celeste Posted August 6, 2010 Report Share Posted August 6, 2010 As you may ( or may not) know, Ben is now on Tramadol for his HD, after being unable to cope with NSAID's, I was just wondering how other dogs have done on it ?. He's not too bad, he's not staggering about or anything, but he is sleepy and a bit subdued, he's reminding me of Dillon the rabbit on Magic Roundabout , the vet did say the effect should wear off, have other found that to be the case ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted August 6, 2010 Report Share Posted August 6, 2010 As you may ( or may not) know, Ben is now on Tramadol for his HD, after being unable to cope with NSAID's, I was just wondering how other dogs have done on it ?. He's not too bad, he's not staggering about or anything, but he is sleepy and a bit subdued, he's reminding me of Dillon the rabbit on Magic Roundabout , the vet did say the effect should wear off, have other found that to be the case ? Nog was on Tramadol for quite a while after he broke his leg and quite a high dosage if memory serves (I'll check the thread about it and see later lol). For the first week or so he was definately "seeing things" even tho the vet laughed when I told them but he would stare at absolutely nothing with a total fixed gaze, pricking his ears, tilting and turning his head, and then watching whatever "it" was as it moved around the room - we described the expression on his face as "oooooo look at the preeety colourrrsssss ooooooo" he slept a lot as well but gradually grew more "with it" as he got accustomed to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted August 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2010 Thats good to hear snow, ben isn't seeing things but he will stare of into the distance, he's on 2 50g tab's twice a day, although the vet did say I could play about with that, so now he gets, two last thing at night, one in the morning and one at tea time, hopefully that'll still give him coverage but with out the gonzo effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff Posted August 6, 2010 Report Share Posted August 6, 2010 yep laney was very weird on them...he had the same dose as ben but split into 2 so 1 tab morning,1 evening, he didn't do particularly well on them but he was very lethargic...i guess that could be down to the strange feeling he must have been getting, we switched him onto fortral so if ben doesn't settle on the tramadol perhaps you could discuss that with your vet?? hope he sorts himself out soon.... the pair of you deserve a break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 hows ben doing today?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houndzrus Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 No advice as I have no knowledge of Tramadol. Just wanted to pass on some for Ben, hoping he feels better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 He seems to be doing well, he's not quite so drowsy now, and was up for a play with Spud this morning, so fingers crossed he'll be able to manage on the Tramadol. Thank you for his cuddle, it has been duly administered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted August 8, 2010 Report Share Posted August 8, 2010 Hi Jane, I have Tramadol for Barty when his disc goes out in a major way. The first time I used them with him, he was very spacy but he soon got used to that and they were extremely effective. Fortunately, he doesn't have to have them very often but they are non addictive and probably one of the better kind of painkillers that you can give. Gentle hugs on their way from all of us here Anne, Barty & Chloe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted August 8, 2010 Report Share Posted August 8, 2010 No idea about Tramadol, although Mal was on it a couple of times (god knows what for, don't remember now, he had a few "issues" in his life time bless him). I remember him being a bit 'not himself' a few times, but though that that was a side effect of the anaesthetic. Lots of to your gorgeous Ben anyway, and LOL at snow's description of Nog's reaction to it. You make the stuff sound really attractive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted August 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2010 I wonder why Tramadol isn't more widely prescribed for dogs ?, from every thing I've read, and from what folks have said on here, it would appear to be a safer option than things like Metacalm. Ben seems to be a bit better every day, he was a little bugger to get out of the field this morning, he kept charging up and down chasing motorbikes and cyclists who were going past on the road, has to be a good sign , he hasn't done that for over a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlTRPD Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 I don't know about dogs on Tramadol, but I am taking it, and because its effect decreases as the system gets used to it, I don't take it as prescribed, but only when I really need it. (That after discussion with my doctor, I add!) I also only take it at night and only when the pain makes it impossible to sleep, and I want it to knock me out of that for a few hours. The only trouble is that I'll then sleep for only a few hours so it can play havoc with my biological time clock, therefore my whole routine and including mealtimes. Not sure if it has the same efdect on dogs, including their digestive systems, but it could well do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 I am on Tramadol for pain too. I am supposed to take it every four hours but I take mine every night and every morning, when the pain is bad,but I try not to take it during the day as it does make me feel dozy (well, dozier than normal) . When my Kizzy was ill the vet gave her Tramadol and she looked like I felt :laugh:but only for a short while. Apparantly Tramadol is not addictive and is a good drug for dogs as well as humans x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_mog Posted August 14, 2010 Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 Tramadol is an opiate based pain killer - so has pain relieving and anti-anxiety effects but it absolutely is physical dependency forming and animals and humans can experience withdrawal symptoms There is debate around how much it can cause psychological dependency, but certainly to some extent, depends on the dosage etc. Obviously for Bendolina its just a case of weighing up all the options, but its certainly one reason why its not a first option drug... Some info from Wikipedia Tramadol is associated with the development of physical dependence and a severe withdrawal. In both humans and animals.[56] Tramadol causes typical opiate-like withdrawal symptoms as well as atypical withdrawal symptoms including seizures. The atypical withdrawal symptoms are probably related to tramadol's effect on serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake. Symptoms may include those of SSRI discontinuation syndrome, such as anxiety, depression, anguish, severe mood swings, aggressiveness, brain "zaps", electric-shock-like sensations throughout the body, paresthesias, sweating, palpitations, restless legs syndrome, sneezing, insomnia, tremors, and headache among others. In most cases, tramadol withdrawal will set in 12–20 hours after the last dose, but this can vary. Tramadol withdrawal lasts longer than that of other opioids; seven days or more of acute withdrawal symptoms can occur as opposed to typically three or four days for other codeine analogues. It is recommended that patients physically dependent on pain killers take their medication regularly to prevent onset of withdrawal symptoms and this is particularly relevant to tramadol because of its SSRI and SNRI properties, and, when the time comes to discontinue their tramadol, to do so gradually over a period of time that will vary according to the individual patient and dose and length of time on the drug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted August 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 I'm now giving Ben 1 tab every six hours ( or as near as I can manage) this seems to suit him the best, he's still getting the four tabs the vet recommended which is the lowest dose for a dog his size. I asked my friends hubby ( psychiatrist who specialises in drug addiction) why he thought the vet wouldn't use Tramadol, he suggested it was because if they prescribed a lot of it it would mean a whole load of checks and general red tape as it is a controled drug and does have a street value, which seems plausible to me. One of my friends was on Tramadol for pain and it did make her very drowsy but the effect wore off and after a week she didn't get drowsy, her daughter took it too when she'd had a C-section and it didn't make her sleepy at all. One good point is the anti-anxiety, since being castrated Ben had become a bit nervous of head to head meetings with other dogs, he's fine now ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff Posted August 14, 2010 Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 that is great news about bens behaviour...2 birds one stone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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