Spare Parts??

Food, Fitness and how to keep them healthy.

Postby BullyLady » August 7th, 2010, 3:59 pm

So the vet wants a full body CT scan? Not a bad idea, really......
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Postby airwalk » August 7th, 2010, 6:46 pm

back from consult...not particularly good news. Pronounced degenerative arthritis in both front knees, easily visible on radiographs. Ortho surgeon threw a ton of info out there, but the bottom line is he really isn't sure there would be a remarkable clinical improvement even with surgical treatment.

We are going to begin with medical management...tramadol and rimadyl...watch activity and see if that maintains for a bit. We can go for a orthoscopic removal of the osteophytes which may help MAY being the key word there.

On the more improved front...he likes the way Doogies FHO hip is healing and doesn't recommend jumping into an FHO on the other until medically necessary. He says hips are working well, muscle mass is similar and well developed.

So we will take the Gabepentin out of the mix for 5 days..assess where he is...add in rimadyl...assess...then consult on whether that will work with an occassional boost or to add back in the gabepentin...or something stronger - or to move to a CT scan and possible orthoscopic treatment.
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Postby airwalk » August 10th, 2010, 10:14 pm

So Tramadol isn' it...buprenex isn't it...omorrow I'm going to ask...why not begin with a lower level NSAID...god I hate this process.
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Postby hugapitbull » August 10th, 2010, 10:35 pm

airwalk wrote:So Tramadol isn' it...buprenex isn't it...omorrow I'm going to ask...why not begin with a lower level NSAID...god I hate this process.


:hug3: You will get there - I have faith.
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Postby CinderDee » August 11th, 2010, 6:15 am

I'm sorry to read this Diana. :( Sending good thoughts & hugs to you both. :hug3:
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Postby Marinepits » August 11th, 2010, 8:40 am

We never had good luck with tramadol on its own, but in combination with the gabapentin it works well for Katy. Gabapentin alone also works well for Katy and we only add in the tramadol when she's very painful.

Generally, lower-level pain meds won't do much of anything for a dog at Doogie's and Katy's advanced stages. We went through numerous mild painkillers and got very little improvement in Katy's symptoms, so we went straight for the "big guns" and noticed almost immediate improvement.

You'll end up doing a lot of "experimenting" with different drugs/combinations until you find what works best for Doogie. It's frustrating but very rewarding when you find the combo that works and see Duge acting pain-free. (hugs)
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Postby airwalk » August 11th, 2010, 1:24 pm

Jen, that is kind of what I'm thinking as far as the experimenting. My thought is to start at the lowest possible level and work my way up until we find the drug and combination that work.

Today he is doing pretty well and he's had 75 mg Rim last evening and the same this morning.

Onward and upward.
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Postby maberi » August 11th, 2010, 1:50 pm

airwalk wrote:Jen, that is kind of what I'm thinking as far as the experimenting. My thought is to start at the lowest possible level and work my way up until we find the drug and combination that work.


Sounds like a good plan Diana...

I'm really sorry you guys are dealing with this. I hope you guys can find some comfort for Doogie
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Postby Marinepits » August 11th, 2010, 3:50 pm

What you also might want to do now is get a full blood panel work-up done on him so you can have a baseline of what his normal numbers are. After that, get his blood done every 6 months or so (whatever your vet recommends) and compare it to his baseline to make sure all the different meds aren't causing issues with his liver, kidneys, or other organs. If his numbers are changing significantly, you'll know what meds to increase/decrease or stop all together, and go in another direction.
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Postby airwalk » August 11th, 2010, 8:09 pm

Good idea. My first decision was with four vets in teh picture, there were probably three too many. So being the stubborn hard head I am..I decided that I will work with our shelter vet that sees him most days when Doogie is being Doogie versus once or once in a while, until I get to an activity level and management level that evens everything out without the aggression I got on Tramadol or the loopy loo wacked out of the Buprenex.

Then I will get his somewhat regular vet in the game with a blood panel and the management process - keeping the Ortho in the loop as to what we are doing (not asking so much as telling) and then when things require surgical intervention...we'll bring the Ortho in.

I think there were too many vets with differing opinions and three of them only see him once in a while...while I and the shelter vet see him virtually every day.
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Postby Marinepits » August 11th, 2010, 8:52 pm

airwalk wrote: without the aggression I got on Tramadol or the loopy loo wacked out of the Buprenex.


Whoa, interesting. Worst side effect I've seen from Katy and her meds is that she's constantly starving on the gabapentin. Sucks for her because we have to keep her on the skinny side to spare what's left of her joints.
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Postby airwalk » August 11th, 2010, 10:09 pm

Yeah we've figured out that Doogie cannot do opiods at even base level doses. On Tramadol we got agitated aggression to anything strange. Thankfully his first instinct is to run away..but and then on the buprenex he was literally wacked out for almost 13 hours before I saw my dog come back.
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Postby Marinepits » August 12th, 2010, 8:00 am

Mac is like that on any type of steroid -- super-aggressive to anything "unusual". Plus he develops hamster bladder and pees constantly, LOL. There was also one antihistimine (can't remember the name right now) that we tried with him and it literally knocked him out for hours at a time. You could shake him, bang on his sides, whatever, and he would just snore right through it, barely cracking an eye.

Hang in there -- you'll find the right combination.
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