Tramadol

[LisainCAN]

My Sara just turned 11 years-old and is my heart dog. My best guess is that she is a Shepherd mix of some kind. She is about 55 pounds. About a year ago she started lying down to eat. Eventually her back right leg started trembling. She has steadily declined since then and now, as of two weeks ago, she drags that leg when she walks and the foot sort of knuckles over. If she is standing though and I roll her foot onto its side, she can still right it and put it pad-down. She is obviously having a harder time getting up after lying down but she still manages to jump up onto my bed every night. The problem is my vet, whom I love dearly, but who is more of a "GP" in that she is great at the broad spectrum things, like fixing injuries and diagnosing based on blood work, but is not so great at more intricate problems. For example, after a physical exam only, about six months ago, she decided that Sara had arthritis and put her on Previcox. All that it did was make Sara groggy and there was no improvement. I did not refill the prescription. Now that there is the dragging and knuckling, I have been hounding my vet and I truly feel like she gave me Tramadol just to placate me. I am not sure this is the right drug for Sara. I am wondering if any of you here have any experience with it and if you could also share what it was prescribed for? I am trying to get Sara into a larger clinic that has more diagnostic tools but it is a long-shot. Of course, I could bring her to a specialist but I am not even sure which kind ... is it neurological ... is it orthopedic ... ?

I am going to look into a cart too and I know just the site .... LOL

Thank you.

[Bobbie]

Without some kind of testing you really have no idea... it could be arthritis, could be a tumor, could be DM, could be a disk injury.

You might want to try the $65 OFA test to rule out DM (if it comes back Carrier or Clear it isn't DM.) If it comes back At Risk then you know it at least MIGHT be DM. Although I'm inclined based on what you say to think it isn't.

Next up in cost would be X-rays. They MIGHT show a problem- bad hips, narrowing of disk space, a tumor- but they aren't conclusive for ruling those things out (well, for hips they are.) You really should rule out DM before doing an X-ray with anesthesia or contrast, though, as there is some possibility that would make DM worse.

The gold standard would be an MRI- which can be pretty pricey.

It doesn't really sound like DM as not wanting to stand sounds more like pain, and DM isn't painful. Also the first obvious sign is usually not righting her foot when you turn it over, and she IS doing that.

Tramadol will only mask pain so you might also ask about trying a couple of weeks on a different NSAID than Previcox. If no improvement is seen then that also hints at DM or possibly a spinal tumor. (Since it started a year ago the spinal tumor is probably not likely.) Then find a combination of an NSAID, supplements, and tramadol that do enough for the pain to help her. Supplements you should be using are at a minimum glucosamine.