Librela - yes or no?

[SweatyyBettyy]

My 12.5 yr old Goldendoodle is doing really well, apart from her Arthritis. Recently she has had severe Gastritis and the vet thinks the anti-inflammatories have caused it. They have been stopped and the vet wants her to have a Librela injection as it bypasses her stomach.
I've done some research and there are some horror stories online. I'm so torn what to do, as I obviously don't want her in pain. She is on youmove senior already. Thank you x

Horror stories online rarely match reality and there are tens of thousands of dogs on librela who are fine and only a few have side effects. If you google 'persistent cough' it'll tell you that you have COPD and six hours to live.

There's a reason many vets and veterinary practices still recommend librela - because it works. Almost every time I have ever seen anyone say not to use it, it's a trainer or behaviourist with no more qualifications than my big toe.

My parents cocker has been on librela for years. No side effects. It's changed her life - she's 12/13 (rescue so not sure) and can still do 6 mile walks twice a day.

Unfortunately, you know being a dog owner, every single medication will have good and bad reviews. On the Facebook groups I am on for Border Collies, there’s hundreds of owners that give this to their dogs with no problems and say it’s a life changer for their dogs, but you get the odd one who has blamed the death of their dog on the injection.

My personal experience with Librella was horrendous and I will never use it again on any dog. Others however have a different story.

There are lots of alternative from anti inflammatories and Librella however for a dog with arthritis.

One injection of Librela had an adverse affect on my Labrador’s bladder and she woke me up every few hours through the night needing to go outside. That went on for weeks before I realised what it was. She went back onto Previcox, bladder issue resolved, no other problems.

People are very quick to post their "horror stories" about anything. People who are happy with a product/service tend not to bother to post. For every unhappy review, there'll be many, many silent but satisfied users out there.
My elderly large dog had much better quality of life during her final year thanks to Librela with no negative side effects.. It's expensive but my insurance paid 80% of the cost.

My foster dog sees a pain specialist to manage her arthritis. He said he would only prescribe Librella as a last resort, as too many harmful side effects are now coming to light.

Instead she's on daily Metacam, Gabapentin and Paracetamol. And has a monthly Ketamine injection and electroacupuncture.

Interestingly, she had a severe gastric upset a few weeks ago and had to be admitted to the vets for the afternoon and put on an IV drip. No one suggested it was caused by the pain meds and that we should stop them.

I wouldn't but my dog is epileptic. I decided a while back that librela would be a last resort if she was in severe pain. Luckily she has never had severe arthritic pain. Vet tried to push librela anyway but I'm not interested.

Have you looked at alternative treatments? Salmon oil for joints, JointSure or YuMove supplements ate excellent. Also a heat pad or hot water bottle in dog bed. Cut out grains if these worsen joint pain. My dog flares on grain based foods.

I would try all the above before considering Librela. Some dogs have been helped by it but some have died horrifically.

Very positive experience here. My dear old hobbling lady became noticeably more comfortable after her second Librella injection. After the third, the change in her was really heartwarming. After the 6th injection, she gradually deteriorated to her pre Librela state. It definitely gave her 4 remarkably improved months with no side effects at all.

Thank you. Lots to think about. She has been on Youmove senior for about a year. I'm so torn still :(

My lovely old boy was a new man once I started him on librela, spent years on pain killers which damaged his liver. He was like a new dog a few days after his injection and would slow down/start limping when one was due, think he was on it for 4 years before he died, he had no side effects that I’m aware of, he had a lot of other health issues though so may have disguised a few. He made it to just before his 17th birthday. Still miss him everyday. But highly recommend librela was a game changer for us.

It has an awful effect on my friend's cocker. I would be very reluctant to try it. Look at k-laser - it made a massive difference to our old boy and was covered by our insurance.

My old dog had two doses and lost use of her hindlimbs, stopped eating and became doubly incontinent. I was able to nurse her back to walking but she never fully regained continence. Ataxia is now on the label, it wasn't then.

The EMA and FDA are looking very closely at Librela and its side effects. If you are willing to go digging into the public appraisal documents from both agencies, there is evidence that Zoetis knew it was a problem from before approval but they saw the dollars and kept on going.

I would urge anyone to read Mike Farrell's article in Frontiers published last May on a case series of dogs which developed very unusual joint damage after receiving Librela. Zoetis say this condition doesn't exist in dogs because it requires standing radiography to diagnose in humans. Except you can't take standing radiographs of dogs.

The world I work in, I hear a lot of reports of problems. The number of people known to me personally whose dogs have reacted to Librela or cats to Solensia says to me it is not just internet scaremongering.

This is the link to the article mentioned:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1581490/full

It is worth considering that the human version of librela was deemed not fit for purpose as the side effects outweighed any benefits ......

Exactly. All anti-NGF mAb work in humans got halted across the entire industry because of the issues that Zoetis say can't happen in dogs.

The early work in dogs shows that damage can start as soon as the first dose. But for practising vets, if they see a deterioration in a dog with OA, they are not going to recognise that a drug designed for OA could make OA worse.

In my experience vets are skeptical that a drug for ANY intended purpose could worsen matters for a dog. In my dog's case Pexion made her seizures much worse but it took several vets before one accepted that I was correct and Pexion was the issue

I certainly wouldn't trust a vet about Librella.

My 12 year old cocker spaniel is on Galliprant, after he kept getting an upset tummy from Metacam. It's made a massive difference, and it's not horribly expensive as he has half a tablet a day. He also has 1/2 a paracetamol morning and night. We did discuss Librela but I didn't like the idea of it merely masking pain and there are some serious horror stories online.

We also use Zoomy supplement (use to be Caniflow), it's hyaluronic acid and works much better than Yumove on mine - that did very little for him.

My old girl had Librela injections for 2 years and they absolutely changed her life. The last two years of her life were happy because of those injections.

Please everyone, do your research before allowing your dog or cat to be injected with Librela or Solensia. These drugs can cause severe and life threatening side effects including ataxia, paralysis, seizures, incontinence, anorexia, mental decline, skin disorders, diarrhea, polyarthritis and death. The FDA sent a Librela warning letter to all veterinarians regarding the risks. My dog received a heathy check up and had mild arthritis and was injected with Librela and within 24hrs he stopped eating, then the paralysis, incontinence, lethargy, seizures and Librela induced hemolytic anemia and he died within 10 days. Librela can also cause rapid progression of the arthritis( read Dr. Mike Farrell’s study in Frontiers bedinvetmab musculoskeletal adverse events. Every side Ilisted is an officially listed side effect. Do not believe any who claims thousands have been helped or anyone who dismisses actual accounts of severe side effects and death. It’s very misleading and many are paid to make misleading and false comments. There are currently over 54,000 adverse events reported in relation to Librela and Solensia in the Eudravigilance database and a lot of vets are refusing to prescribe these drugs because of all the severe side effects and deaths experienced. There are over 6,000 deaths reported. Please visit Librela The Truth( Beransa, Solensia, Linenvia, Portela) for more information on side effects and scientific studies by well respected veterinarians who warn of the neurological and musculoskeletal risks. These drugs block NGF which is vital for all organs and systems to function properly and they remain in the system for months and there is no antidote which reduces the chance of survival if an adverse event occurs. The risk are far too great to chance on a pain blocker that doesn’t treat the arthritis and can worsen it rapidly. Librela is nothing more than a pain blocker that only has a 47% efficacy rate. Please do your research and don’t be misled by false claims that this drug has helped thousands. There is no proof or data that it has. There are however, tens of thousands of adverse events reported.

Gumbosmum - thanks so much for your very informative post. I am so sorry to hear that your dog passed away following having it 🥹
Thanks to everyone for all of your posts and advice. I have decided she is not going to have it. I am going to look at a more natural way of treating it and givecher paracetamol (as advised by the vet) for the pain xx

Gumbosmum - thanks so much for your very informative post. I am so sorry to hear that your dog passed away following having it 🥹
Thanks to everyone for all of your posts and advice. I have decided she is not going to have it. I am going to look at a more natural way of treating it and givecher paracetamol (as advised by the vet) for the pain xx

I will never give librela ever again to any of my dog's. My beautiful boy had ONE librela injection and he changed that same day. He stopped eating, started drinking litres of water and seemed to be constantly peeing. Within 24hrs severe seizures started. He started staring at things and looking confused and lost...he stopped recognising people and things.. it was like dementia had suddenly kicked in. Just when I thought things could not get any worse his right hind leg just suddenly snapped... he only walked about 3m from the dining room to the kizchen on a flat and even surface. The xrays clearly showed RPOA "Rapid Progressive Onset Arthritis" and my boy went over rainbow bridge that night... only 7 days after only ONE injection. He only went into the vets the week before with a mild intermittent limp. I was not warned of any side effects or safety issues. My boys last 7 days of his life were horrific. I will never forget his screams. I have been in touch with 1000s of people who's dogs have experienced the same as my boy. R.I.P my beautiful boy... he didn't deserve that awful ending to his life.

It breaks my heart to read that. I'm so sorry you had to see him in such pain and that he went through that ordeal. It must have been unbearable to witness. His death isn't in vain because many people including myself won't give librela to our dogs after reading stories such as yours. I hope librela will be banned before too long. Our beloved pets aren't proverbial guinea pigs. Take care.

My metacam-sensitive lan is on Galliprant. Which is also an NSAID but less harsh on her stomach - I think it acts in a different watch. I have also heard previcox is good.

My late dog was on Librella for 3 years and lived to be 14; conversely Gabapentin was dreadful for him and he lost his hind legs ( temporarily) first dose. Not all dogs react in the same way.

So Librella can work for some, but I am putting off using it for my 10 year old.

Hungry Landshark you are so sadly misinformed. Please do not offer advice on something you obviously have very little knowledge or experience with. In my research I have found that most of the people that speak out in support of this horrible drug are connected to the manufacturer financially, I hope that is not the case and that your parents dog is just one of the lucky ones. My wish is that anyone that believes this drug is safe and promotes it or is responsible for its manufacture would in the future, if they have a pain, just try a dose on themselves, its called be your own guinea pig and leave our beloved pets alone.