For the pugs that have arthritis..

Hi all...

I know I haven't posted in quite awhile, but I do come visit every now and then.

My question is, what do you use for your pugs arthritis? Yoda had a check up a couple weeks ago and was put on Previcox. (at 17 1/2 he just now needs it) I did some reading online about side affects and of course I freaked myself out after the first two sites that I read about it. I just about made Yoda vomit it up, but I trust my vet very much, but with Yoda being so such a Rare Vintage age that he is, I don't want to cause more harm than good.

Thoughts anyone?

Hey T! No advice (I know others will chime in) but just want to send our most senior, precious boy lots of hugs.

T:
Lola was on Previcox with great results after having had bad side effects with virtually every other thing we tried and because she had an allergy to green lipped mussels (yeah, who knew?) she couldn't have glucosamine.

Cathy (tocents on PV) was the one who turned me onto it--I think she used it on Walter to good effect.

Tank gets Tramadol for his arthritis because he can't take most of the anti-inflammatories with his prednisolone.

Penny has horrendous arthritis in her hips and knees. She gets Metacam and tramadol. The Metacam makes a huge difference - I could really tell it when I ran out unexpectedly one time. And it seems to have fewer side effects than the other NSAIDs. At 15, I'm ultra-cautious with her, too.

I'm actually not familiar with it, we either usually give arthritic pets Tramadol or Rimadyl (Carprofen).

That being said, I know some pain meds can seem scary. One of the big things my doctor has told me is you have to treat the pet. If a dog is doing great on pain meds, bloodwork is clean, and no symptoms of adverse affects, then try to take it a day at a time. The reason the medication is allowed to be used is that it must work and be safe to some extent. Also, when dogs are that old, a lot of times the quality of life on pain meds outweighs the slight chance for adverse affects.

I would try to give it a shot. You can't explain to a dog why they're in pain, but if you can take that pain away with the help of your vet, it might be worth it.

He does seem to be more sleepy taking it, but that is about it.

Thanks ladies!

FurSprinklers wrote:He does seem to be more sleepy taking it, but that is about it.

Thanks ladies!

T:
Sometimes the sleepiness is less a reaction to the meds and more a reaction to the fact that they aren't in pain so can actually relax.

Gus is also a rare vintage white face pug and he is on Rimidyl and he also gets Lubrysin. The Lubrysin has really made an improvement in his mobility. It was orginally formualted for horses, but they also have a canine formula. It promotes synovial fluid in the joints. Oh and he gets a glucosamine at night too... He does well and gets around pretty good for a old guy who hadn't had it very good before coming to the Bormann clan. He could barely walk and now with drugs and supplements he can walk up to a mile. He could't make it a block out and back before. He went to the new vet yesterday and she was suprised at the dose he was taking daily. He was taking a 75 mg pill per day. Half in am and half in pm. His blood tests and everything are good and truely, for the amount of time he las left, I am more concerned about his quality of life than quantity. I think CA will be good for Gus. The cold winters were getting harder on him and he seems to do better in the dryer climate too. We're going to get him a pair of board shorts and Raybans so he can enjoy being a CA Pug!!! The vet said he was also surprised that he didn't have a heart murmur. She said that once dogs get his age, almost everyone she sees had a murmur and she checked Gus for a long time and never found one!

We also took Odin in for some of his "issues"....ears and his butthole (don't ask) and that was a smooth $400!! Ouch! Glad we have insurance on him! He's a mess... Good thing he's sweet. Although there was 100 lbs (fat) Lab/Bassett mix at the vet and Odin curled a lip at him when he got too nosey and close to Gus. It was impressive. He's usually such a whoosy.

Mary's on Rimadyl and doing well on it.

Mae is on Rimadyl as well. It has helped her immensely!

Other than meds that have been mentioned. I have tried acupuncture on my Boley who is 13.5 and honestly I really didn't see a difference. It's a touch and go on different pets and it does work on many, just not my baby. He recently had bladder surgery and my vet used a laser therapy on his surgical area and his back and he seemed to respond to that more. It helps with the inflammation plus pain management. It's something to look into.

Yoda is doing really well.

When he had his check up, my vet was so amazed how healthy he is at his age. No heart troubles, liver, kidneys awesome... quite the amazing pug she always says.

Last Friday Doug and I went to the coast for the day and one of my girls from work baby sat all the dogs for us. Yoda has to be let out to potty quite often. Even though she was here with them all, and he know Nicole very well, he was still howling for me. Poor little guy...