Librela for arthritis

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Hi
Does anyone have experience of Librela being prescribed for osteoarthritis? Our 11 year of sprocker was diagnosed last year and has been a managing with minor medication for pain but has gone downhill rather suddenly and is now finding it difficult to walk. He looks utterly miserable. The vet prescribed this with paracetamol yesterday and it'll be a monthly injections. She wants to see him again in a week.
I know I'm hoping for miracles but did anyone see a marked improvement with this? He is so unlike himself, his tail has stopped wagging for the first time ever and to be honest we are preparing ourselves for the worst if he doesn't improve. Any idea of how long it may take to have an impact would be great. I know it isn't going to get better, but we are so desparate for him to feel more comfortable ☹️

I've had several rescues on it.

For some it has been an absolute miracle worker. I had one dog who went from really struggling (and completely miserable) to running around like a puppy again within a week. For other dogs it has just eased their pain and although they were still stiff, they weren't in pain and were happy. For others...no amount of medication worked. Sometimes it works within a few days, other times within a week or two - just like human medication, it really varies between dogs (even dogs of the same breed).

But what I would say, OP, is that even if does work that it won't last forever. So if it (or other medication) does work, make the most of every day.

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone thanks so much for your response. It's encouraging to know it can help, even if it's not always the miracle I'm hoping for. Every day with him is a blessing, he's been the best dog and friend we could have wished for . Let's hope he's one of the lucky ones and this buys him a bit more time

Our 14 year old lab is on it and I think it does help him. He still gets a bit stiff but I think overall better than before.

My vet says it is a drug where either it works or it doesn't, but it does need 2 months to see if it does.
It didn't work for ddog, but he's now on monthly ketamine injections (and dog paracetamol and acupucture), and the ketamine has helped massively - and is way cheaper than librela which is a bonus

Our 11 year old Springer has been on it for a year. There's a marked improvement in his movement and mood within a few hours of the monthly injection. Not cheap but it seems to help him.

My lab has been on it for over 2 years now. It has worked well for him. Just bear in mind it masks pain, but does not stop disease progression, so you have to discourage your dog from his more lunatic behaviours and modify exercise accordingly.
At almost 14 my dog has quite the mix of drugs and complementary hydro and acupuncture. He is doing well , for his age.

Our 15 year old lab is on it and has been for over a year. It’s not a miracle worker but she is definitely more sprightly and limps less after she’s had the injection. So expensive though.

Thanks so much everyone. Sounds like it improves to some degree in a lot of cases, so let's hope that's the case for us too. I realise it can't solve the problem long term, but I hope it can improve his quality of life for a while. His lunatic tendencies has eased over the years although he's still a demon with a ball 😀

Yes my lab is on this. Makes a huge difference. He’s 8 and thinks he’s a puppy again!

our 9 year old Goldie is on it, I don't think its the miracle we were hoping for but I think hes is better on it than not

There's a lady on sprocker lovers fb group with a 10yo sprocker using it. Her dog seems to be doing very well on it

It made a huge difference to my late Border Collies for 2 years. We noticed the difference in him within a couple of weeks. He had severe arthritis in all his joints and spine. The Librela worked for two years and then seemed to stop.We were so lucky as there were no side effects and it gave us two extra years with him.
I have taken on a very old rescue in the past year, he will be 17 in February, he is a large mixed breed. He is also on Librela but l have added in Galliprant and Pardale V.
Together it seems to be working.

Thanks so much, it sounds as if many people see some benefit, so that's really positive. No obvious major improvement so far but it's early days and he has just managed a short walk, which is better than this morning. I'm struggling to get the paracetamol down him as he's not eating too much, and seems to manage to find the tablets however much I cut them up and hide them in food. As always, he's far too clever....

My 12 1/2 year old started librela just over a month ago. It's difficult to know if it's made a massive difference as he's always been quite puppy like (aka idiotic!) and I think his pain was pretty well controlled on his old meds. But he's off his old pain meds and not looking stiff so the librela is obviously doing something. And we've now got options if he needs more pain relief in the future (he's very limited on what pain meds he can have because of long-term steroids).

Something that does really help my dog is therapeutic massage. He gets one once a month-6weeks and I always notice he looks more solid on his back legs after.

We tried it with our late dog and it made absolutely no difference .

We were offered it - albeit for a dog with mild osteoarthritis who's still getting about absolutely fine.

Unfortunately there are quite a lot of people who have reported adverse side effects, for example major neurological complications that start shortly after the injections, and the company is responding in ways that do not inspire confidence.

There are various facebook groups on the topic - look for groups with names like 'Librela Experiences'.

I'm sure it works for some, but with a middle aged dog that's only mildly affected, I've decided to go down the route of rheumocam and yumove until that no longer works and/or more is known about Librela and the contraindications.

Our 13 year old is being trialled on it and we've been told like a PP that they need at least 2 months to see if it helps, so she had her second jab a couple of weeks ago.

Would I say it's helped? Unclear tbh. She's a Jack Russell x chihuahua so she's grouchy anyway, still seems cross but no more or less than before. She still limps (old injury) after overdoing it so I can't really say if it's made a difference. I don't think we're going to bother with a third jab.

(Also re paracetamol, our other dog is very picky so to get tablets in them, we melt a piece of cheese in the microwave for a few secs to get it sticky then wrap the tablet up in there. HTH!)

All the best with your DDog - hope you're one of the ones it works for x

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate your input.
@daisyelle excellent tablet technique! I'll give that a try.
@CastlesOnTheBeach I wasn't a ware of those contraindications. It's a worry, seems as if the benefits need to be solid to outweigh the risk.
He's no worse but no better. We're managing a very short walk twice a day but incredibly slowly. He still looks fed up and miserable. He has stopped being sick and is eating well, although is ignoring his normal food in favour of poached chicken 
I'm so surprised how quickly it has deteriorated. It does make me wonder if there is something else going on.