be a very successful means of relieving arthritis symptoms in dogs.

Many users feel it has vastly improved the quality of their dogs' lives and, in some cases, even extended their lives.  Rimadyl is also very helpful with minimizing post surgery or injury pain. 

For most pets needing pain relief, this is a great medicine for short or long term use.  Click here to go Pfizer's website about Rimadyl.

As a vet, I'm enthusiastic about Rimadyl, because before the availability of this medication, the only practical choices for dogs in misery were aspirin, ibuprofen, steroids, Tylenol, Aleve, phenylbutazone, and narcotics.  All these choices, while often helpful, were frought with severe side effects, especially for long term use, and frequently didn't work all that great.

I can't emphasize enough, how many older dogs come into veterinary clinics each day needing relief from arthritic pain.  And we desperately needed better pain medications for the many pets we saw badly injured and for the management of surgical pain.

Well, Rimadyl was one of the first of several brands of great pain medications that weren't steroidal, weren't narcotic, and didn't cause nearly as many side effects as other non-steroidal pain medications.

However, with millions of older dogs getting Rimadyl, it turns out that some patients DON'T tolerate Rimadyl well and like almost all potent, effective medications, a few patients have severe adverse effects to include an occasional death.  The most common problem is with liver disease and GI bleeding.  Rimadyl requires a healthy liver to be metabolized and not all old dogs have a healthy liver.

So, it's important to take the trouble of test your pet for liver disease before using Rimadyl for long term use, and ideally, even for short term use.  And it's important to test the liver periodically if using Rimadyl long term.

It's important to be very cautious about using Rimadyl (carprofen) in
animals with known bleeding disorders and should not be used if a dog has pre-existing liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or a known tendency towards gastrointestinal ulceration.

You have to be cautious about using Rimadyl along with any other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as aspirin, or along with any corticosteroids.

Also, since older dogs tend to have multiple problems, you need to know that there is increased risk when giving Rimadyl to patients also taking phenobarbital or enalapril

And we rely on pet owners to be observant; if after giving Rimadyl (or any other pain medication) take seriously any of the following symptoms, stop the medication, and tell your vet:

loss of appetite
change in drinking habits (refusal to drink or increased water consumption)
unusual pattern of urination, blood in the urine, sweet-smelling urine, an overabundance of urine, urine accidents in the house
vomiting
diarrhea
black, tarry stools or flecks of blood in the vomit
lethargy, drowsiness, hyperactivity, restlessness, aggressiveness
staggering, stumbling, weakness or partial paralysis, full paralysis, seizures, dizziness, loss of balance
jaundice (yellowing of the skin, mucus membranes and whites of the eyes)


Okay, now that I've freaked you out with warnings, calm down and take this all in perspective. 

The vast majority of pets, many of whom are in dire need of relief from pain or severe discomfort not only tolerate Rimadyl well, but become so obviously joyful and mobile and playful, it's no wonder that this drug has become a best seller.

And compared to all the other drugs available before Rimadyl, what an improvement.  You simply have to understand that a small percentage of dogs don't do well with the medication or shouldn't be taking it because of other problems like pre-existing liver or heart disease.  So you and your vet need to watch closely for problems and do some testing when using this and other powerful drugs.

Are there other choices?  You bet.  Since Rimadyl became available in 1997, we now have a choice of several other very similar medications (cox-2 inhibitors), each with potential advantages and disadvantages when compared to Rimadyl and some vets are big fans of these other drugs.  I like to switch from one brand to another when needed based on the individual dog trying to determine which medication seems to help the most with the fewest problems.

In addition, we now have other types of therapy that we can use instead of or in combination with Rimadyl and the other new pain medications such as

Durlactin
Glucosamine formulas
MSM
AntiOxidants
The Omega Fatty Acids

All these supplemental arthritis treatments are discussed in more detail on the page about arthritis.


Thanks, Roger Ross DVM

Cats in pain

In the discussion to your right, I get very enthusastic about Rimadyl as a pain reliever in dogs.

Well, what about cats?  They also get debilitating arthritis and they certainly need pain relief when badly injured or during and after painful surgeries.

I'm not ignoring cat pain at all, but cats, unfortunately, are much more likely to experience serious adverse effects with pain medications. 

Tylenol (acetominophen), for example, is often deadly.

And while cox-2 inhibitor medications like Rimadyl (not approved for cats) or Metacam (approved for cats for one time use) are usually very helpful and safe for very short term use after surgery, they are not safe for long term use which is needed for arthritis.

For cats, I like to recommend glucosamine and omega fatty acids for arthritic pain, and when needed, tiny amounts of muscle relaxers and narcotics, two classes of drugs I'm not going to discuss on the internet.

A favorite pain medication that is safe for cats is Duralactin Suspension.  It's fairly new, and a neutriceutical product so your vet may not be familiar with it yet.
Website Directory

Home    The Human-Animal Bond     The History of Veterinary Medicine    About our No Kill Shelter     The FoxNest Veterinary Hospital     


"What To Expect When You Go To The Vet"
if your pet should have a problem with ...

Abscesses, wounds, and injuries

Arthritis, Lameness, Fractures, and Ligament Injuries
To include Femoral Head Removal, Hip Dysplasia, Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, Panosteitis, Radiographic Demonstrations, Disc Disease, and Bone Surgery

Bladder, Urinary Tract, & Kidney Problems

Blood Diseases, Anemias etc
Strokes, Vascular Diseases, Anemias, DVT, DIC, Blood Parasites, Rat Poison, & Bleeding disorders

Cancer, Masses, Lumps and Bumps

Cardiology  Heart disease in Cats, Cardiac Hypertrophy, Valvular disease, Cardiac Insufficiency, Congestive Heart Failure, Heartworm Disease, and a little history about the milestones in treating heart disease

Cats: general information page and directory of diseases and problems specific to cats including vaccine recommendations, leukemia, feline viral infections, feline upper respiratory disease and cats that just aren't feeling well.

Dentistry and problems of the mouth and throat

Dermatology: Skin problems including allergies, rashes, bacterial infections, and itching. Hair Loss, Yeast Infections, Hormonal Problems

Diabetes

Ear Infections and Other Ear Problems

Eye Problems  and Ophthalmic Diseases

Exotics:  Pocket Pets, Rabbits, Hamsters etc

Fleas, Ticks, and other parasite problems

Heart disease; Cardiac diseases, vascular diseases, stroke, & heartworms

Hormone Diseases: Diabetes, Thyroid Disease, Cushing's Disease or Hypercortisolism, Addison's disease or Hypocortisolism, Pancreatitis, obesity as a disease

Infectious Diseases  Colds, Distemper, Parvo, Leptospirosis, Bruceellosis, Panleukopenia, Feline AIDS, Leukemia, Hepatitis, Kennel Cough, Ringworm, Rabies, FIP, Canine Herpes, Toxic Shock Syndrome, & More

Intestinal problems: diarrhea, constipation, torsion, indigestion, and gas. Also pancreatitis, vomiting, esophagitis, colitis, parvo and other types of dysentery

Kidney Disease

Liver Diseases     

Metabolic Diseases: Diabetes, Thyroid Disease, Cushing's Disease or Hypercortisolism, Addison's disease or Hypocortisolism, Pancreatitis, obesity as a disease

Neural Problems and Diseases: Epilepsy, Rabies, Distemper, FIP, Paralysis, Tetanus, Seizures, Disc Disease, Toxoplasmosis & others

Obesity; new information and about Pfizer's new FDA approved treatment

Pancreatitis

Parasite Problems Fleas, Ticks, Heartworms, Intestinal Worms, Mosquitos, Lice, Mites, and other welfare recipients

Poisons  Snakes, Insects, household chemicals, plants, and foods that might poison your pet

Respiratory Diseases

Senior Pet Page: Geriatric Medicine

Skeletal-Muscular Problems Arthritis, Fractures, ACL, Ligament Injuries, Disc Disease, Pannus, and many other problems of the bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments

Skin Problems: allergies, rashes, bacterial infections, and itching. Hair Loss, Yeast Infections, Hormonal Problems

Surgery: Spays, Castrations, Testicle Recipes, Soft Tissue Surgery, Hard Tissue Surgery (Bones), C- Sections, Declawing, Tumor Removal and Cancer Surgery

Wounds, punctures, injuries, and abscesses

Urinary Tract Diseases and Problems


Other Topics on This Site

The Human-Animal Bond

History of Veterinary Medicine; lots of interesting stuff    

Zoonotics: Diseases, worms, and parasites people get from pets.

Lab Tests and what they tell us

Medications/Pharmacy Page

Nutrition & Diets
Includes information about Prescription diets used to treat disease, and a discussion about the pet food industry

Reproduction, breeding, & rearing information
Includes information about feline and canine heat or estrus, breeding, C-Sections, pyometra or Infected Uterus, dystocia, no milk, mastitis, & brucellosis
Also newborn care, undescended testicles, and alternative to spaying and castration

Vaccine and other preventive health recommendations

WildLife Page:  Taking care of baby bunnies, squirrels, and birds.  A very funny story about beavers, and other misc information

Our Dog Page:  a directory of problems of concern in dogs including parvovirus, distemper, canine herpes, and other diseases

Veterinary Pet Insurance

Home        How we treat different medical problems in pets; What to Expect        FoxNest Hospital       About our No Kill Shelter       
The History of Veterinary Medicine         The Human-Animal Bond    
There is a complete site map at the bottom of this page

Cat Related Information On Other Pages:



A Short History of Cats
and an interesting article about cat extermination in Australia

Vaccine Recommendations

Feline Heartworm Disease
Leukemia

Feline Aids

Feline Hyperthyroidism

Feline Heart Disease

Taurine Deficiency


Ringworm
Urine Spraying and Marking Behavior in Cats
Cats that just aren't feeling well..."What to expect when you go to the vet"
Toxoplasmosis from Cats

Tylenol Sensitivity

Feline Reproduction & Sex

Feline Corona Virus FIP

Feline Upper Respiratory Disease

Respiratory: Feline Asthma

Respiratory: Feline Upper Respiratory Complex (Colds)

Respiratory: Heartworm disease in dogs and cats


Toxoplasmosis from Cats

Ringworm
Home        How we treat different medical problems in pets; What to Expect        FoxNest Hospital       About our No Kill Shelter       
The History of Veterinary Medicine         The Human-Animal Bond    
There is a complete site map at the bottom of this page