my dogs dying of bone cancer, its getting expensive, what can i do?
Posted by: Alan in bone cancer in dogs treatment, tags: bone, cancer, dogs, dying, expensive, getting
my dog was recently diagnosed with bone cancer(sniffle)…he was prescribed rimadyl (an anti-inflamatory)…hes been hangn’ in there for about 2 months now, the script is really starting to add up. and being that its simply an anti-inflamatory im wondering if i can substitute it for something over the counter such as advil, tylenol etc….now, im well aware that a vet would never condone this, but im wondering if its a possibility never the less and if so what would be equivalent to 100 mgs of rimadyl?…please, i love my dog very much. and id never sell him short, so im not interested in opinions or speculation… strictly hard facts. your sensitivity and accuracy will be greatly appreciated….also, is there something stronger out there that i can give him(not pain killers)?
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March 31st, 2010 at 9:55 pm
It says in the link I provided that a dog can be given advil or tylenol or aspirin.
The key is the dosage – apparently it’s easy to overdose the pet. Ask your vet how much you can give your dog and how often. If he doesn’t want to help with that, try another vet.
I feel for you. I went broke, keeping my dog alive for as long as I could and it was sad. Whatever you decide to do, your dog had a loving owner and a better life than 99 percent of all other dogs.
Good luck.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:23 pm
I’m very sorry for your friend’s diagnosis. I’m sure the medication is getting expensive for you. I found this website that says not to substitute for fear of ulcers in the pet –
“Q: My question deals with Carprofen. Is there any information which compares equivalency to other NSAIDS. Are there other NSAIDS in the class such as ibu and keto profen which are also effective and save in dogs? Can you recommend some literature on this subject? Thank you for your help
A: I have not seen an equivalency chart for NSAIDS similar to the ones published for corticosteroids and opiates. If I run across one, I’ll try to remember to put the information it contains online. Carprofen (Rimadyl Rx) is supposed to be a more potent pain-reliever and a slightly less potent anti-inflammatory than the other NSAIDS which are approved for dogs.
Ibuprofen and ketoprofen have both been implicated in gastric ulcer formation in dogs. These medications are supposed to be able to cause ulcers in most dogs with just a few days dosage (5 days to a week). There are occasional reports of ulceration with just one or two doses. Therefore, they are not commonly used in veterinary medicine. Indomethacin (Indocin Rx) also has a strong tendency to cause ulcers in dogs.
I have a few clients who report that they have used ibuprofen without problems but I have also treated two dogs for severe ulcers associated with this medication so my clinical experience comes close to matching the literature reports.
Mike Richards, DVM ”
Perhaps if you were totally honest with your vet he could consider giving you some samples of the med, etc., so you could keep it up.
Good Luck!
March 31st, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I and my friends have been dog lovers for years and my friends are veterinarians and they advocate taking care of your dog as long as he is a dog and living the life of a dog. When the dog starts to suffer and it is terminal, it is not selling your dog short to put him down. You are doing him a favor that you cannot do for another human.
You know he is going to die and if you want to stop his pain while you are stopping the outflow of cash, then say goodbye and thank him for giving you a great dog’s life and let him go.
You won’t be sorry and he won’t either.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Hi there, Im sorry about your dog,
The horrible truth about bone cancers is that it is the most painful cancer. There are lots of different drugs that can aid with pain. and your vet should offer you every single one of them- NSAIDS (ie rimadyl metacam piroxicam)/ steroidal drugs (cortisone) /opiods (morphine pethidine) etc etc. However bone cancer is so painful, frequent injections of very powerful drugs (eg morphine) is warranted.
The pain killers you can get over the counter are rubbish and wont make any difference to the levels of your dogs pain.. plus human drugs should not be given to canines (esp felines) as they can be very toxic to the kidney
If a dog is suffering, and the bone cancer is in a focal place, amputation of the limb can really be a great option, especially for the welfare of the dog.
There are of course chemotherapy regimes but do you want to put your dog through this?? (although bearing in ming, chemo in animals is designed to slow the disease and not cure it, so the treatment is not as agressive as it is in humans, so you dont get the terrible side effects, hair, weightloss etc)
If your dog is suffering- please think about Euthanasia.
All the diagnostics that have been done may suggest your dog is suffering from a terminal disease.
Do you want to wait for him to get really bad/sick/sore? Or do you want to maintain his quality of life and let him go before he really starts to suffer.
I am a vet, but from a personal point of view, My own dog I grew up with when I was a kid got very sick with kidney failure, (which we knew was a terminal and painful disease) and we opted against euthanasia, as we thought she’d survive another while. Her last week on this earth was horrific and Id give anything to go back in time and chosen to let her go before things got too bad.
The most important thing is… your pet cannot prevent its own pain- But you can.
I hope you find this helpful-