Pain Medicine for Dogs

When looking for an appropriate pain medicine for dogs, you will no doubt hear the term NSAID. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, to give them their full name, are a relatively new treatment for dogs that can relieve pain, reduce inflammation and can even help dogs to recover quicker from trauma or illness.

The NSAIDs in use today have been refined over many years to reduce the negative side effects and make them safer for common use. They can be used to treat conditions such as arthritis to ease the joints and relieve pain, or after surgery to prevent your dog from any unnecessary suffering during the recovery period. Although the side effects are usually quite negligible, they can sometimes become serious and can include increase or decrease of appetite, vomiting, loss of balance, itchiness, seizures and jaundice. It is important, therefore, to ensure that you get the right kind for your dog, to administer it in the correct prescribed dosage and to monitor your dog closely, especially in the early stages of treatment.

The best thing you can do if you want to know more about pain medicine for dogs is to go and see a veterinarian. Your vet should have a good amount of knowledge and understanding of NSAIDs and can advise and inform you, guiding you to the right choice for your dog. You may even find that you need to try out a few different NSAIDs before finding one that’s suitable. Some NSAIDs may require your dog to have blood tests done regularly to monitor liver toxicity. This is because in some cases an adverse reaction can cause liver malfunction, leading to serious problems. If you notice any abnormal symptoms after starting a course of treatment, you should return to the vet immediately.

There are a couple of safeguards put into place to help you ensure that you are doing the right thing for your dog. For example, when you receive a prescribed NSAID, you should also get with it a leaflet with some user-friendly information about the drug, its side effects, etc. If you don’t get this, ask for it. There should also be a message on the label that says “All dogs should undergo a thorough history and physical examination before initiation of NSAID therapy. Appropriate laboratory tests to establish baseline blood values prior to, and periodically during, the use of any NSAID are strongly recommended.”

Although some of this article may sound quite scary, the simple truth is that in terms of pain medicine for dogs, it is NSAIDs or nothing. Sure they have side effects just like drugs for humans, and also like drugs for humans they should be used responsibly, but as long as you pay close attention to your dog during treatment, you can be confident that you won’t have many problems. You may go through a few NSAIDs before you find the perfect one for your dog, but persevere with it; putting an end to your dog’s pain is worth it!