Dogs, Rimadyl, and the liver

[anakiwa]

First the precautionary part of this: If your dog is ever put on Rimadyl watch very closely for any signs of stomach or liver problems (decreased appetite and/or vomiting). If this happens stop the drug immediately and have the dog checked out by the vet.

Here's the story. My BF has a 12 year old lab (well mostly lab with a little bit of who knows what) named Sara. Two weeks ago he took her into the vet and was given a prescription for Rimadyl for arthritis (she's been slowing down and has a lot of trouble getting up the stairs sometimes). She seemed to do well on the drug at first, but last Wednesday she stopped eating (not normal for Sara). We figured the drug was bothering her stomach and stopped it. The next day her urine was dark and BF took Sara in. Her ALT (blood test measuring liver inflammation/injury) was off the charts. The vet said it was certainly from the Rimadyl and kept the dog there for intravenous fluids and antibiotics. We went to see her on Saturday- her spirits seemed great (she's wagging her tail and acting normally, just doesn't want to eat). At that point the ALT was coming down, but the alk phos and bilirubin were going up. The vet (a different one from the one who had seen her last week, but the one who originally prescribed the Rimadyl) was concerned that it could be a gall bladder mucocele. She recommended taking the dog to a bigger clinic (1 1/2 hrs away) and having an ultrasound to make sure she doesn't need gall bladder surgery. BF thought it over and decided that the ordeal (for us and the dog) and expense weren't worth it given her age. (He had also been given the impression by the other vet that the rimadyl was to blame and that care was supportive only.) Since then she's stayed at the vet. She continues to seem fine, but her bilirubin continues to go up (it's now 22- very high). After a lot of thought, he went in there today to take her home (with the realization that she may die, but the desire to have some time with her if possible). The vet keeps pushing him to keep her there and to have an ultrasound. While he's not upset that the dog was given Rimadyl (it seemed a reasonable thing to try- and it has helped my dog a lot in the past), he is getting frustrated by the fact that the vet keeps pushing this gall bladder problem (it's starting to feel like they're worried the dog will die and want to avoid blame).

So here are my questions:

Anyone with any experience with liver toxicity from Rimadyl?

Anyone with any experience with gall bladder mucocele problems?

Anyone ever watched a dog die of liver failure? Was the dog uncomfortable? Right now the dog appears to be perfectly comfortable- it's therefore hard to imaging putting her down (and after all she could still get better). If we take her home we're prepared she may die, but we don't want to be in a situation where the dog is suffering and we can't do anything about it.

[Blueberry]

No experience to share - just wanted to express my sympathies We're dealing with our share of fur baby problems too (congestive heart failure and a yet unexplained stomach issue), so we certainly can sympathize.

CA

[sundial]

Anakiwa, I've switched my seniors to Prevacox for the very reason you have mentioned--the potential for adverse reactions to Rimadyl. Many of my gsd friends will not use Rimadyl and have chosen instead to use Ester-C, glucosamine and chondroitan. I use enteric coated aspirin for my foster boy while he's being treated for heartworms--no Prevacox. Let me check and see if I can find an article about complications using Rimadyl.

I have not lost a dog to liver failure--just kidney failure. I'm sorry that your Sara is having problems and I hope she gets to feeling better soon.

[sundial]

Here's a website of information about Rimadyl and other NSAIDs. If you will scroll down the page, you can read about reactions to Rimadyl.

http://www.srdogs.com/Pages/rimadylfr.html

[HoosierGiant]

My heart goes out to you!

We lost our 15-year-old Border Collie to sudden kidney failure shortly after starting Rimadyl for arthritis. While Rimadyl has been shown to be extremely effective in most cases, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that Hoosier was another member of the group of canines that are adversely affected by the drug.

Best wishes to all of you...

[makbike]

It is possible that the Rimadyl tipped the scales and there was already a preexisting liver/gall bladder issue. The push for the ultrasound is not an unreasonable one - it will let you and the vets know if they are treating the problem correctly or if they need to take a different path.

Rimadyl can cause problems - did the vet run a blood panel before prescribing the Rimadyl to check values (liver, kidney, etc)? Please don't let whatever the problem is go untreated - liver failure is a terrible way to die. The dog will often stop eating, develop diarrhea, vomiting, abdomen can become very uncomfortable, etc. Did they send home a prescription diet? Any medications?

Keep us posted and I hope things work out for you guys and dog.

[nic840]

Thank you for the heads-up. My Big Boy, Oscar, will be 10 in May and I started him on Rimadyl a few months ago because of severe arthritis in one of his shoulders. He is a hunting dog and has been active his whole life.

He seems to be doing really well on it. I have tried a few other things and this is the one that has made the biggest difference.
His prescription ran out a few weeks ago and I stopped it to see if it made a difference and he came up lame quite a bit more. Poor guy...he is my first baby and its hard to see him sore. I put him back on it a week ago and so far so good.

I will definitely keep an eye on his eating habits...he eats anything and everything...typical Lab.

Sara is at an age where little things start to compound and they just can't recover as fast. Twelve is getting up there for a Lab and I think as long as she is comfortable you should just enjoy the few years she may have left. I am not looking forward to those days and my heart goes out to you.
I will keep thinking good doggy thoughts for you, your BF and Sara.

[smilingcat]

I wish Sara will pull through this ordeal with the liver and all. It is just so hard to see your animal being sick. It feels so hopeless at times.

If she is comfortable then let her rest and maybe she will rebound from the Rimadyl ordeal.
We have had our dogs on Rimadyl when arthritis became really bad. But we never like Rimadyl for all the things we have heard. So we used it as a last resort. As a supplemental thing. We use glucosamine and chondro??. It does make a difference when the arthritis isn't so bad. We also took our babies on shorter and shorter easier and easier walks. When they got really stiff in the joints, just being able to go out the front door was more than enough. But it was plenty for them to be happy.

So when Sara recovers, adjust her activity to what she can do. She will be very greatful/happy. When our dogs got old, they were just happy to see us and lay by our side, dinner time, watching TV (when we still had one), or lay in th kitchen while I made dinner.

And keep her warm too. The cold is hard on them.

wish Sara and you lots of good healing thoughts,
Smilingcat

[OakLeaf]

Add my prayers, too, for all of you.

I really don't know anything about liver function tests in dogs, but is it possible that the new r/o diagnosis is because of the changes in her blood levels? If it were a gall bladder issue, is surgery the only option?

My dogs had stomach trouble from most NSAIDs, but thankfully no liver issues.

And just throwing it out into the mix since this thread has gone to doggie arthritis generally - my dogs showed little to no response to oral glucosamine/chondroitin, but the one of them who had the shots (Adequan) did really well on those. It's a tradeoff though, because they have to get the shot monthly, and it's IM, so it's a bit painful for the dog.