# Novox to diagnose pain?



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Hi there...

It does sound like Penny's feeling a little stiff and having a bit of pain. This sounds like Tee pre-Sashas Blend. I can always tell if she's overdone it playing ball when she can't jump on my bed or into the car, too, but she is no longer regulary stiff. 

Did your vet check Penny's legs? Manipulate them to check for early signs of arthritis? I know when I described Tesia's stiffness and limp to my vet, she did some manual check of all her legs, moving them around, pulling them back and forwards, and could tell that there was a little less mobility and flexibility in her right front leg - the one she limps on - an early sign of some arthritis there. 

Tee had been on glucosamine already for 4-5 years, but instead of a drug, my vet recommended the Sashas, which has been wonderful. We did talk about the arthritis and she said let's see how she does, and when you feel the pain is affecting her enjoyment of life, come see me and we'll talk pain control. I liked her slower approach to drug therapy - but I tend to be the kind of person who doesn't like to take drugs unless absolutely necessary. I know NSAIDs can also be hard on a human's stomach - I assume on a dog's, too (though I don't know if the drug your vet gave you is an NSAID..?)


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Novox is the generic equivalent of Rimadyl. I would hope your vet told you about the side effects to watch out for. There is a PDF to look at explaining side effects at the bottom of the page.

Save With Generic Pet Medications - Rimadyl vs. Novox


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

The side effects are why I asked the question. I was reading the other thread on arthritis and started to wonder about what the vet was having us do.

Penny didn't show any sign of pain with the lameness exam. Vet's prescription was based on what I told him about her occasional reluctance to jump into the car and slowness getting up. He gave us a few days of pills, told me to give them to her without telling DH and then see if HE notices a difference. I thought that was okay until I read up on Novox. Now I'm thinking that's a pretty harsh treatment for something that is barely noticeable.

I think I'll stop with the Novox and go to the over the counter types. I'm going to look into Sasha's Blend. It's pricey but she's worth it. 20 years ago when our first Golden had problems, there weren't alternatives that are as good now. She suffered needlessly. I don't want that to happen to Penny. She'll be 9 January 3 so I think it's time to take preventative measures.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Penny's Mom said:


> The side effects are why I asked the question. I was reading the other thread on arthritis and started to wonder about what the vet was having us do.
> 
> *Penny didn't show any sign of pain with the lameness exam.* Vet's prescription was based on what I told him about her occasional reluctance to jump into the car and slowness getting up. He gave us a few days of pills, told me to give them to her without telling DH and then see if HE notices a difference. I thought that was okay until I read up on Novox. Now I'm thinking that's a pretty harsh treatment for something that is barely noticeable.
> 
> I think I'll stop with the Novox and go to the over the counter types. I'm going to look into Sasha's Blend. It's pricey but she's worth it. 20 years ago when our first Golden had problems, there weren't alternatives that are as good now. She suffered needlessly. I don't want that to happen to Penny. She'll be 9 January 3 so I think it's time to take preventative measures.


That makes me wonder why your vet prescribed drugs. The other thing is that it generally takes much longer than a few days for a drug to have an effect. I agree with you that it seems harsh and extreme.

Do you notice any pattern to Penny's reluctance to jump into the car? Is it after a particularly long hike, or game of fetch, or swim? The stiffness is one thing - pain is another. Sometimes when Tee won't leap up, I wonder if it's just that her poor legs are TIRED rather than in pain - like maybe she strained a muscle or something. It usually lasts about 24 hours tops. I do know for sure that the Sashas has definitely added a new level of lubrication to her joints.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Penny doesn't hike, fetch or swim. She's a princess.

There doesn't seem to be a pattern. I first noticed her reluctance with the car during the early summer. Sometimes she's reluctant to jump up on the bed. It's really random. Maybe it's part of her lazy streak? Do you think I should start her on something just because of her age? Or should I wait until I see some indication of pain?


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

With my arthritic dogs I always had a prescription of Rimadyl on hand (after the initial exam and recent blood work indicating no liver or kidney issues brewing), but did not dose unless and until the dog showed somehow or someway that he was in pain. Usually this was some sort of limping on a walk or reluctance to walk. Then, as long as the blood work was recent and looked good, and as long as he wasn't on anything like steroids for his allergies, I could start him on the anti-inflammatory. If it did not improve with just a few days I was to come in for a consultation, re-evaluation exam and lab work. I got pretty adept at figuring out when they needed the anti-inflammatory, which wasn't that often fortunately, so if they showed any indication of pain I usually just called the vet in advance to go over the game plan again over the phone so they would know. 

All of our dogs are on Cosequin DS, anti-inflammatory levels of Omega 3s and both the hip dogs were under the care of an acupuncture veterinarian as well. 

I just didn't want to use the anti-inflammatories until they were needed for fear of long term liver or kidney damage.

With our Barkley, he was prescribed daily Rimadyl in conjunction with his chemotherapy regimen and they did blood work every 3 weeks to monitor everything.


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

Copper weighed 60 - 65 lbs and took 50mgs of Rimadyl per day with no problem for 3 or 4 months. His dose was increased to 75 mgs per day and it caused GI tract bleeding. goldenCamper's tucker had a horrible reaction to Deramaxx.

The last thing the orthopedic vet and Copper's internal specialist recommended we try was SAM-e. It could take up to 3 months to see the full effects. He was only on it about 4 - 5 weeks, but I did notice significant improvement in his mobility before his death. You cannot take it at the same time as the pain reliever Tramadol, but I couldn't find any side effects other wise. I can't swear the SAM-e made the difference, but it was less than $20 per month and might be worth a try for Penny.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Penny's Mom said:


> *Penny doesn't hike, fetch or swim. She's a princess.*
> 
> There doesn't seem to be a pattern. I first noticed her reluctance with the car during the early summer. Sometimes she's reluctant to jump up on the bed. It's really random. Maybe it's part of her lazy streak? Do you think I should start her on something just because of her age? Or should I wait until I see some indication of pain?


Ha! This made me laugh out loud. 

Stiffness for sure there are remedies - glucosamine or glucosamine based treatments, or something like Sashas. What's good about them is they are for the most part side effect free (though I think some people have experienced allergies or yeast infections from Sashas). I would definitely try her on some sort of joint treatment first - it doesn't really sound like PAIN, as much as stiffness or discomfort..


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## Goldenzrule (Mar 19, 2012)

Sorry to bring up an old thread. After my vet suggested Novox for my 10 year old Golden Emmy, I thought I would research it a little. I hadn't found this site before and this thread was one of the results that came up in google. 

Emmy is a pretty big girl, weighing in over 90 lbs. She is actually pretty tall for a girl. She is on Cosequin DS twice daily. Lately she has been very stiff getting up, and at times cries while laying down. We try to take her on a nice walk before bedtime, because she wakes us up almost every night. After her walk, she will sometimes limp slightly. We figured that she is suffering from arthritis and we will be taking her to the vet soon. The recommendation from the vet to put her on Novox is before she has been examined. 

The concern for me is that Emmy has shown protein in her urine and was found to have an elevated protein/creatinne ratio (although it has gone down to within an acceptable level with special diet). Being that she has a kidney condition, I am concerned about putting her on a drug like Novox. Is my concerns warranted? Should I be looking at an alternative, perhaps one that was mentioned here? I will bring up my concerns with our vet when we bring Emmy in. 

Thanks all and sorry about bringing up an old thread.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Both HRH and Tiny took Rimadyl for a long time with no problems. My vet also likes to do a drug trial, to see if it helps. If not, that rules out pain as a cause.


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