Effects of long-term rimadol and tramadol use?

MrsHK

I'm looking for insight from anyone who has had experience with this. 

My dog is about 11 years old and suddenly started experiencing bad arthritis. It first seemed to appear as a skin infection but once that healed she was still not 100%. An x-ray showed the arthritis forming in her lower back. After some trial with meds we've ended with rimadol and tramadol for inflammation and pain-relief. We've also added glucosimine chondrontin.  (sorry, I'm sure I'm butchering all the spellings). I believe the initial hope was that the meds would just help get it under control and then we could continue with vitamins, cool compress, limited activity. Instead it looks like the meds will be a permanent fixture. 

Are you familiar with this? Are these meds ever just temporary? We feel like our vet expects that we should be able to get her back to 100% and seems surprised when we call and say that she can't function without them. Is that normal?

What long-term implications should we be concerned about on these meds? I've heard they can effect kidney function over time. Which I'm sure is the trade off. Keep her comfortable but ultimately it'll break down other areas of her body. Our vet's rates have always been reasonable. Heartworm protection and flea and tick have always been close to or slightly less than ordering online. However, these meds are going to average us $75 a month. Any tips on getting rebates, deals, coupons?   

Temp752290812504671

Yes, they can be temporary but that is usually when they are used for an injury. When our American Bulldog hurt his leg, he was on Rimydal for a few weeks for inflammation. 

We started our lab on Rimydal at 10.5 for arthritis. We just lost him at the beginning of June at age 14. Really, once I started I never expected NOT to have to continue. Arthritis is going to simply go away.

We gave him 100 mg a day, knowing if we needed to we could go up to 150 mg a day if he was having a bad day and that was rare. We switched vet and they offered the generic Carprofen it was $50 for 60 100 mg pills which we gave 1 a day.

I know a lot of people are against long term use, but my feeling was as long as he was happy and comfortable in his old age I would take the risk of the liver damage. He was already almost 11, which for a lab is elderly in most cases. He lived to 14. So yeah, I was totally comfortable in my decision. 

I would ask your vet about generic options and our vet will price match online pricing, it may be worth asking. Rimadyl does often run rebate programs for $10 mail-in rebates. Also, when we started he only took 50 mg a day but it was cheaper to buy the 100 mg and cut them in half with a pill cutter. 

ETA: We never added Tramadol, he did well enough with the Rimadyl alone by adjusting the dosage.

 

aggiebug

Rimadyl is an NSAID which is the same class of drug as Advil and Aleve but safe for dogs (humans NSAIDS are bad for dogs) but I say this because just as we use them on an as needed basis and some use it on a daily basis we can do the same in dogs.  There are some small risks with daily dosing but regular blood work to monitor the liver and kidneys should catch any issues before they become a serious problem.  Tramadol is even safer than Rimadyl. Many of my senior patients are on daily rimadyl and tramadol with no ill effects. I would not be concerned using them daily in your pup.