Just another Rimadyl story that I haven't seen a reference to yet.  I was fortunate in that having read of so many disasters with Rimadyl, I refused to use it though every vet I went to with anything wanted to prescribe it first for any pain.  I had a sudden emergency C-section for one of my bitches and was so tired after being up for 48 hours straight that I forgot they had given me Rimadyl.  Within 8 hours of the first dose, my bitch started having trouble walking; but I chalked it up to the C-section and surgery and puppies.  After the second dose, she was virtually paralyzed in the rear.  Having gotten some sleep by then, I suddenly realized with horror that she was on Rimadyl.  I ran to look up side effects and sure enough, way down there at the bottom was paraplegia.  I took her off it immediately and called my vet to tell her what I was doing.  Sure enough, the response was "it couldn't possibly be the Rimadyl.  Bring her right in and we'll run tests.  If it is the Rimadyl, the company will pay for it."  As though their paying for it made it all right.  I refused, saying I would bring her in if she wasn't improving within the next 24 hours.  Sure enough, within 8 hours she had stabilized and within 24 hours, she was back to herself.  I would never, ever use Rimadyl for anything.  I am sure the company and vets will say it was just a transient reaction to the surgery.  Wrong.  She had another C-section the second and last time I bred her and no problems but no Rimadyl, either.

Last October time my Patt had a full luxating Patella op in Newmarket, she was given Rimadyl for 2 weeks. After the first 5 days she began to have fresh bright red blood in her poos. It started with just a few specks but by day 5 was a lot. I stopped the tablets immediately and contacted the specialist in Newmarket to tell them that I had stopped the Rimadyl and they said this was exactly the right thing to do and to remember in the future that she should not have Rimadyl again as she is likely to have an adverse reaction to it. They knew immediately that the tablets were to blame and not once did they suggest it could have been caused by anything else.
Within 2 days the blood had become a darker colour and then it stopped. She had had enough to cope with without internal bleeding as well.
I really don't want any of my dogs to have Rimadyl again unless there is not alternative medication and it is absolutely essential.

It's very disappointing that many vets are still routinely prescribing Rimadyl without alerting owners to the potential side effects. Fortunately you were on the ball but there must be countless others who misguidedly, but understandably, put their trust in their vets, with, sometimes, dreadful consequences.

I have used on two different breeds with no problems whatsoever.

It's generally a very safe NSAID; just as some humans react badly to aspirin, or paracetamol etc some dogs react badly to Rimadyl. But that doesn't mean it's a bad medication - in fact it's saved many thousands of lives, and for most animals it's perfectly safe.

There have been far too many lawsuits against Pfizer for owners not to think twice about allowing their dogs to be prescribed rimadyl.

The anecdotal evidence suggests that Vets don't make the link between Rimadyl and the dogs being poorly or dying and therefore don't complete the adverse reaction form - I was initially told that it couldn't possibly be the drug that killed my bitch!  But after I furnished my Vet with so much stuff from the internet, he said that he would bear it in mind and keep more records.
After a year, it took him that long because he had happily used it on every dog in his operating table for 11 years and if they didn't make it, he thought it was because they were old and didn't handle the anesthetic well etc etc, he changed his mind and now only uses it as a last chance drug.  That would be my attitude too.

my vet wont use this drug,
Sheila

I know the OP's remarks and experience were about Rimadyl specifically, but I am interested to know why this discussion hasn't expanded to include other brands of carprofen (Carprieve, Norocarp etc) and all the other NSAIDs - Metacam and the other meloxicam brands; Previcox; Onsior; Trocoxil; Cimalgex; Zubrin....
It's not as if Rimadyl is evil and everything else is safe.
I suspect the number of stories of adverse events with Rimadyl on the internet has something to do with the fact that Pfizer (now Zoetis) had the biggest share of the NSAID market and Rimadyl has been around longer than most or all of the others, therefore has been used in a lot more dogs to date.
(disclaimer...I don't work for Zoetis or anything and we don't use much carprofen, for the non-sinister reason that we prefer the dosing flexibility of liquid meloxicam so we use this as our main NSAID. We do use several of the others though, including carprofen, as we find that with our chronic arthritis cases, some respond better to one NSAID than another depending on the individual).

>I am interested to know why this discussion hasn't expanded to include other brands of carprofen (Carprieve, Norocarp etc) and all the other NSAIDs - Metacam and the other meloxicam brands; Previcox; Onsior; Trocoxil; Cimalgex; Zubrin.... It's not as if Rimadyl is evil and everything else is safe.

Exactly; my old boy is fine with Rimadyl but Previcox had him vomiting and passing more blood than diarrhoea - he was very poorly indeed.

My dog has never had a reaction to Rimadyl, in fact it's always worked wonders.

I have used rimadyl on nearly all my dogs at some point or another over the years and have never had a bad reaction yet, I think it is just bad luck if a dog responds badly as all drugs will cause a reaction in something at somepoint just as they do in humans and because rimadyl has been one of the first drugs to be given by most vets for many years the odds of hearing a bad reaction are just higher than some others. however I can fully understand anyone who had a bad experience not wanting to use it again just personally I have always found it to be a good anti-inflammatory and pain relief whenever I have used it.
My girl who surrfered total four legged paralysis due to a cervical disc rupture was on it for 12 weeks and is back on it again now (sadly she has recently relapsed) and is definitely stronger on her legs than she is without it so I guess its just certain drugs work better for certain dogs.

I would not think twice about using it to improve my dogs quality of life and if one dog had a reaction then I would change to something else just as I do with my own drugs. Having said that I have never ever had a dog react to any brand of NSAID and I have had some on them for many years. If you have a problem then stop just as you would if you reacted to aspirin, you would stop taking it but you would not suggest that others should not just because you have a problem nor that the doctor or the chemist should not supply it.

I totally agree nova, I was also told by some people that my dog will suffer liver damage.....well my view is that if she stays paralysed then her liver is the least of my worries, I have to deal with her current problem and not worry about what it will cause in the future as without improvement of her current condition there is no future.

It has always puzzled me when people shy away from giving NISADS specially designed to be of help to canines but will happily give the same dog an aspirin that is designed for humans.