Hi all.  my first post on here.   I have a lakeland terrier (Fred) who is now 12 years old.  In the past few months I have noticed that he is getting less mobile, he can't jump up onto the bed or his chair, we have a large step outside our back door and he has trouble getting in to the house, he also gets stiff when he just wakes up.  I brought him to our vet when he was due his booster.  I memtioned this to her, and he was prescribed Rimadyl.  She said to try this for a week to see if it had any effect on him.  We noticed an immediate effect in his mobility.  He's still not as good getting up the back door step and on the bed as he used to be but it is better than he has been.  After the first week he was fine and then his prescription ran out. a week later, we went away on a long weekend to West sussex to visit some family.  We took a walk on the beach and after some play in the sea everything was fine.  That night went went out to see a show and when we got back Fred did not want to move and I had to help take him outside to do his business.  He was very stiff and limping.  We then brought him back to the vet 2 days later.  He was given a blood test to find out his liver and kideny functions, and he was prescribed Rimadyl again.  The tests came back OK.  His Kidenys where working fine but the was a small spike in his liver.  The vet said for a dog of his age he expected to that.  My question is,  He was fine for the first week off the drug but he was only effected after he was in the sea, should I continue giving him Rimadyl as prescribed or should I only give it to him when he needs it?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thank you..

> He was fine for the first week off the drug but he was only effected after he was in the sea

It's hard to say if that was just coincidental to the effect of inflammation building up again after stopping the Rimadyl however I don't think you can go too far wrong in trying to see how you get on just using it when he appears to be getting uncomfortable again as, like you say, the response is using pretty fast when they do take it.  You could discuss this with your vet though they seem to be very on the ball.

Hi
My Springer Jasper was on Rimadyl, he was on them for quite some time, maybe as much as a couple of years for his mobility, i lost him bless him at 15, the vet did have to increase the dose towards the end as his mobility was poor, but the tablets as well as glucosamine seemed to help.
I wish you luck with Fred and hope that they do help. maybe its like when we have pain constantly and we take painkillers over a period of time and they build up in your system, and it helps, but as soon as you stop the meds gradually come out of your system and the problem comes back. i know Jasper was on them daily.i hope this is a little help to you.
good luck Marie

Do you give Glucosamine & Chondroitin? I fine this to be very beneficial to my girl. I have Rimadyl in but only give it to her when she needs it, say after a long, long walk or has been doing something strenuous. It usually only needs one dose to see her right again, the rerst of the time she just has the G & C one a day.

Thank you all for your comments.  They have been very helpful.  I will more than likely stop his medication and only give it to him when he needs it.  But I will speak to the vet about it.  Once again thank you all for your responses.

Have you been offered the Dog Owner Information from the manufacturer's packet insert?  It may be worth reading before making your decision.

http://www.rimadyl.com/display.asp?country=US&lang=EN&drug=RC&species=CN&sec=610