Sophie Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Over the weekend, we noticed that Sophie was occasionally yelping when we stroked her head - we couldn't identify a specific source of pain, but it appears to be localized to the side of her head that has nerve damage.  Anyway, as it was only occasionally bothering her, we couldn't locate a specific sore spot, and she hates the vet, I decided to give her metacam for a few days and see if there was any improvement.  (We have a large stash of metacam, as every time we take a dog to the vet they seem to give it to us, and there have been several vet visits the last few months .  A clear out of the dog cupboard yesterday yielded 3 unopened bottles and one 1/2 full one !) Anyway, Sophie's stopped yelping, but she has also perked up a huge amount.  Rather than having to be dragged out on walks and plodding round, she's the first to start agitating when it gets near walk time.  She's racing around at high speed when out, chasing squirrel's, and generally seems much brighter.  She's also less grumpy with Logan when he comes near her when she's sleeping.  This has led us to the conclusion that she's probably been in some pain, and the metacam is helping.  Sophie's one of those dogs who doesn't really let on when she's hurting.  She's also of unknown age - at least 7 but probably older.  She had a bad year last year with a couple of significant health problems, and hadn't had an easy life before she came to us, and I don't want to get in to testing for all sorts of things that could be wrong - would rather deal with the symptoms at the moment. I'm planning to take her to the vet next week to discuss everything, and see about getting her on some long term pain relief, but thought I'd check what other's have used for their dogs, how they got on, side effects, etc. so I can have an informed discussion with the vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I had my GSD Louie on Zubrin for years with no ill effect's, it's supposed to be a bit kinder to organ's than some of the other's, what about acupuncture ? one of our vet's does it and I plan to get it for Ben's achey hip's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 There are many painkillers/anti inflammatory drugs available now. My current vet told me he prefers Zubrin for older dogs, but uses Metacam and Rimadyl for younger ones. Previcox seems to be used often now. One of my oldies was like a new dog when given Metacam, but after several years use it wasn't enough and she went onto PLT. Old fashioned and not a good one for longterm use but she was 13 years old, so quality was more important that quantity. She never had any problems with it and lived until she was 15 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 The only thing I would say is that if you are giving her painkillers but you don't know what for, it could be masking a problem which rears its ugly head further down the line. I'd also be interested in opinions though as I am probably going to have to medicate Max at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissa Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 My 2 age 13+ have both been on Metacam since they came as fosters nearly 21/2 years ago both were suffering with their back legs after living outside, they started on a high dose but I managed to get them down to a low maintenace dose, which really helped. Unfortunately Roly has been 'losing ' his back legs a lot so I agreed with the vet to give him the maximium for his body weight, it has really made him more agile again. I know this can damage organs etc but if he can't get about on his own then his quality of life will really go down & he is a bit senile too so needs all the help he can get! I haven't seen any adverse reactions at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenOldie Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 My old 14 yr. old lab girl can't handle Metacam and has very bad legs and hips. She is enjoying a quality of life now on PLT and Zamadol which keeps her pain free and mobile enough to get around the house and garden and enjoy short walks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 my girl was on metacam for 3 years on and off and 5 years continuously, we have switched to trocoxil which is 1 dose a month (via tablet)brilliant stuff. it works by keeping a constant level of pain relief so there are no peaks and dips unlike other painkillers. i did think long and hard about it before i did it as there is no antidote and my dog will have to go for a month with no pain relief after her 7th dose..... i talked to my vet and we decided it was worth a go and i have been very impressed, it is a new drug and my dog was the first in our practice to try it. if sophie does need long term pain relief there are always new things being introduced. i do hope that the vet can find the cause of her pain forgot to say diez is being treated for ED,HD and arthritis all of which she has had from at least 6 months old Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Thanks for the replies I had my GSD Louie on Zubrin for years with no ill effect's, it's supposed to be a bit kinder to organ's than some of the other's, what about acupuncture ? one of our vet's does it and I plan to get it for Ben's achey  hip's. I may look into acupuncture - I like the idea, and one of the vets at our practice is a qualified acupuncturist, but not sure it is for Sophie as she is very nervous of people. The only thing I would say is that if you are giving her painkillers but you don't know what for, it could be masking a problem which rears its ugly head further down the line. That is a concern, but Sophie's reaching the point where she has so many things going on, that we're moving toward managing quality of life, rather than trying to fix things To update, Sophie has been to the vet this morning.  Managed to get an appointment with the vet who almost always deals with Sophie, so she is very familiar with her history.  She agreed that in this case, she didn't think it was worth subjecting Sophie to lots of poking and prodding and tests to try to find a source of the pain - she actually said it before I mentioned my feelings, so am confident that is the right decision.  Because Sophie has something wrong with her liver (loads of tests in the autumn didn't show a cause, just that it isn't quite working correctly), she wasn't happy to prescribe any long-term use of NSAIDs - they can affect the liver, and I think she said when they do it is sudden so not easy to monitor.  Instead she's given us a weeks worth of steroids (prednisolone) to try - if they work, we'll work on reducing the amount to the lowest dosage that keeps Sophie lively.  She'll then need regular blood tests to monitor her liver - I think the vet said that although the steroids can affect the liver, it's a more gradual effect than the NSAIDs, so can be picked up early and worked on from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel n Hardy Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Medication does mask problems so would TTouch help at all, obviously not in the affected area of pain but overall, doesn't it help to promote health and self healing, at least to some extent.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 You might want to take a look at supporting her liver with Milk Thistle , it's supposed to be very good at protecting and cleansing the liver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 You might want to take a look at supporting her liver with Milk Thistle , it's supposed to be very good at protecting and cleansing the liver. Thanks - she's been having a milk thistle supplement since we found out about her liver problem - that's reminded me I need to buy more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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