05/30/2024
We would like to share our experience with Librela, a new drug to alleviate arthritis pain in dogs. Please note this is just our experience and many others have had positive results with no adverse side effects.
The vet recommended Librela injections for Stitlz, a senior mini poodle to help with his arthritis, he has bilateral luxating patellas and had recently been showing some discomfort.
I did some research on the new drug but I made the mistake of relying too heavily on the vet and vet tech recommendations and wanting to ease his pain, I went ahead with the treatment. The series of 3 injections was given to him monthly and the first 2 months he appeared to be responding well to the treatment and was feeling pretty good, he was his active self again.
Unfortunately, towards the end of his treatment he started to develop some minor neurological issues, which was initially attributed to his age, knee issues and/pain. This started a cascade of neurological deficits that he did not have prior to the injections and then last week he suffered a stroke and the neurologist suspected he had mini strokes previously.
The usual protocol of bloodwork and testing was done to determine if there was a systematic cause for the stroke (such as thyroid issue, kidney disease, high blood pressure etc. While there is no way to know for sure at this time, so far there is no systemic cause which leads me to believe there is a good chance it’s possibly related to the injections.
With so many vets encouraging the treatment with very little information offered about the serious and fatal risks, I feel the need to share with other dog owners.
We are blessed to still have him and are grateful he didn’t need to be put to sleep as there are many dogs that weren’t so fortunate. Although his future quality of life is unknown. Please keep him in your prayers.
If your dog has had a Labrela injection, we would like to hear about your experience.
