Medications

Question
Dear Dr. Fry,
I have a 14yo dog with arthiries.  My Vet is giving him 300mg of Lowdine per day with food.  He seems much better but I am not sure if I should give it to my dog on a regular daily basis long term.  Medical Doctors have stopped giving it to human patients because of possible damage to the kidneys. What do you think?
Thank you,
George

Answer
We have many patients on it without any problems.  Any of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (Rimadyl, Metacam, Deramaxx, etc) have the potential to cause kidney or liver problems.  Therefore, blood testing should be done every year to ensure there is not any underlying problems.  If he seems to be doing good, you could try to give it to him every other day.  I would highly recommend adding a Glucosamine & MSM supplement into his daily regimen to help treat his arthritis naturally...you can give 2000 mg of Glucosamine and 1500 mg of MSM every day.