Hi there, my staffy x has recently been diagnosed with arthritis in his hip, he is having an xray on Tues to confirm. He has been taking Rimadyl which has had no effect whatsoever. I work at a vets and took him back today and a colleague suggested Tramadol and rimadyl. Just wondered if anyone had used this before and if it worked where the rimadyl, metacam didnt. Im very worried as this has come on very fast and is quite severe in a morning when hes been asleep all night. He is also on Seraquin daily.
Thanks

You don't say if the colleague that suggested it was a vet? I would never give such a strong drug to my dog without first consulting with my vet. I have only once been given tramadol by the vet and it was for a terminally ill dog to make him comfortable in his last days. Metacam and rimadyl are anti inflammatories so generally better I would say for arthritis.

Do you give your dog cod liver oil every day? my boxer has bad hips and on top of other things i always give him this.
Doesn't stop the problem but does makes the joints alot more supple. seems to help my boxer so worth a try. 

I'd be worried about the psychological affects Tramadol would have on a dog - which can be traumatic enough in humans where the symptoms are explained in detail to them before prescribing.  It's a morphine based drug and not one to be introduced IMO without professional guidance and even then only after exhausting other possibilities.

agreed :-) There are several other painkillers that your vet can give you to work alongside the rimadyl or metacam.

Yes the Tramadol was recommended by a vet. We have tried metacam for several weeks and rimadyl to no avail. They make no difference at all. He is in a lot of pain yelping when touched in that area. I have every faith in the vet that prescribed the tramadol and i know she is very against using this sort of drug unless absolutely necessary, and is a big believer in homeopathy and alternative treatments. She has also suggested after the xrays, hydrotherapy, acupuncture or physio.

Hi Kylie,

I can see this drug having it's uses for some post op pain relief or temporarily in severe injury cases (such as an RTA) but IMO not for a permanent condition.   If the dog is in such severe pain that this type of medication is required then unless surgery is an option what quality of life can this boy have?  To be in pain, which if relieved by the drug, follows with being 'spaced out' and unable to balance .....

Of course I'm not a vet so this is only my opinion on how I would feel were this type of treatment required for one of mine.

regards, Teri

Thanks for all the replies. However, my dog has a very good quality of life still and only suffers when hes been lying down for a very long time etc, he goes out for his walks as normal and the stiffness is the only issue. As I said before I have every faith in my vet and this is a temp drug until his xrays on Tues. He is not spaced out and unable to balance, and through my job have seen many dogs on tramadol long term without these side effects which lead happy lives.
I feel that sometimes on this forum some people are very quick to judge and make assumptions when the person posting has only the very best intentions.

> my dog has a very good quality of life still and only suffers when hes been lying down for a very long time etc, he goes out for his walks as normal and the stiffness is the only issue

You didn't allude to that previously

> I feel that sometimes on this forum some people are very quick to judge and make assumptions when the person posting has only the very best intentions

Or perhaps rather than 'judging',  offering advice from a non biased and unemotional perspective.

Clearly you don't want advice or input in terms specific to your dog's health, which with the drugs you've mentioned did not suggest a bit of stiffness after lengthy rest periods, in which case it may have been better to post on idle chat.

I hope he's considerably more comfortable very soon. 
regards Teri

I'm on tramadol myself and I would not say that its a very strong drug, certainly does not take all of my pain away.

Cant say what it would be like for a dog though.

its kept in the locked drugs cupboard at work,(vets) so its of reasonable strength

>Cant say what it would be like for a dog though.

What's safe and works for one species can kill another.

Having been on Tramadol for some weeks now (multiple fractures due to an accident), I would say that it doesn't relieve ALL pain.  I am still on liquid morphine 4 times a day.  However, I'd hate to have to manage without it altogether!

I don't have any experience of using it for any of my dogs, but, if, like you, my VERY trusted vet recommended it, I would certainly give it some consideration. 

In humans at any rate, the body often becomes tolerant of opiate painkillers.  The results long term can be that these meds become less effective and / or cause a dependency.

Someone being prescribed opiate drugs (designed to work on natural chemicals in the brain) may well become used to them and so not have the adverse side affects associated with initial treament - equally of course they may not have the benefits either.

I'm also on tramadol and while my body now has built up a tolerance to it, when I first started on it it made me very woosey, dizzy and I felt fairly out of it, I also had quite bad dreams - it is a strong drug!  It does however make a big difference to my quality of life and every person/animal reacts differently to drugs, if I'd exhausted all other options I would try it with an animal to see how they tolerated it.  I would be trying natural remedies aswell as metacam or rymadyl first.  Devils claw is good for relieving pain as is Green liped muscle extract.  Have you tried arnica?  People are just giving you their experiences of the drug which surely has to be a good thing when thinking about giving your dog such a powerful drug?

When my Rottie had his cruciate operation in December he was on Rimadil but after the first couple days I could see he was still in a fair bit of pain.  He was put on Tramadol aswell.  The first day or 2 he slept soundly and it really helped but after this when given his tramadol at night he would be up in the early hours whining/crying (which isn't like him at all) when I went down to comfort him he looked terrified.  After a couple more days on Tramadol and the same symptoms I stopped using it and his behaviour went back to normal.

So in my opinion for a few days it is ok to use but I wouldn't use it on my Rottie again as it really effected him.  My vet did say it may 'space' them out abit and they could have the same reactions as some people to it...so for all I know my boy could have been hallucinating!

I have also until recently be on Tramadol...now it doesn't work and I am trying DF118...Tramadol is a morphine based pain killer...one of the side efects are depression! I wouldn't think it a good drug for dogs at all...especially if his pain is only when rising from sleep or inactivity! If it's such a short period of pain and not continual I cannot see the benefit of subjecting him to a very powerful pain killer!

Thanks for that advice newfie, I will be making an appoinment with my doctor to come off the tramadol as I do suffer badly from depression and the doc knew this when I was prescribed, I have been quite "low" recently as well, some days going out others not wanting to do anything, but put on a cheery face for my family. DF118 are even stronger was on them after some ops I had they are strong LOL!!!! they put me into "another land" ooooooohhhhhh!!!!!!

I have been on tramadol for a long time now , maybe 4yrs +

Irene

If the x-rays do show hip arthritis, and it causes him such extreme pain when rising, I would suggest a hip replacement or FHO (removal of the ball from the ball and socket joint). That will resolve all pain, and he wont have to be on medication long term.  I too would think Tramadol very strong and a bit of a last resort.  The issue really is to discover what causes the pain and fix that if possible.  

Long term use of any medication has it's problems, and eventually, due to habituation to the drug you can find that you have run out of options in pain management.  Good luck with the xrays. If it were me and it came back as hip arthritis, I would be thrilled, knowing I could make it better with surgery. (Yes, one of my dogs had both hips replaced, so I have experience of it). It is a lot easier in a smaller breed too (mine are GSD's)

Kat

Thanks very much for all of the replies. I posted on here because I wanted to see if people had had personal experiences with their dogs and could offer me some insight. I possibly went a bit over the top in my last post but i am very offended when someone questions my dogs quality of life. I may have not gone into enough detail with my first post. I see people everyday who may possibly take things too far with their dogs as far as quality of life is concerned and by no stretch of the imagination is my boy ready for pts.
I will continue to use the tramadol as long as my boy is ok until after his xrays and then we know what we are dealing with.
Thanks again some of the replies have been very helpful, and possibly helped others too!

You're very welcome, chin up and change as they say! I hope you have a sympathetic GP who takes the time to understand and listen...I am very blessed at my surgery now(well, we live in the Bungalow attached!) But they are a Christian practice, like us and really believe in caring for patients....

not much help with the tramadol issue, we did use it for our bone cancer dog, but short term as it tends to make some dogs keen and thankfully we didnt need it for that long after amputation she didnt need pain killers, but will say hydrotherapy can be brilliant for help with joint issues, and some insurance companies will pay out for it if recommended by the vet.

My dog had it straight after his cruciate op but they must have been really strong tasting as disguising them for him to take was a nightmare, he would literally curl his lips up in disgust at them!
He didn't appear to have any side effects, except when he had it in injection form once and went completely spaced out.