General Chat

on the early morning of the 3rd april,my beautiful 11yr old lab died surrounded by myself my husband and our four teenage children,he had the most horrific death,tizer had a large benign tumour on his head(not a brain tumour)our vet prescribed rimadyl,rimadyl is an anti unflammatory drug used mainly for arthritis in dogs(he thought it might stop the tumour growing)he didnt tell us about the side affects,(excesive blood loss seizure and death) tizer had his first seizure at 1am he loss control of his bladder and bowels while lying on my daughters bed,he then went on to have the most horrific fits,our vet came to the house at 5am to put him down,by which point he was fitting every 20mins bleeding from the mouth,nose and eyes, he wasnt alone for a minute from he had his first fit, my children hugged him ,kissed him and talked to him all the way through the night,i think its safe to say that they were traumatised by what they saw,i didnt think to check his medication before i gave it to him,my vet didnt warn my of the side affects,ive found out since he died that they are trying to ban rimadyl in america because so many dogs have died, the most dods to have died have been labrador retrievers,tizer was a lab retriever,so please when your pet is prescribed medication from the vet check it out before you give it.xx

thats truly shocking, what a horrible thing to happen I hope your thread can stop it happening afain.

suzzanne....((((hugs))))...so sorry to hear this..
both my cats took rimadyl when when they had tumors and my dog was given rimadyl, last year... think i'll be checking from now on what the vets give out.....
thanks for posting this and letting us know....
take care
kaz xxxx

OMG, i've just gotta add this, my mums cat went in the vets last month and was unwell, they gave him rimadyl and he was fitting and in the end after 4 hours they had to put him to sleep................... i'm gonna ring them tomorrow and ask them if what they prescribed could of caused it all..........oh gawd....

Im really sorry to hear that...it's horrible for all.
I hope the vet will stop percribing them for ever now.

xx

Suzanne, that is awful!!
There is absoultely no point in a drug that has worse side effects than the ailment. The sooner it's banned the better.
My heart goes out to you and your family.

maggie

Oh Suzanne, how awful for your whole family. You've done the right thing by warning people about this - you take care, love and ((((hugs)))) xx

ive got an appointment with my vet tomorrow,i dont blame the vet, but i want to make sure that in the future they warn people of the side effects of the drugs they are giving their pets,when you get medication from your dr you always get a leaflet enclosed warning you of the side affects of the medication you have been given,you dont get that with pet medication if the vet doesnt tell you then you dont know what to look for,my aim is to change the way vets prescribe medication,if i had known i would have changed or stopped tizers meds, i cant bring tizer back but i can stop this happening to some other family, i wouldnt want my worst enemy to go through what my children went through that night.x

(((((((hugs)))))

so sorry....

OMG suzzanne, ive just googled you can buy the stuff on line aswell............
we need to tell everyone the side affects..
xxxx

A Review of Signs of a Potentially Life-threatening Reaction to Rimadyl

loss of appetite
change in drinking habits (refusal to drink or increased water consumption)
unusual pattern of urination, blood in the urine, sweet-smelling urine, an overabundance of urine, urine accidents in the house
vomiting
diarrhea
black, tarry stools or flecks of blood in the vomit
lethargy, drowsiness, hyperactivity, restlessness, aggressiveness
staggering, stumbling, weakness or partial paralysis, full paralysis, seizures, dizziness, loss of balance
jaundice (yellowing of the skin, mucus membranes and whites of the eyes)


Steps to Take If You Suspect Your Dog Has Had an Adverse Reaction to Rimadyl

(1) If you see any of the above-listed signs of adverse reaction, immediately stop the drug and take your dog to the vet.

yourkie,tizer started walking round in circles aswell,he didnt know what to do with himself,tizer saw the vet four days before he died,she said he was in good condition,she told my husband that the bleeding from his mouth was due to the insides of the mouth streching due to the tumour growing,if id known that rymadyl causes excesive bleeding i would have stopped or changed his medication.x

oh suzanne, you must all be heart broken. i lost my faithful friend after 12 and ahalf years, but you dont expect a vet to make your friends passing painful. your friend knows they were loved very much. nite nite godbless. x

Have to admit to being a bit cynical about vets and their charges. My sister used to work in a private hospital. They sold off old equipment - like x ray machines - that was usually bought by vets - who then charged more than a private hospital to X ray an animal!!
One of my cats started 'scabbing'. I knew she didn't have lice or fleas, as the other 2 would have them. Decided it was either an allergy or OCD - she was always 'fussing' over herself. She has longer fur than the other two (brothers). Can't really afford to take her to the vets for allergy tests so I bought a brush and started brushing her - 2 weeks later scabs have gone!!
She has a very thick undercoat with long 'guard' hairs - she just couldn't get through the fur with her mouth, so scratched herself - she is half the size of her brothers with a tiny mouth.

Cost of brush? £2.99. Saving £hundreds...
AND she's much more affectionate - even brings me the brush when she want's a 'scratch'!!

When I took one of my cats to the vet with a broken jaw he didn't have him on the database - in fact he had none of my 3 cats on his database - despite the fact they had all been neutered/spayed there 4 months previously!! However he DID have the 3 cats he had put down on there!! One of them was, apparently over 30 years old!!

maggie

My old collie was on Rimadryl for the last 8 months of her life....... i KNEW it was temporary the vet told me it masked the symptoms not cured them and that she would eventually show a reaction to the drugs one of which was vomit that looked like gravy granules........and that when that day came it was time to let her go. Vet said could be 8 months could be 8 years.......every dog reacts at different times to it but they all would eventually.

Rimadryl gave me a little more nice time with her......as soon as she showed the side effects I let her go as advised. Broke my heart but those last months with her were invaluable. I don't regret them as she was like a puppy for a while at the end. Forewarned is forearmed....... there ARE side effects to that drug and dogs need to be carefully watched on them xx

suzzanne, ive found this on a U.S. site, i'll post..............my dogs a lhasa...

Reports of the adverse effects of Rimadyl can be found at numerous Internet websites. Our sample of 115 recent U.S. dog-owner reports available at various websites shows that 36 breeds and a variety of mixes have been known to experience adverse effects from Rimadyl. Analysis of the data has yielded the following information:

A dog died or was euthanized in 54% of the cases in this sample.
The ages of the dogs ranged from 15 months to16 years.
Dosage durations ranged from one day to one year.
Symptoms reported: Inappetance, Vomiting, Lethargy, Depression, Withdrawal, Balance Problems, Stumbling, Staggering, Falling, Collapsing, Circling, Aimless Crawling, Vestibular Signs, Loss of Motor Control, Panting, Diarrhea, Incontinence, Urinary Problems, and others.
Inappetance and Vomiting were reported in 33% and 32% of the reports, respectively.
Lethargy, Depression, or Withdrawal were reported in 24% of the reports.
The remaining symptoms listed above appeared in 10­17% of the reports.
Here are the breeds mentioned:
Airedale
Akita
American Pointer/English Setter Mix
American Standard Pit Bull
Beagle
Bichon Frise
Chow Chow
Cocker Spaniel
Collie Mix
Collie/Beagle
Dalmatian
Doberman
Dobie Mix
English Bulldog
English Setter
German Shepherd
Golden Retriever
Greyhound
Irish Setter
Lab/Chow
Lab/Hound Mix
Lab/Shepherd Mix
Labrador
Labrador Mix
Lhasa Apso
Mastiff
Miniature Poodle
Miniature Schnauzer
Minpin
Norwegian Elkhound
Old English Sheepdog
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Pug
Rottweiller
Samoyed
Schipperke
Schnauzer
Sheltie
Shepherd Mix
Shepherd/Husky
Shepherd/Malmutte
Shih Tzu
Siberian Husky
Springer Mix
Springer Spaniel
St.Bernard
Terrier/Poodle
Westie

just to let everyone know that rimadyl does help some pets,but given to large dogs who need large doses is when the problems seem to start.x

that's horrific!! ;o(

if anyone out there has stories good or bad about rimadyl please post,going to see vet soon with the aim to try and change the way they prescribe rimadyl,i cant bring tizer bad but maybe i can prevent some other familty going through what we are going through now.x

Suzanne - so very, very sorry to hear about Tizer - I am absolutely horrified at what he suffered. Our yellow Lab, Dollardog, was on Rimadyl for a considerable time for arthritis in his back legs - but this is what it is intended for. We had to have him put to sleep last August, four days before he was 12, as he succumbed to diabetes and his back legs had got much worse, despite the medication.

My thoughts are with you and your family.

Love & Cuddles
Steph xxx

Sorry to hear about your dog will remember to look out for the medication for ours maz

Suzanne I'm so sorry to hear of your loss of Tizer. I lost my pet lab Kim last summer to cancer, but I still have Kim's mother Judy. Judy is suffering from Athritis at the moment and rimadyl is one product I was going to purchase to help Judy. Thank God I saw what you had to say before I did. You've saved my Judy's life - Thank you & God Bless you all. Joanne xx