Ketamine injection

[CatsangDogs]

Hi I was hoping I might get some help regarding my dog, she has arthritis in her hips/back legs and is on carprofen and 3/4 of a paracetamol a day. She had also started weeing in the house for which I was given incurin which worked the same day. However this time around the Incurin doesn't seem to be working. So anyway I took her back to the vets as her legs were a bit shabby, my girl was then given a ketamine injection for the pain. I had also been in the process of changing her food and I was only putting a few bits of the new stuff in so her body wasn't shocked. The food I was changing too is royal canin for sloppy poos as she had been eating more of her usual dry biscuits which meant she was having soft poos. After seeing the vet a week ago she said to keep her on the food she was used to having which I had already done, so sorry for the long post I'm not sure if my dog is suffering from the ketamine injection or still from me trying to change her food, all this has came about after 17th Feb, I have a friend that comes to visit every other week and she said my dog looks sad, she is always happy to see people but its like she isn't bothered anymore. The vet said she still has muscle tone in her back legs, the finger up the butt but apparently her muscles up there are doing ok too. Sorry if this long and rambling, I'm just hoping someone may have dealt with the injections. Thanks for reading my post.

What is it that you feel has changed since the injection, OP? Is it that your friend thought she looked more sad? But you think she's doing fine?

What is your opinion? Is she moving around OK? Eating well? Happy to see you/interact as normal? Able to get up and potter about, go to the toilet normally on her own? If you think she's doing well, and hasn't noticed anything different, I wouldn't be worried. But if you think she has deteriorated in any way, it's at least worth a phone call with your vet.

Ketamine injections for pain relief work really really well for some dogs and then in others there's not as much effect. There are other pain relief options that can be tried if you think it hasn't worked for her.

(Edited for typo)

Hi @Eestar No i've noticed myself she just really flat, she is still eating and drinking normally. If anyone calls in she will have a little stroke, before hand she used to have mad zoomies. She is wandering around then napping, she is nearly 17 years old so time isn't exactly on our side. She was doing ok up till the injection and adding a few more biscuits, is it just coincident or what???

My foster dog has monthly ketamine injections for arthritis with no adverse effects.
On a daily basis she has Arthrocam, 3 x 300gms of Gabapentin and 3 x 3/4 Paracetamol. She's a 17kg springer.
Perhaps your dog needs more pain relief on a daytime day basis if she's unhappy.

I didn't quite understand the food part. We're you changing her to Royal Canin because her poos were sloppy on the original food? Have you tried adding probiotics to her food to help settle her stomach? Or feed white fish and sweet potato for a few days to give her gut a rest.

OK, OP. I wouldn't expect that changing a small portion of her food would make her tired.

If(?) the tiredness started on the same day as the injection, then it probably is the cause - maybe it just doesn't suit her. The effects of the injection will wear off over a couple of weeks however. I presume you have a follow up visit booked? Let your vet know about it and they can explore alternatives next time.

On the other hand... If the tiredness started more than a day or so after the injection, then it may be down to something else altogether, and maybe she is actually unwell. In that case I would strongly recommend you ring your vets sooner and have her looked at.

Hi @SpanielsGalore I was changint to royal canin because of the sloppy poos, I ordered this paste that the vet sent in a link. She doesnt seem to know she is peeing all over, even if she had been out less than half an hour before hand.

@Eestar with her being an old dog I presumed the long naps were normal, she just isn't her normal self. Thanks for the advice.

Hi @Eestar I took Molly to the vets to get her injection and we went on the field it's just came back to me now, when I caught up with her she was messing about next to the bin for dog mess. The bin was full and there was a large amount of dog mess, some in poo bags but also just crap everywhere. I winder if that could have made her poorly, have you any idea? thanks in advance.

Hi @Eestar yes I have an appointment due next week, If she is still shabby on Monday I'll ring them first thing.

You need to bear in mind that at that age they can change very quickly , it doesn’t need to be anything she’s very old , also when you are living with them daily it is easy to miss subtle changes that someone who sees them less often will notice .

Thank you @tinyspiny I see what you mean. My sister is coming tomorrow and Molly goes nuts when she sees her so I'll maybe see a difference,