# Adequan and Rimadyl



## michelleeroro (Jun 24, 2011)

My baby (Max) is 11 years old this October. I want to say maybe 4 years ago he was run over on our farm. We let him roam our property free, and he likes to shade himself by the vehicles- which never posed a problem when he was younger and had his wits about him.. but he got too comfortable and would let himself fall asleep in the shade.. The vet never said anything about his ears, but I am wondering if maybe he is going deaf, only because it is rare for him not to hear a vehicle startup.. anyway, lunchtime came around and my cousin got in his pickup, started it up and pulled out without realizing Max was laying at his tire. He broke his hip on the left side and dislocated his right hind.. The dislocation was popped back into place and put into a sling for what was supposed to be two weeks. (After a few days of staying at the vet and all sorts of pain meds, x-rays, etc.) He also had bruised kidneys I believe. So for a long time (while his hip was healing) we had to use a belt to assist him outside, he was on so much medication and in so much pain he wouldn't eat- which is rare for a dog like him.. He's a hunter, I couldn't count all of the animals he's caught and brought to me on his own.. from woodchucks to opposums to mice to birds to pretty much anything that flies or lives in a hole. Anyway, this dog loved life. I made him homemade chicken and rice soup with a whole rotissary chicken, all for him and he barely lapped up some of the broth. His diet during this period was mainly a few slices of various lunchmeats. My father even bought him $100 worth of homemade beef jerky to try to entice him, he couldn't eat anything. He went from a healthy muscular 83 lbs to about 50, and hasn't put back on all of his weight since (he is a healthy 63 lbs now though, don't fret). 

And, this dog is proud, I remember after the accident, the first time I tried to help him outside (using a belt to support his back end) since he only had one back leg to use and that was the side with his broken hip... he started hopping too fast and (idk if you've ever assisted a dog in this state, but the mentality is slow and gentle and the position is awkward- do you stand on his side or in front of him? you don't want to get in his way or trip him.. its not easy) I got nervous and couldn't quite keep up (pathetic I know)- I didn't want to grab him by the collar or be rough with him and all he wanted to do was go to the bathroom away from me and not in his own backyard (remember- he has acres upon acres to roam, he's not the kinda dog to go in his yard when we've got a section of woods further back, a few fields, etc. he likes his privacy) so he starts hopping for the bushes that are in between our house and the neighbors.. without me and his belt! Saddest sight ever- this dog must have collapsed 2 or 3 times and picked himself back up, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to pick him up and risk moving anything that shouldn't be moved, I didn't want to grab him by the collar cause that puts pressure on the one hind leg, (I was maybe 16/17 at the time) so I had to call my dad to pick him up. ugh what a terrible memory. 

I'm getting off topic here. Long story short, the leg that was dislocated popped out of place twice more after that, and the vet decided that because he had minor hip dysplasia in that hip and the trauma of the accident on the other hip- the best decision was to leave the leg dislocated until his hip bone healed and then perform surgery to have the ball of his leg joint cut off and create an artificial joint out of muscle. 

So that is my dog's hind end right now, no hip joint on one side and a healed fracture on the otherside of his hip. They put him on Rimadyl for pain, but we rarely gave it to him as I researched the effects and came up with pending lawsuits and a ton of dogs seizuring and dying from the medication and decided its best for him to be on it when he's in too much pain to be happy. if he can run and play and wag his tail and stand up, and basically do everything he could need or want without it, then let him. So for the last four years we've only been using it for mainly winters- as thats when his pain hits him the hardest and he's the stiffest, and for the most part he's been fine without it. 

Fast forward to May, as I'm finishing up exams and everything else.. I find out that he was hit again! Less serious this time, my uncle backed into him and hit his front right paw and he had a hairline fracture. Well my dad felt the lateral splint was less than suitable because he couldn't walk and the dog looked miserable (not thinking that a few weeks of miserable is much better than a few months or god forbid the rest of his life) and took his splint off, and I guess the doctor misjudged how serious the fracture was because he said that a splint was not necessary for the fracture but he recommended it.. so my dad had a friend create a plastic brace that velcros shut, custom fit he plastered the leg and everything.. and he had him in that for support. the brace ended up rubbing my dog's hair off in some parts and max (the clever little thing) learned to pull the velcro off anyway... I actually watched him loosen the velcro and put it back on, as if no one touched it. (except it was too loose to stay put if he walked.. 

Well, we went back in for our checkup (this time I was home) and he refractured his leg (probably running or landing hard on the leg without the splint on..) and vet's recommendations are see a specialist an hour away for surgery to put reset the bone and put a metal plate.. benefits are relatively low healing time and minimal pain in the leg once the surgery's over.. So same day we go see the specialist, x-rays in hand. He says that the fracture has already callused and begun healing fairly well, and unlike our vet who said without the surgery the dog will be lame in that leg, the specialist doesn't recommend surgery and says that he should heal fine.. maybe a little physical abnormality but it shouldn't affect his gait nor should his prior injuries be affected or become worst. He also says that he doesn't need rimadyl for the pain caused by his fracture, but he points out arthritis in his elbow and wrist/ankle joints that had been developing for awhile (I'm thinking prior to the first accident or because of the first accident, even though those legs were unaffected- most likely the stress of compensation has caused the arthritis) and says if anything he needs the pain medication for the arthritis... So he splints him (vertical, with toes sticking out the bottom) and he can actually walk in this splint, says to change it every week and keep it on for four weeks.. (next week it should come off) and sends us on our relieved way. 

Lately, max's new thing is ripping apart his splint- doesn't matter if it's vet wrapped or wrapped by me.. (I have horses = i know how to wrap bandages [plus I watched them wrap it], so the first time he ripped apart his splint [after it was changed for the first time] I bought supplies and rewrapped it myself.. because he developed a dermatitis and is now on antibiotics for the dermatitis, the vet was actually impressed with my bandage job and said I could change it everyday if I want and even leave it off when I know he'll be inside and not moving around so it can get air; because I changed his bandage the morning before our visit she didn't even rewrap it, just felt his callus through the bandage and made sure everything was in place- she loved the way he was walking..) this past week he has torn it apart everyday, twice today. My dad thinks its because he's uncomfortable, but I know my dog.. half of it is fun to him (he pulls the cotton out of his bandage like he pulls cotton out of a teddy bear he's torn apart) and the other half is his obsessive/instinctual urge to lick his raw leg [dermatitis].. If it was uncomfortable he would have torn apart the first splint, which he didn't.. but now that his leg is nearly healed, he's annoyed with the thing.. he doesn't think he needs it as much as he did the first time it was put on (what a difference it made in his gait!) and plus its fun to pull apart cotton, and then when he gets to the bottom of it- he can lick his booboos. 

So anyway, last time at the vet.. she was talking about injections for joints for horses [she has horses as well] and that they make the same thing for dog's.. Adequan.. the way she explained it to me, is that it actually helps build and repair cartilage as oppose to glucosamine which just helps to add joint fluid. For those who have never heard of it and maybe want to look into it, by me its $100 per 5ml jar. The injections are intramuscular, I'm not sure if your vet would let you do it yourself, but mine would since I'm familiar with giving injections from the horses. Basically [I could be wrong because my memory's a little fuzzy] for the first five weeks [??], its two 1ml injections a week, then its one 1ml injection every 4 months [?? again] not exactly sure if those time frames are right but I think thats what she said. 

I think we are definitely going to try it, our appointment is wednesday so I'm excited to see how it will work out. 

I'm wondering if anyone has tried adequan? good results? 

And regarding Rimadyl.. Are there alternative pain medications? Less harmful? Does it cause liver damage? Could it be the reason my dog's bloodwork came back to show he has a high thyroid? [which I've been noticing in the last year or two- laying down a lot [I thought it might be from pain] drinking a lot of water, eating roughly the same yet losing rather than gaining, rougher coat.. None of these symptoms in excess.. but the combination of them all made sense to me after I heard the results of his blood work. I would like to get him off rimadyl if I can, but it seems like the only option when it comes to his pain. 

And then my dad- I wanted to kill him. I told him to give him rimadyl ONLY when he looks like he's in pain or seems "down" [this dog is literally the HAPPIEST dog, ears always perk up when you look at him, tail always wagging, always looks to be smiling.. only thing that gets him down lately is not being able to roam free like the madman he is- he's tied up when he's outside.. or he's inside. he hasn't roamed in a solid 6 weeks..] but he's been giving it to him every day. which I understand he wants him to be comfortable... but I don't want to come home to a seizuring dog one day. So, apparently we ran out of rimadyl before our last vet appointment [i didn't know, since my dad gives him his morning antibiotics and rimadyl around 5-6AM and i give him his evening antibiotics around 6-7PM] so I didn't get a refill.. since friday he's been out of rimadyl, and he seems fine.. i'm kind of glad i didn't get it refilled at least temporarily.. I reminded my dad (i've told him before, but it was when Max was first prescribed rimadyl so it was a long time ago) about the effects of rimadyl and he agreed that for now he should be off it... I do need to get it refilled if he's having an off day.. or when the weather's bad, I know he hurts.. (I had lyme's disease.. I can't say I know exactly how he feels since he's had injuries worst than I've ever had.. but I know when bad weather is coming and I know what stiff arthritic joints feel like.. so I can sympathize with him) 

anyway... Adequan/Rimadyl..Thoughts? alternatives to rimadyl? 

Sorry for the novel!


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