# Alternative to Tramadol?



## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Hi all,

Sorry for the long first post but we are desperately looking for some help.

Our 12 years old Husky bitch, Maya, was diagnosed with arthritis in the hind legs/hips about 8 months ago. We felt dreadful because she'd been coming into our bedroom at night for a while and we just thought she was being spooked by noise etc and it turned out she was in pain 

The vet said there was some muscle wasting in the hind quarters and this is now quite noticeable - she can only walk so far now, stumbles now and then and struggles with climbing stairs. 

The vet prescribed Metacam which she has been on ever since and whilst this has obviously helped ( she no longer seeks comfort at night) she still appears to be in pain (pants a lot etc.) We therefore went back to the vet who prescribed her 100mg Tramadol capsules to be take twice a day.

Very long story short - except on a few occasions when we've been lucky, she will not take them. Hidden in food, she'll spit it out. Broken open and mixed with food, she won't touch it. We have tried quarters of tramadol pill inside Vitatreats, in turn inside raw beef/tripe (BARF diet) but this fooled her for about a day. We have tried every food and endless methods. Literally the only way we can get her to take tramdol now is to force it down and this is not an eaasy task and Maya reacts aggresively. We don't want to put her through that twice a day.

We have asked the vet for alternatives to Tramadol but they have come up short because they say there aren't any out there that can be taken with the Metacam. 

Does anyone have experience of pain relieving drugs that can be taken as an alternative to Tramdol and safelyu with metcam?

Alternatively, are there alternatives to Metacam that would then open up other drugs that could be taken in place of tramdol?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Karen and Al


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

Tramadol is far safer than Metacam or any non steroidal anti inflammatory drug. It's a fantastic pain killer for animals and humans alike. It may make her a little drowsy at first but they soon get over that once they've had it a few times. I would rather give my dog Tramadol any day than a NSAID that can cause stomach ulcers, particularly in an older dog.

If she were mine I would have Cartrophen injections, usually a course of four (no Metacam while having the course) and Tramadol can still be taken with this potentially wonderful drug. 
FORTE - Cartrophen vs NSAIDs

This drug actually helps mend the cartilage where as Metacam treats the pain but destroys the cartilage, making walking more difficult although there is lack of pain.

She may be elderly but gentle sessions of hydrotherapy to build up her muscles will help tremendously, as will glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplements, along with green lipped mussel tablets.

Metacam is okay for short term use every now and then but I would never want a dog of mine on it for more than a couple of weeks, it's destructive and dangerous IMO. Vets dish it out like it's going out of fashion unfortunately! 

ETA- Why are you so against Tramadol? if you have ever had severe pain you would know how good it is.


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## McSquirtle (Jan 13, 2012)

Have you looked into Onsior? It might be worth asking your vet about it, like tramadol it is a lot safer than using a NSAID and is specifically designed for bones and joints.


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Hi

thanks for the reply.

We're not against Tramadol at all - we simply can't get Maya to take it without force feeding her and putting her under a lot of stress in the process - not to mention us being bitten 

We're just looking for something to replace it that we can actually get her to take...


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

Tramadol really does taste vile, a very bitter drug and mine don't like it either. I had to be very strategic and get it out when Kali was not around, I couldn't even touch the tablet and then the cheese because she knew. So I ended up just shoving it down her throat, Flynn is easy to fool as he's a bit of a dope, lol but not Kali.

If you get the tablet out, wash it off of your hands then without touching it wrap it in some cheese slice - you know the Kraft cheese slices and mix it in her food along with many other bits of cheese slice all folded up like the Tramadol bit perhaps she won't know. Def don't touch the cheese with a 'Tramadol hand' because they know.

I have found the 50mgs capsules are easier to get them to take as they don't taste like the white tablets do because they are in a film capsule wrapper, so to speak.

The good thing is with big dogs that they have huge throats so you can get them down easily, little dogs are far more difficult. Also another tip - feed her an hour later so as she is extra hungry and eats quicker. With barf you can mix it in cheese and add to mince I tried slitting a chicken wing and popping it in there but with chewing it gets discovered with the mince they sort of hoover it up, lol!
Main advice though, don't handle the tablet/capsule then the cheese - these dogs aren't stupid you know.  Mine can't resist pilchards in tom sauce so mix a bit of that in too to make the meal extra special.

Good luck!


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Thanks - all really useful advice! Unfortunately we've done all of those things and more. I've melted cheese to carefully encase the tramadol without touching it, then encased that in beef mince/tripe after washing hands in between. It worked twice before she caught on. 

Literally the only way we can get tramadol down her is the force feed method and that is not always possible and certainly not something we want to do regaulry because of the stress it causes. ideally we want to try a different drug. 

Online searching suggests Gabapentin might be an option...any experience of that?


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## Kc Mac (Jul 26, 2011)

I know you say you have tried everything, but have you tried nature diet or similar wet food method?!

The method is to take a small dish or saucer, take Nature Diet and a fork. Scrape the food with fork and put a small amount in the dish (so its all totally crumbled and can be lapped up NOT chewed  feed to Maya for a few days (I put it down for Kc next to her feed bowl at dinner time) Then after a few days of her getting extra yummy food, take a piece of Nature Diet and shape with he capsule/tablet inside and place it on top in the middle of the dish, fingers crossed it gets lapped up with the rest 

My staffie has had so many pills in her life that she can't be fooled! And currently gets 50mg Tramadol capsules twice daily and consumes them . It's the only method that has worked with capsules as she chews everything properly. For tablets I usually have to add to bovril


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Will give that a go but with scepticism as we have just tried this...

50mg capsule encased in Vitatreat, encased in melted cheese, encased in minced beef!

Did it work? Nope! Damn you clever hound!


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Banjo has been on Gabapentin for over a year now & fine on it but we dont have any problems bribing him with a bit of plastic ham  he also has Carprieve instead of Metacam or Previcox as they wer'nt doing the job anymore. He was on Tramadol as well but it made him realy dopey, may have to go back to it though. He also has Synoquin, Accupunture & Hydro which all realy help


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Thanks

Seeing the vet tomorrow so will ask about the drugs mentioned but, frankly, we are losing faith in the vet as they have given us conflciting info about this before.

The only other thing we can think of with the tramadol is to put the powder into a syringe with some water and squirt it into the back of her mouth. Any downside to this? Can it cause any harm to the dog in this way?


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## [email protected] (Nov 22, 2010)

My old boy has had a course of Cartrophen injections as his back end was getting stiff, now he's jumping about acting well below his age and gone back to trying to hump the BC!!!
Was just about to suggest putting into a syringe. I have done that in the past when a drug is particularly bitter and, as you say, these dogs arent daft! You still have to negotiate getting it into their mouth though! I crumble tablets down in the pestle and mortar and add to fish4dogs salmon mousse sachets or tinned sardines in tomato. Best of luck.


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## cinnamontoast (Oct 24, 2010)

greenforehead said:


> Thanks
> 
> Seeing the vet tomorrow so will ask about the drugs mentioned but, frankly, we are losing faith in the vet as they have given us conflciting info about this before.
> 
> The only other thing we can think of with the tramadol is to put the powder into a syringe with some water and squirt it into the back of her mouth. Any downside to this? Can it cause any harm to the dog in this way?


No harm as long as she swallows properly. You can get some large gauge syringes from the chemist or just pop into the vet and get a couple.

I have to syringe the bute (similar to Tramadol) into the horse but that is quite easy even if he clamps his mouth shut as horses have a handy gap near the back of the mouth.


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

You can get gel capsuals to put cat pills in so they cant taste them, they might work if the syringe does'nt


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Hi Banjo,

Do you have a link to what product you mean?


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

greenforehead said:


> Hi Banjo,
> 
> Do you have a link to what product you mean?


I'm sure there are places over here where you can get them but cant find any at the mo  you could try health food shops or your vet might know, the tramadol we have for Banjo is in a capsual anyway so these may not be any good.

100 EMPTY GELATIN CAPSULES Chicken flavored small#3 cat | eBay

or you may be able to get these for dogs Pill Pocket/Feline Chicken: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Well it was off to the vets again last night. They're going to "research" Gabapentin for us as they didn't seem to know much about it. in the meantime they have given us 1 Previcox tablet to try in the place of the Metacam as they describe it as "heavier". We'll give it a try....


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

greenforehead said:


> Well it was off to the vets again last night. They're going to "research" Gabapentin for us as they didn't seem to know much about it. in the meantime they have given us 1 Previcox tablet to try in the place of the Metacam as they describe it as "heavier". We'll give it a try....


Banjo was alot better on Previcox for a while, make sure there is a 24hr gap between it & the metacam though, just in case the vet did'nt warn you  Gabapentin works on the nerve pathways but is also a good orthapedic drug, its used for arthritis amongs other things for humans


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## DoodlesRule (Jul 7, 2011)

My last dog had to take a large foul tasting tablet every day, he too would have bitten if you tried the back of tongue method. The majority of time this worked:

small piece of fresh white bread (fresh as its squidgy and easy to mold) press it flat, smear of butter/spread so that it will stick when you wrap round the tablet. Then smear with something tasty, I found we had to regularly change so used a variety of phily cheese, brie, marmite, jam, peanut butter, pate etc. 

One tip is to to make a few pieces and give non-tablet containing ones as well so that hopefully you trick them, if gobble it quickly less likey to bite into the tablet.


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Vet called us back today - says she asked around about the gabapentin and insists that it wouldn't have any effect if it isn't nuerological pain. Obviously that isn't entirely consistent with what some posters here and in other online places are saying. We are getting very frustrated with the vet - not sure we're getting completely informed advice and are becomming suspicious that their particular choise of pharmaceutical suppliers may be playing a part.

They suggest we try the Previcox and if it doesn't seem to help then we should talk about an x-ray. We're a bit concerned by this since it will involve putting Maya under and at her age, and with the reaction huskies can have to anesthesia we're reluctant (it seems 99.9% certain it is arthritis back leg/hip joints).

not sure what to do now other than try the Previcox and go from there.

doodles, thanks for the tip - we'll give this one a go but not holding our breath given all past experiments


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## hungover (Dec 17, 2008)

I too would recommend the glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin supplement route. You will probably be better off looking at some of the American made senior dog supplements. The British dog joint care market is years behind the American market and our high strength products often have much less of the active ingredients than their puppy ranges.

There is no evidence to prove that glucosamine helps with arthritis but I know a number of people that swear blind that it helps them personally. 

A quality supplement won't be cheap but you should see the results pretty quickly. In the event that you see the desired effects you may be able to reduce the tramadol levels (under advisement from your vet).

Best of luck


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

Some vets now use sedation rather than complete anaesthesia to x ray, if your vets don't then put a thread up in the breeding section for a vet near you who does, many in that section will know due to hip scoring prior to breeding. 

Like my Mals, Husky's don't take kindly to anaesthetic and Propofol is the only one that they should have, it's brand name is Rapinovet. If a vet doesn't use Propofol then I don't use that vet as I nearly lost Marty due to another anaesthetic being used and that will never happen again.


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Hi all,

Update:

We've manged to get a few days worth of tramadol in the old girl by cutting a pocket into small pieces of raw chiken breast. In the meantime she won't touch her normal food - raw beef mince. tripe, prize choice blocks, all of which she has been eating for years. We initially thought this was a side effect of the tramadol (per what we've read about it) and would pass.

She's now grown wise to the chicken trick and still off her usual food but she will happily eat chicken drumsticks or carrots etc. It does seem that rather being off her food totally she has grown ultra suspicious of her dinner because of the metacam and seraquin even though she's been eating it previously. Basically, and unless we are attributing too many human traits to her, she appears to have become accutely aware of any drug in her food.

We stopped the metacam and tried Previcox for a couple of days as well. We did this using the raw chicken trick - until she obviously caught on to this. She was panting more than usual after the previcox and after the second day she started eating grass so it appears the previcox doesn't agree with her.

We're now back to sqaure one - except we can't even revert to metacam/seraquin let alone tramadol because she refuses her food. Tonight we've only manged to get some tramadol in her by using a syringe/solution combo and that took a good 2 hours of trial and error for the right opportunity.

Feels like we've hit a brick wall to be honest - feels like we have the highest maintence and wiley dog in the world sometimes! Going to speak to the vet tomorrow and ask about carptrophen injections. 

Any other advice/recommendations would be welcome...

Edit: just to be clear we didn't used metacam and previcos together, it was >24hrs apart.


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## wooliewoo (May 27, 2008)

My old girl was taking PLT (Prednoleucotropin) for her arthritis. She was prescribed tramadol as well incase she was in pain but we never had to give the 2 together. We actually were able to reduce her PLT pills down to 1 aday especially in the warmer weather.
She like your girl had alot of muscle waste on her back end and despite her 27kg looked underweight from behind.

She was on the pills over 2 years with no side effects..........5 days before we lost her due to a spleen tumor her liver function was spot on


These dogs are not silly, if Locket saw us hide her pills in food she wouldnt even attempt to sniff let alone eat it. We would prepare her pill in the other room


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Even that doesn't work for Maya now - she routinely tests everything we give her, carefully sniffing then gently biting to make sure there is nothing inside. She literally won't touch any food with even just glucosamine in it now. She's even stopped eating her glucosamine bisuits which she has been happily devouring for years. Even normal dog biscuits have to be broken up before she'll touch them now. It's as though all of this medicating has made her suspicious of food generally. The only thing we can get her to eat at present is chicken drumsticks and the odd carrot.

We are waiting on a call back from the vet about the possibility of Cartophen injections. There is no way that we are going to get her to routinely take medication by mouth now, not without putting her under a serious amount of stress.


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## hungover (Dec 17, 2008)

greenforehead said:


> Even that doesn't work for Maya now - she routinely tests everything we give her, carefully sniffing then gently biting to make sure there is nothing inside. She literally won't touch any food with even just glucosamine in it now. She's even stopped eating her glucosamine bisuits which she has been happily devouring for years. Even normal dog biscuits have to be broken up before she'll touch them now. It's as though all of this medicating has made her suspicious of food generally. The only thing we can get her to eat at present is chicken drumsticks and the odd carrot.


Have you tried dipping the biscuits in salmon oil?


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

I hope you get something sorted, sounds like the only thing you can do is the injections. Maya sounds like she was a cat in a former life, one of ours is a nightmare to get pills in to


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

No, we've not tried that but have tried soft cheese, peanut butter, butter, jam, marmite, marmalade, baked beans, tomato puree, gravy and just about any other sauce we could think of. 

Will try anything so will give that one a go as well. Is it a pet store job or supermarket?


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

greenforehead said:


> No, we've not tried that but have tried soft cheese, peanut butter, butter, jam, marmite, marmalade, baked beans, tomato puree, gravy and just about any other sauce we could think of.
> 
> Will try anything so will give that one a go as well. Is it a pet store job or supermarket?


[email protected] sell it, good luck


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Yes she is a proper nightmare. We'll try to salmon oil but it does look like injection is the only answer now.


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## wooliewoo (May 27, 2008)

Pate and tinned paste (salmon/sardine a fav) we would give her a bit and our other dog then throw her some with the pill in-----she was quick to grab it so the other dog didnt!!! Mind i have resorted to popping the pill down her throat myself if she didnt play the game.


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Hmmm, all is not right...

After struggling to administer the tramadol and the previox we had Maya checked out by our neighbour who is a vet. She's still off her normal food and won't even eat dog biscuits or other treats she'd usually devour. She's more lethargic and walks are now very very slow. All we're getting her to eat at present is a drumstick and a tin of sardines - also she'll still take the odd carrot but not always. In terms of volumes she's probably eating between half and two thirds of her usual intake.

The neighbour listened to her heart and thinks it's ok and recommended we go back to metacam at a slightly higher dose so we're now doing that by using the sardines but she's till not right and the reduction in appetite has us worried.

There's been no vomitting, her poo seems usual colour and consistency and she doesn't react to any pressing on her stomach so thankfully it doesn't appear to be ulceration/bleeding.

It seems too coincidental that this has all happened at the time we were trying to get tramdol/previcox down her. We were thinking that whole experience has left her very suspicious of her normal food and perhaps has even left her depressed but we are deeply concerned that there's something more worrying going on or that perhaps she's winding down completely

We want to get her checked out at the vets but we have to change vet to a local one which we can walk to as we would struggle to get her in the car now. Plus, of course, the double bank holiday means only emergency services.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Does'nt sound good, all I can realy say is Banjo was pretty miserable on Tramadol but it did'nt put him off his food. I would try again asking for Gabapentin.

Prescription Painkillers for Dog Arthritis User Guides Part 2


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Yes we plan to push for gabapentin - the neighbour recommends this also.

Prioirty at the moment though is getting her ro eat properly (and therefore take the metacam). We haven't given her tramadol for about 5 days by the way.


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## greenforehead (May 22, 2012)

Maya was PTS last evening. She wasn't eating poperly, was listless and in pain. She collapsed as soon as we got into the vet surgery - her front paw gave out and she couldn't bend it forward to stand. With her weak backlegs she couldn't do anything but lay and cry. We are utterly devestated. looks like there was something else going on, possibly from the metacam use. Guess we'll never really know.

We just wanted to say thank you all for your help and suggestions during this horrible horrible time.

Thanks

Karen and Al


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

So sorry to hear this.

You'd done all anyone could have done for your girl, she's at peace now


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Im so very, very sorry  as Rona said, you did all you could, its so hard when things cant be fixed. Sending huge ((((hugs)))) 

Run free at the bridge beautiful Maya xxx


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## wooliewoo (May 27, 2008)

Sorry to hear your sad news, you tried your very best for your girl.

Run free Maya,


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## Kc Mac (Jul 26, 2011)

I'm so sorry to hear this :crying:

RIP Maya x


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## soulful dog (Nov 6, 2011)

Really sorry to hear that. You did your best for her, time to let her go.

RIP Maya.


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## PFdp (Feb 1, 2017)

greenforehead said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Sorry for the long first post but we are desperately looking for some help.
> 
> ...


I know this is an old post - but I thought it worth while to post a solution which we are currently using, and just discovered.

If you speak with a pharmacist they will confirm that Tramadol is one of the bitterest drugs made - and trust me I know that you quickly run out of tricks as to how to get your best friend to take it. Right down to "they won't take it at all". Our vet had a great idea. You can have your vet send a script (prescription) to a compounding pharmacy that has knowledge about drugs for animals - they compound the Tramadol in various forms that make it easier to administer. We selected the small capsule form which hides the taste completely when hiding in food. But at times the dog is in pain or they are comfortable and don't want to take food in other to get their meds - the compounder we use will also put in liquid form with special flavoring. So when the capsules don't work, or are otherwise not an option we have the liquid as a backup. Using an irrigation syringe you place 1cc (full dose) of the liquid with just a lift of the jowell so there is no chance they can get fussy, and with the flavoring the dogs seems to be fine with it - other than being careful to not blast it in too fast. So Tramadol is now an option again. We hide a capsule in the evening food, and in the morning (12 hour separation) we use the liquid - works very well.

The cost is actually cheaper (a bit) than what the vet charges for the standard tablets. And if you need the name of the compounding pharmacy then I can provide that - they deliver by mail normally. This one is out of the Portland Oregon area.

** Warning - be sure to use a compounding pharmacy that understands this is for an animal (dog in this case) as some forms of Tramadol contain other compounds that are deadly to dogs. NEVER give Tramadol that has been prescribed for a human and they sometimes contain these compounds that are ok for humans but deadly to dogs **


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

PFdp said:


> I know this is an old post - but I thought it worth while to post a solution which we are currently using, and just discovered.
> 
> If you speak with a pharmacist they will confirm that Tramadol is one of the bitterest drugs made - and trust me I know that you quickly run out of tricks as to how to get your best friend to take it. Right down to "they won't take it at all". Our vet had a great idea. You can have your vet send a script (prescription) to a compounding pharmacy that has knowledge about drugs for animals - they compound the Tramadol in various forms that make it easier to administer. We selected the small capsule form which hides the taste completely when hiding in food. But at times the dog is in pain or they are comfortable and don't want to take food in other to get their meds - the compounder we use will also put in liquid form with special flavoring. So when the capsules don't work, or are otherwise not an option we have the liquid as a backup. Using an irrigation syringe you place 1cc (full dose) of the liquid with just a lift of the jowell so there is no chance they can get fussy, and with the flavoring the dogs seems to be fine with it - other than being careful to not blast it in too fast. So Tramadol is now an option again. We hide a capsule in the evening food, and in the morning (12 hour separation) we use the liquid - works very well.
> 
> ...


Youve acknowledged this is an old thread & if you've read to the end you will see it had a sad ending for the dog / owner

Did you stop to think that your post on it might bring back sad memories / be upsetting if that person is still around?

Why not start a new thread to avoid that?

Very insensitive


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## briant123 (Apr 2, 2017)

Lilylass said:


> Youve acknowledged this is an old thread & if you've read to the end you will see it had a sad ending for the dog / owner
> 
> Did you stop to think that your post on it might bring back sad memories / be upsetting if that person is still around?
> 
> ...


LilylASS you do not need to make others feel bad for trying to help. PFdp's post may help someone out there. That thread is very helpful to alot of people and PFdp did nothing wrong and contributed some very helpful information that can help people out. So YOU stop being very insensitive.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

PFdp said:


> I know this is an old post - but I thought it worth while to post a solution which we are currently using, and just discovered.
> 
> If you speak with a pharmacist they will confirm that Tramadol is one of the bitterest drugs made - and trust me I know that you quickly run out of tricks as to how to get your best friend to take it. Right down to "they won't take it at all". Our vet had a great idea. You can have your vet send a script (prescription) to a compounding pharmacy that has knowledge about drugs for animals - they compound the Tramadol in various forms that make it easier to administer. We selected the small capsule form which hides the taste completely when hiding in food. But at times the dog is in pain or they are comfortable and don't want to take food in other to get their meds - the compounder we use will also put in liquid form with special flavoring. So when the capsules don't work, or are otherwise not an option we have the liquid as a backup. Using an irrigation syringe you place 1cc (full dose) of the liquid with just a lift of the jowell so there is no chance they can get fussy, and with the flavoring the dogs seems to be fine with it - other than being careful to not blast it in too fast. So Tramadol is now an option again. We hide a capsule in the evening food, and in the morning (12 hour separation) we use the liquid - works very well.
> 
> ...


Some useful advice here, can I suggest that you start ypur own thread though as this one was originally looking for _alternatives_ to Tramadol. ?


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