[Gina]

I have a 12 yo Lab that has to have surgery (pending blood work) for a tumor to be removed. On my estimate from the vet they included Rimadyl. I expressed concern because I know it can have a shaky track record in Labradors. I prefer Deramaxx (based on friends experiences) but they told me it's much more expensive. This dog is pretty arthritic having had bad elbows as a pup. He was taking enteric-coated aspirin for the pain but when this bizarre growth popped up we had bleeding issues and had to discontinue the aspirin. (When he is medicated he is pretty mobile, going for walks and fence charging with the other dogs etc.)

To be comfortable for the rest of his days, he is going to have to have an NSAID. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for him and don't want to put him through surgery if the medicine I end up giving him could hurt him even worse.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I've tried them all...Rimydal, Dermaxx, Zubrin. Now we are using Previcox for a few more days. Next Thursday she'll have the joint fused.

I can't speak for Labs but it's important to get the bloodwork done on any dog taking an NSAID. Then, why should your vet care which you use if it's only a matter of expense. It's really a matter of efficacy. Which works best that your dog tolerates that you can afford. Expense is the last step in that equation.

BTW, you can get most of these considerably cheaper via the Internet (www.petmeds.com) if you are treating a chronic condition and buying in large quantities. Previcox in small quantities from my vet is double the cost by mailorder for a 30 day supply.

Eric

 

[msdaisey]

Deramaxx has worked really well for my old guy, and petmeds.com was NOT cheaper than my vet.

 

[Guest]

We only tried prevacox on one of our older guys and it made him vomit after a couple of days of use... That's just one dog, but it's one of our dogs that needs to stay on a NSAID and they had given Joie some samples to try.

We swear by metacam. I feel like every animal we've given to it has responded smoothly, comfortably, etc. We've given it to cats and dogs after spays, old folks, soft tissue injuries, etc... Every dog and cat has done well on it.

Seems to be "just right"...

-K

 

[ErinsEdge]

I swear on Metacam also.

 

[Black Bart]

My old Lab was on anti inflammatories every day for 10 years - I tried them all. In the end the best one I found at a reasonable cost was Metacam. He lived to 16-1/2 without any side effects at all. He had regular blood tests and everything was always fine.

I was told towards the end of his life that Previcox was better than Metacam so swapped him over to that. It was way more expensive and I didn't find it to be any better.

That's just my experience.

 

[Gina]

Metacam and Deramaxx were both highly recommended to me. One person said they had a workable dosage down to a few drops a day.

Vet office called today and left a message saying the blood work was stellar -so the surgery is a go.

Is there are much of a problem with bleeding with the modern NSAIDS as there is with aspirin?

 

[ErinsEdge]

I only had to give half of the dosage, and every other day or two of Metacam in an older arthritic dog after giving it for awhile but I would imagine each case would be different. You would have to discuss the tendency toward bleeding on it with your vet.

 

[maryandkimo]

I really like Metacam also. Scout has been on it daily for 2 years without incident and this is in addition to 120mg Pb 2X a day for about 9 years. Her liver enzymes have been slightly elevated for some time, but no increase much with the addition of the Metacam. She just turned 12 this past Saturday. She also gets Snovi G3 with extra MSM added. When I would run out of MSM I could tell a difference in a day or so. I would have to look it up, but about 8-9 months ago I added in Adequan injections.

mary