To Rimadyl or Not to Rimadyl?

As I have previously mentioned in this blog, my chow chow is a little bit overweight right now. It is that along with her genetic predisposition to hip dysplasia that has got me really worried for the past few days. It reached a climatic point when Mallows would not eat, got cranky and rarely got up to walk around. Moreover, I found her exaggeratedly limping her left leg whenever she would try to get up from her naps. It was so painful to see her like that so I ended up rushing her to the nearest veterinarian despite everything else that I had scheduled for that day. 

I took Mallows to the Wilson branch of Animal House, a local chain of animal clinics. The staff was very patient with Mallows' crankiness as well as with my barrage of queries and other concerns that I had. And by the end of the consultation with the veterinarian, I was prescribed Rimadyl (generic name: carprofen), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug marketed by Pfizer for dogs like Mallows who suffer from the consequences of hip dysplasia and canine arthritis. I actually expressed my concern to the veterinarian about giving Mallows too much painkillers or any other harsh medicines that might not be very good for her in the long run. Mallows is actually quite on the acidic side; thus, I have to be careful whenever administering to her certain types and dosages of medicine. Otherwise, she would sometimes vomit and experience acid attacks. :( The vet had informed me that Rimadyl is acidic and advised me to administer the drug after meals. So I bought the drug and went home. 

However, I was very surprised because as soon as I got home, I googled Rimadyl. The first few sites that I saw contained traumatic stories about the harmful effects of the drug to many pets; most of which, ended either with a dog dying or struggling with its life. :( The stories that confronted me scared me a lot. I could not seem to find the wisdom to decide with confidence on whether to ease the pain of my pet while risking her health at the same time or to save her from putting her health at risk but at the same time leaving her in pain. It was and still is such a hard decision for me. That day though, I ended up giving her only half a dosage once! I then carefully monitored her stool for the rest of the day or two. I am thankful that everything seems normal now. But I still have a few tablets of Rimadyl left. And up to this moment, I shift with uneasiness in trying to decide when it would be okay for me to administer the drug to Mallows again. It continues to be a scary and threatening situation for me. I really do not know what to do...

*image of Rimadyl taken from http://www.rimadylforpets.com/