The more people know about this horrible drug, the better.

I lost my precious beautiful Miko on July 2nd, she had to be put to sleep which was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

I feel like I've lost part of my heart and soul. This probably wouldn't have been so hard if she had been gradually getting ill because of old age, but I had a very healthy dog one minute and a paralyzed sick animal that couldn't eat or move. And this is the reason for this e-mail, I want to warn everyone about this so called miracle drug called Rimadyl.

Yes, some dogs have had great results with it, but apparently some vets do not tell you enough information about the drug.

I took Miko in for an anal gland cleaning like I do every four months, this is the first time I have seen this particular vet, same office, different vet, found out he's actually the owner, anyway, he looked at Miko's chart and said "Wow, looks like she's been a pretty healthy dog, she's never been in for anything but her gland cleaning and regular check ups" I said that's correct, I've been really lucky she has been a healthy dog all her life, and last year's full blood panel said she was above normal for a 9 yr old dog.

So the Dr. asked me if she had any problems at all with laying and getting back up or limping when walking I told him no, we walk every day, she jumps up and down on the bed because she sleeps with me. He said some dogs do not show signs of pain, and may still have arthritis, and that there is a drug that has been shown to be a great relief for animals and is found to extend their life one and a half to two years.

I told him that she never acts like she has any arthritis. He felt her hips and said it feels like she may have the beginnings of it in her hips, that I should put her on the Rimadyl as a prevention method. Let's try it for one week and see if you see a difference.

Since this is a long, let me shorten the parts where I take her back and forth to the vet. This was the difference in her....she started walking in circles around the house, always going to the left, then she began to stagger like she was drunk, had to close the bathroom doors and block things so she wouldn't run into them, then she would fall all the time, she would drink lots of water but wouldn't eat, started losing control of her self till she eventually couldn't walk anymore and I had to hand feed her and bring her water. We carried her from my bedroom each morn and night to the living room putting her on large pee pads, and changing them whenever necessary. It was a horrible experience.

She became completely paralyzed, she wasn't in pain, but she would cry all the time because she didn't understand what was happening to her, I did the same.

We took her to a specialist hospital, they did every test you could possibly do, the results came back that she was a very healthy dog, liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, with a 104 temp, and they determined it was the brain, there was nothing they could do. The doctor said he couldn't rule out that it was the drug because it was too much of a coincidence, just like I thought.

The original vet ( I now use the term loosely) kept telling me it's just old age, nothing to do with the pills he gave her. The Rimadyl on line site has info on some of these "side effects."

If the doctor had told me there was such side effects, I would have never given this to Miko.

Miko was completely healthy and had no signs of arthritis, I feel absolutely horrible that I let him talk me into it, thinking it would extend her life two years as a preventative measure.

Please get all info before giving your beloved animal anything, so you won't have to go through what I'm going through.