Pawly paw

I had a pawly paw so off we went to see my favourite vet, Doctor Pedro.

Master and Misery thought it might be arthritis because I am old. They bought me some glucosamine which I wrote about last month but it didn't seem to make any difference.

We have learned two things about going to see Pedro. Not to go on a Monday morning because it is full of people who have waited over the weekend, and not to go first thing when there is a queue.

So we went about half tennish (he opens at 10) on a Tuesday, and walked straight in. Pedro walked over to see us in the waiting area. Unless I am going for my jabs, he likes to see us in the public area. I like that too, it's sort of friendly and informal.

He moved my leg backwards and forwards and I didn't even do the tiniest little yelp. Then he went out the back and came back with some tablets. Hmmmm. Would they taste nasty? Would I get them wrapped in tasty slices? :)

Misery asked what was wrong. Was it arthritis? Pedro said it could be arthritis or atrophy. A trophy? Does that mean I won a prize? Seems not.

Later Misery was puzzled. She spoke to Master about it. She couldn't understand why Pedro had said I was wasting away when he said I looked healthy and a good size.

'Muscle wastage,' said Master intelligently. 'Ah,' said Misery, realising that Master had hidden depths of cleverness.

Anyway, I am allowed to write about my tablets myself this time instead of Misery pretending to be clever and stealing all my interesting info and putting it on her blog. Pippa the Pill Popper. No, I don't think I like that image. Pippa the Pharmacologist, yes, that is much better. Serious and thoughtful.

So, I got Cimicoxib - generic name, brand name is Cimalgex. I got the 80 mg version. It is made by Vetoquinol.

It is a cox-2 inhibitor like the Previcox I had when I was poorly with erlichiosis. Now here comes the techy bit. Cox inhibitors are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS, or AINEs in Spanish). They work by inhibiting ie suppressing or turning off, an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX).

Now, there is COX 1 and COX 2. There is also COX 3 or 1B but that doesn't seem to be important. Just thought I would mention it in case anyone thought I hadn't done my research properly.

NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen inhibit all cox enzymes. But cox-2 inhibitors only go for the enzyme that causes inflammation. It seems cox-1 is a good cox that looks after our stomachs so we don't want to inhibit that one.

There now, I think that is it. Cimalgex is a new tablet that only came out this year. It is chewy and tasty which is always a good thing in my dog opinion. Like all tablets it has side effects. I think I will write about that later as I am tired now after my pharmaceutical research.

My paw is better.

Even though I was on sick leave, I thought it was important to make sure I supervised the painting. And to ensure my table den did not disappear under all those sheets.


Here is my friend Perro Blanco who lives at the finca across the road. Actually he is not my friend at all as we always bark at each other. But he has a pawly paw too - he needs to go and see Pedro the Vet.


Here he is laughing at Misery. Perhaps we have something in common. In fact I think we look similar in some ways? What do you think?