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Dog Arthritis Medication**Warning! Dog Arthritis Medication May Be Hazardous to Your Dog's Health!**
Your dog is in pain. He has been diagnosed with dog arthritis and has been put on some conventional dog arthritis medication.
But do you know exactly what kind of drug it is? Do you know if it causes any nasty side-effects?
As responsible dog parents, it is important that we educate ourselves as much as we can before we put our dog on a particular treatment program involving medication.
There are two main categories of common dog arthritis medication. Let's take a look at each one of them.
NSAIDs (Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs)NSAIDs are medicines commonly used to treat hip dysplasia and arthritis in animals. They provide analgesic pain relief and reduce joint inflammation. NSAIDs work against a chemical in the body called cyclooxygenase. There are two kinds of cyclooxygenase, COX-1 and COX-2. Traditional NSAIDs, such as aspirin, Rimadyl (generic name is Carprofen) work against both COX-1 and COX-2 in the body. Newer medications (such as Deramaxx) leave the COX-1 variety alone, resulting in less stomach irritation and ulceration. These newer generation NSAIDs are known as COX-2 Inhibitors and are said to have fewer side effects than the earlier NSAIDs. Side Effects FDA, pharmaceutical companies and many vets cite that dog arthritis medication such as NSAIDs can cause indigestion, vomitting, diarrhea, or stomach ulcers. In some animals, these medicines may also cause high blood pressure or asthma. Other than that, it is said that NSAIDs are very safe for our dogs. But are they? Take a look at these facts:
Steroids
Another type of common dog arthritis medication is a kind of steroid called anti-inflammatory corticosteroids, which are used to treat pets for various conditions. The manner in which these drugs work is, they suppress the immune system.
They can therefore be used to treat not only inflammation from arthritis, but also such diseases as allergies, auto-immune diseases, stomach and intestinal inflammation, and kidney diseases.
Some common steroid medications used to treat pets include prednisone, dexamethasone, and triamcinolone.
Side Effects
Common side effects of this type of dog arthritis medication include:
Other Pain Relief MedicationsBesides the conventional dog arthritis medication above, how about common pain relief medications? Are they safe for our pets? As a rule, never, never give pain relief medications for humans, such as Advil (generic name - Ibuprofen) and Tylenol (generic name - Acetaminophen) to your dog. They will cause serious damages or even death to your dog. Many people, including veterinarians, say that aspirin is a safe pain relief medicine for dogs. But is it really? Actually, aspirin, like many NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dugs), can cause a lot of nasty serious side effects, such as: According to Veterinary Drug Handbook (3rd ed., D. C. Plumb), aspirin interacts with other drugs. Using aspirin with other NSAIDs exaggerates the ulcerative properties of these medications. Therefore, aspirin should not be used in combination with cortisone-type medications such as prednisone or with other NSAIDS such as Rimadyl. Moreover, aspirin may cause birth defects, so if your dog is pregnant, do not give her any aspirin. Aspirin is poorly tolerated by young dogs, since they lack the enzymes necessary to process the aspirin. (For that matter, the same is true for most cats.) Even for adult dogs, aspirin can be toxic if given in high doses of about 30 mg per pound of the dog. This means that if your dog weighs 2 lb. or less, even a baby aspirin could be poisonous for her. For a dog that weighs about 10 lb., an adult aspirin (320 mg) could be toxic. I don't know about you, but after researching this topic and learning about the possible side-effects of conventional dog arthritis medication, I have no doubt but that natural holistic remedies for dog arthritis is a much better and safer choice for my four-legged friend.Related Topics Dog Arthritis Natural Remedies for Dog Arthritis Glucosamine for Dog Arthritis MSM for Dogs References R. Kidd, Dr. Kidd's Guide to Herbal Dog Care (Storey Publishing, 2000). Pitcairn and Pitcairn, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (Rodale, 2005). TOP of Dog Arthritis Medication |
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