Long Term Use of Pain Medication (Nsaid Drugs)
Pet owners are often leery of using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs, especially long term. There is a lot of misinformation online about these medications, especially Rimadyl. The facts are that dogs taking NSAID drugs such as carprofen (Rimadyl), deracoxib (Deramaxx) and meloxicam (Metacam) actually have life expectancies that are two years longer. The risk of liver failure from carprofen is only 1.5 out of every 10,000 dogs. It’s untreated pain from arthritis that kills dogs by the millions via euthanasia, not the drugs we use to treat the disease. Learn more about the risks and benefits of NSAID drugs.