Tramadol - anybody have a cat on this?

[quo1]

Hi all- a home house call vet came by wed and gave me some Tramadol for Ben's hind leg problems...I already have some Prednisone, but only 15 pills my other regular Vet gave me ( whom I going to change due to my other post on Methyl B-12 opinions..)..he said it works BUT it tastes horrible he said and Ben will never swallow it w/o pill pockets....I have never used pill pockets before..any advice on Tramadol and using it will pill pockets ( Greenie's I think he said..).....I also just ordered the Methyl B-12 pills and have him 25 days on Cosequin ( I hear it takes 4-6 weeks for effect)..Thanks..

Alan

 

[Jen & Squeak]

Tramadol is for pain....here's a layman's description of different pain meds http://www.2ndchance.info/pain.htm and here is more from marvistavet http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tramadol.html. It is an anti-inflammatory.

I question giving pain meds of any sort unless you know for certain the source of the hind leg problems (ie diabetic neuropathy or something else)

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

I have not used tramadol but know that one cat got super loopy on it -- to the point of scary.

Gabapentin (sp?) is a good pain killer and Buprenex

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I have successfully used tramadol (about 1/4 of a 50 mg tab). My most recent use was late this morning for my patches (cystitis). I put it in a gelcap since, as others have said, it tastes terrible. ALso, as some have said, some cats get spacey with it. The advantage of tramadol over Buprenex is cost but I consider buprenex better.

 

[Laurie and Mr Tinkles]

Please be aware that giving Tramadol to a diabetic cat that is getting insulin can cause hypoglycemia....Tramadol reduces BG. If you do a search, you should find a thread from the Think Tank about it. You want to monitor very closely and reduce the insulin dose as necessary.

 

[Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin]

It caused problems for Gandalf - he got very loopy on it and did not know to eat. Not a good combination for a diabetic cat. We gave him the smallest dose and he's a large cat.

What type of hind leg problems is your kitty experiencing? Diabetic neuropathy needs methyl-B vitamin and better glucose control to alleviate symptoms. Arthritis can be treated in other ways, such as injection of Adequan drug, B-12 (different than methyl-B) and or acupuncture. Arthritis should be diagnosed via an Xray.

Diabetic neuropathy causes them to walk on the hocks, they cannot stand on their back toes like they normally do, they walk flat-footed. Although Gandalf has arthritis, he still walks on his toes.