Tramadol and stomach issues

[Karen]

I have a 12 yr old, 42 lb Brittany who takes 1/2 a tramadol once a day (and occasionally a 2nd dose in the evening if he's looking exceptionally uncomfortable). He hasn't had a solid bowel movement in quite a while, although we were also forced to change his food around the same time he was started on tramadol (the food he's been on for his entire life changed their preservative, and all 5 of my dogs eating it dropped weight, and one started itching).

Just trying to figure out if his stomach issues are med related or food related.

[MonsterDad]

Dunno about the medication but the two foods that seem to fix up digestive problems better than most are Pro Plan SSS and Bil-Jac. They might be worth exploring.

[shags]

According to what I've read online, Tramadol can have the side effects of upset stomach and diarrhea in dogs.

An ortho vet at Ohio State told me I could use Tramadol or carprofen for my setter. She said another side effect of Tramadol was that it could make dogs clingier, so I went with the carprofen. This dog has tended toward loose stools all his life no matter what we fed, but on the carprofen he's had normal firm ones. His pain/discomfort seems to be under control, mostly, too.

[Karen]

Clingier...maybe.

When I took his house mate with me to a field trial this past weekend, he barked outside the bedroom window half the night (I'm lucky DH didn't shoot him!). Last night he started up around 3:00 a.m. and ran in and out the dog doors constantly (we have 2 of those gun dog dog doors that SLAM! and make half the house shake...directly below the master bedroom), so I put him in a crate, and he didn't make it the 4 hours until we let him out this morning (I'm REALLY lucky DH didn't shoot him this morning!)

Something's gotta give. I'm going to schedule a vet appointment for next week. I think he may have a dental thing going on also (poor old guy) and will discuss medication options.

[Doc E]

Do you ever supplement with a QUALITY yogurt ? Or yogurt and canned pure pumpkin ?

What is the preservative that is being used ?



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[Karen]

Loyall lists propionic acid, citric acid and mixed tocopherols as preservatives. I have not supplemented with anything to date.

[AzDoggin]

Karen, try the canned pure pumpkin first and see what happens - you'll see results right away most likely. Use about a tablespoon...it works magic on bowel issues. I would have saved so many messes if I'd learned about pumpkin years ago.

Some dogs can react to the Tramadol, although yours is on a low dose...we have an almost 16 year old dog that was sent into dementia land (temporarily) with tramadol. He started whining constantly, was disoriented and would get lost in familiar places. Once we shut off the Tramadol, problems disappeared.

[Doc E]

Loading dose : Twice a day for one week :
1 LARGE Tablespoon of PURE canned pumpkin (not the stuff already for pies)
1 LARGE Tablespoon yogurt (UN-sweetened 7 un-flavored) I think Nancy's brand is best ---- just get the one with the greatest number of different bacteria.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maintenance dose : Three times a week
Same as above but just once a day --- three times a week.



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[MonsterDad]

I have a friend with GSD's that have chronic problems including SIBO, EPI and IBD.

BIL-JAC Sensitive has basically kept these dogs alive. It is a soft pellet food that seems to work wonders. Petsmart and Petco carries it.

[Karen]

We were away for the weekend, but we've been gradually switching Courage over to the grain-free holistic food Tessa eats (Earthborne). He's half & half right now and actually seems a little better. I do think the Loyall is probably a bit too rich for his system (he's eating 1500 calories a day and not gaining weight), so we're going to continue to wean him over to the Earthborne, and if we still have stool issues, I'll give the yogurt & pumpkin a try.

I've also got a vet appt. scheduled for tomorrow evening. I'm convinced the poor old guy has something dental going on, on top of this, and he's been breathing quite heavy with very little exertion. Poor old guy.

[marysburg]

You could have a fecal flotation done to look for parasites. Make sure they check specifically for giardia and cryptosporidia. It is a separate test. Our 10 year old Britt was very ill for 6 months before we insisted that they do a more thorough parasitology exam. Panting, loss of stamina,swollen abdomen, weight loss, multiple bowel movements daily with intermittent loose stools. Turned out she had cryptosporidia, coccidiosis (isospora), giardia and capillaria boehmi; none of which were controlled by her regular dewormer. Good luck finding the answer; keep asking until you get the right one!

[Karen]

Hm...hadn't considered parasites. The dogs are all wormed monthly, no one else has loose stool....will mention that to the vet too, and bring a sample if I can collect one tomorrow. Thanks!

[Fireside]

When they do a fecal, they pretty much just look for worms, not protozoa or amoeba. They have to look really for those and most vets don;t. We had a giardia problem once with a litter, they vet just happened to be looking at the right time and place and found one on the slide. She said that they were very easy to miss if you were not looking specifically for them.

It turned out our city water supply was not being processed correctly and we ALL ended up with giardia. Happy Flagyl for everyone!

[marysburg]

Only one of my 4 dogs was affected, I think she got infected because she is a poop eater in the field. Any poop, any species, any time. Regular dewormer will not eliminate protozoa, and my dog was regularly dewormed. She had no 'normal' worms. The diagnosis was finally made when we insisted that they send a sample to an outside lab for detailed parasitology fecal flotation and giardia/cryptosporidia combo. We also had a bacterial culture done and found clostridium perfringens, but no salmonella or campylobacter. The regular flotation they do 'in house' at the local vet will not find any of this stuff. I think she would have been dead in another month. Good luck with your dog.

[Karen]

Thanks for the info. This guy really hasn't left the house/yard in months, and he really isn't a poop eater. The others are and have been all over the place/property/country, but Courage is stone cold deaf, so he stays inside the fence at all times. I'm not sure how he'd get a protozoa with everyone else healthy.

And I swear he's started to gain a little weight since we started weaning him over onto the grain free food. Stinks that several things changed at once with him....and he's old and failing (although I've been saying that for 2 yrs now).

Of course, with 2 girls in season, he's got a bit more pep in his step the last few days too. We'll see what the vet thinks tonight.

[marysburg]

Any news? Fingers are crossed for you.

[Karen]

Our appointment was postponed. I prefer the practice's owner, so for something like this, I'll wait to see him (he understands the cost/benefits analaysis we are often forced to use with older dogs).

[roaniecowpony]

Karen,
My vet and by personal doc said that Tramadol doesn't usually bother the stomach (no my vet isn't my personal doc). But my doc did say this last week that Tramadol is an opiate type of drug that can cause some enhancement of alcohol and drowsyness, so I should watch it if I have a few drinks and take it. My lab has been on it off an on all her life and I use it for arthritis on occasion. Much less distressful to the stomach than NSAIDs like naproxen or others. I'd be suspicious its a different source for your dog's problem. Old dogs seem to be much more sensitive to diet changes. The yogurt recommendation parallels my experience, although I use Purina Forta Flora. Although its been recommended to me many times I had never used pumpkin pulp. I did finally go buy some yesterday to have around. Good luck with straightening the old fella out.

[Karen]

We got Courage slowly weaned onto a grain-free feed we use for 1 other dog in the house (Earthborne Primitive), and started adding a heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt to his food 10 days ago.

He's gone from 4 cups of the performance feed a day without being able to gain weight, to 2 cups of Earthborne a day. He's gained enough weight to look healthy again (as healthy as an almost-13 yr old arthritic dog can look), and he rarely clears a room with his gas anymore.

Stool is still pretty soft, but there's WAY less of it. We're traveling for the next week, but when we get back and all the bitches are out of season...and life returns to normal, if his stool is still soft, I'll try the pumpkin.

[DoubleBarrel GunDogs]

Loading dose : Twice a day for one week :
1 LARGE Tablespoon of PURE canned pumpkin (not the stuff already for pies)
1 LARGE Tablespoon yogurt (UN-sweetened 7 un-flavored) I think Nancy's brand is best ---- just get the one with the greatest number of different bacteria.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maintenance dose : Three times a week
Same as above but just once a day --- three times a week.



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Thanks Doc,

I'll try this recipe next time my male Springer gets loose. He's always had a very sensitive stomach.
An alternate temporary diet of hamburger and rice will normally cure this, but not always.

Nate

[roaniecowpony]

I've had good luck with Purina Forta Flora for active bacteria restoration. In fact, this past weekend, both dogs were really loose. My fault. I had been keeping the regular store bought treats away from them and feeding carrots for treats and with their meals, along with some green beans. Clearly, I overloaded them on fiber. I cut them back to boiled pheasant and brown rice along with Forta Flora. A couple days and they are back to normal. Just in time for my last trip to the hunt club for the season.

Anyone else use Purina Forta Flora?