Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is now 5 weeks since our Stella was given a dose of Morphine and we discovered that she was still full of life when we took away her pain - with Tramadol - carefully monitored.
Tramadol (high rate 600 - 700 mg per day for 43 kg dog with terminal cancer) seems to be not for every dog. The dose times decreased gradually from every 8 hours to every 6 hours.
With Stella aged 14 years having terminal melanoma cancer it was a matter of time when her time was up.
Stella knew and let us know
It was last Saturday morning - her final walk down to her favourite swimming hole at our river and back home - she lay down and we knew it was time to call in our vet - at home
Stella has passed away peacefully having lived with us from
the year 2000 when she came to us as a small puppy.
She has been the most wonderful companion, friend, playmate,
guide, guard and a never ending source of optimism, and energy.
Her ability to come through adversity is legendary, her appetite
always amazing.
She had enormous energy and love of life
Stella - we miss you
So sorry about Stella, my old girl is 14 and her age is showing.
Tramadol is a synthetic opiate. I've never had a vet prescribe it. I keep Butazolodine on hand for animal use. Its been around forever. Its an anti inflammatory analgesic, and will make an old dog into a pup again. Lol. I remember my Dad using it on himself a few times growing up. Said it really did a number on his arthritis. Not that I advocate this, but, it seemed to work for him, and dogs and horses to.
Tramadol SHOULD work well in animals. But, I'm not a pharmaceutical chemist. It being in the opiate family and opiates work pretty universally in mammals. Personally, Bute has always worked well for my critters, so I'll stick with it.
My 11 y/o part lab part unknown has huge, non-cancerous tumours on his chest, tummy and smaller ones on the legs. He also suffers from epilepsy and arthritis. The vet prescribed metacam and tramadol. He is on day 3 of tramadol 150 mg twice daily and tonight he cannot settle. He paces back and forth, is frightened if I leave a room and has heavy panting and cannot sleep. It is nearly 3 a.m. and neither of us have slept. My pompek died in February and Nosy started to go downhill after that. It has just been this month that I have seen an improvement in his emotional behaviour. My pompek was also given tramadol and he lost his sight. The vet said that a brain tumour killed him. I live on a tiny island where we do not have access to all the diagnostic equipment which would help define my pets' illnesses so must rely on the vet's knowledge. Vet care is only available Mon-Fri 9 to 4 and right now it is early Sunday morning. I am going to stop the tramadol and see if my baby settles down. He still has a wonderful appetite and runs to the door to see friends that come by. I know his time is coming but hopefully by stopping the tramadol he will improve.
Update on Nosy -- I stopped the tramadol and metacam yesterday but he still suffered from heavy panting, could not settle and when he would lay down, he would jump up again very quickly. I gave him a smaller dose of metacam last evening and the heavy panting increased. He prowled the house for most of the night. I let him out on the veranda and he relaxed for about 20 mins but if I move, he is right with me. Again, neither of us had any sleep. The excessive panting has decreased slightly this a.m. and he is outside enjoying the breeze. The house is very hot at night and believe this may be contributing to his discomfort but attempts to put a small fan near his bed do not help. His appetite is still good so not certain where I go from here. Am taking him to vet today for any solutions. I noticed he now has another tumour starting under his chin which makes putting his head down very difficult. I wish we had a larger range of drugs for pets but it wasn't too many years ago that the vets only treated livestock so anything is an improvement. If the vet tells me that today is his final day then I shall have to accept that but praying that he has more time.
Last edited by Nosy's Mum; 05-26-2014 at 05:45 AM..
Reason: spelling errors
My darling Nosy made the journey today to Rainbow Bridge, where I am sure he is playing with his little brother who passed in Feb.
The vet said the metacam and tramadol did not play a part in his passing but rather the cancer had spread throughout his body, including his brain.
I will miss him very much.
Vet put my dog on Tramadol but he would also get Remadryl on occasion, for his pain/swelling from arthritis. They work with each other.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.