Anyone have their dog on Librela?

Month 1 was great, month 2 had increased thirst (and urination). Headed into month 3 and was wondering if the thirst gets better or stays the same over time. Of course I'll ask the vet next week, but wanted some other experiences with it.

Librela is a relatively new drug and we (at least me) are still sorting out the real side effects vs all the "possible" ones.

Do you have any patients that are on a longer dosage interval? I was contemplating trying 5-6 weeks between since it has a ~19 day half-life.

I have one dog that we just backed down to six weeks. So far, so good. As stated, it is brand new, but I have yet to personally see any negative side effects.

I have heard of one dog that developed kidney failure while on it, so it might be wise to have some bloodwork done if your dog is drinking and urinating more.

So sorry yo hear about your puppy. I know it's hard to watch. My almost 14 YO lab is really struggling.

What's yours breed and age?

Dogdoc said:

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I have one dog that we just backed down to six weeks. So far, so good. As stated, it is brand new, but I have yet to personally see any negative side effects.

I have heard of one dog that developed kidney failure while on it, so it might be wise to have some bloodwork done if your dog is drinking and urinating more.

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Dogdoc, not sure if we both know that same patient, but I've had one confirmed AKI from Librela (prescribed by primary DVM but one of our long time surgical patients) and apparently it's being discussed heavily on VIN and other Texas vets list-serv's.

@Max06 - agree with dog doc that a basic renal work-up is in order.

I heard it from you, so same patient.

14yo GSP

We've had 2 dogs develop temporary increased urination/drinking which is something they've seen in Europe (they've had it a couple years before available here), both resolved and are still on it.

Do they actually think it was the librela or is possible? I'm assuming they've reported to Zoetis.

Wellness lab work normal a few months prior to Librela. Azotemia after 2nd injection. Dog became clinical as well.

Yes they reported it.

How long did symptoms persist before they resolved?

I've had great luck with Adequan on my senior dog. Also use oral hyaluronic acid as well.

Would Librela work for our 5yo lab who is s/p bilateral TPO surgery at age 2? Or is it just for age related Osteoarthritis?

She has the heart of a puppy but knees of a chicken. I'd love her to be able to get around a little better

We've given our 13yo lab 3 injections of it and she was on adequan at the same time while we were using up our supply. We've had somewhat poor results with it, but I do think it's helping her some. We'll continue giving it to her as needed. She also gets a 100mg carprofen when she's does too much roaming around our property.

My dog was on this from last Feb until Jan. We got it from a vet in France before it came out in the US. She had increased thirst I believe before she went on it which we thought was Cushing disease but then A&M said it wasn't even though the symptoms were 1 for 1 what was on the website. I would say she did drink a lot of water now come to think of it relative to the amount of exercise she was doing.

I do believe it really helped her with her pain, and I went to just this and CBD - no pharma pain pills and she lived it out pretty solid. I owe her an outdoors post, I have just been trying to think of what to say.

I'd say stick with it, I believe it worked really well. All the vets spoke highly of it. Sorry about your dog getting old.

My 10 yo pup is about to start month 2 and I see an increased energy and playful side already that I haven't seen in years. Excited to see if it keeps working. Getting old sucks. I need the human version of this drug.

ApachePilot said:

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My 10 yo pup is about to start month 2 and I see an increased energy and playful side already that I haven't seen in years. Excited to see if it keeps working. Getting old sucks. I need the human version of this drug.

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For humans you can get HA injections. I get these for my knee. There's even platelet-rich plasma & stem cell injections for OA.

I had a 10 year old Pom experience acute anaphylaxis immediately post-injection...that was fun Reported to Zoetis.

Other than that...so far so good and most owners perceive improvement in mobility...

Solensia is working great in my 14 year old cat!

Update: bloodwork & urinalysis 100% normal.

Apparently the CE on Librela says many experience increased thirst/urination but after stopping and re-starting treatment it after it resolves does not cause a recurrence.

We'll try Librela again in ~4 weeks.

What's the cost for this? And it's a monthly injection? Delivered by vet?

Monthly injection at the vet, I'm sure pricing varies but it was about $75 at my vet.

I have a 10 year old Anatolian/Great Pyrenees who weighs 130 pounds when she was young she had bilateral TPLOs. Recently she has had a hard time getting up in her back end. Librela helped that. She's not perfect but better.

I'm not always the first one on board when a new product comes out but this one is as close to a magic wand that I have seen. I called all our clients whose dogs had Osteoarthritis and recommended it.

It helped most... but not all of them.

I had a client with an old Lab that I put on Adequate injections and recommended Librela. She said her dog was doing fine on Adequan.

Now every time an old dog comes in the clinic for whatever the reason I recommend a Librela injection.

I haven't seen or heard of any adverse side effects from our clients.

Thanks!

I've got a 65 pound mutt that's about 13 years old that has been on Carprofen for a while now, with no side effects. A vet (who had never seen our dog before) that recently joined the clinic we use recommended Librela. He said there weren't any serious side effects and the biggest worry would be that our dog would over exert himself. He also said it would take a few days to take effect. 5 days later our dog couldn't get up, head tilted, eyes twitching - classic vestibular symptoms. Took him back in and they said it wasn't related to the shot. I can't say for sure Librela triggered this, but it seems awfully coincidental. Our dog had previously exhibited some symptoms that I think were neurological (e.g. rear feet dragging fairly often; one rear leg kicking out randomly sometimes) so I think he may have been susceptible. I hear that it does wonders for many dogs, but online there are lots of stories similar to ours.

idiopathic vestibular disease is not uncommon in older dogs. So far, I would think it's a coincidence but will probably never know for sure.

You can probably find a website for almost every drug and how it killed someone's pet. "Rimadyl killed my dog.Com" was a popular one for a while.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/vestibular-disease-in-dogs

Thanks for the perspective. I realize correlation doesn't equal causation, but when you're personally dealing with a single data point it's hard not to be suspicious. I reported the incident to the manufacturer Zoetis so there's a record of it. I guess if there are enough similar incidents to be statistically significant they will respond accordingly. It does sound like it helps a lot of dogs, I just wish there was some kind of screening that could help determine if it would be beneficial or not.

The vets on this board may shoot holes in this "holistic" vet's analysis, but this summary of Librela makes me think there's a decent chance the vestibular episode may have been triggered by the injection:

"So yes, it does reduce arthritic pain, with a 60-70% chance of significant positive effects. But it does so by blocking a protein that has multiple other regulatory effects throughout multiple body systems, including your dog's immune system. It binds NGF everywhere. Not only in the painful area, where there is too much of it, but in all the places it's needed for optimal health and vitality."

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/librela-berensa-wonder-drug-or-disaster-in-the-making/

I don't have a subscription, but apparently the Wall Street Journal ran an article on Librela today and Zoetis stock price isn't doing so well.

What Killed Their Pets? Owners Blame Meds, but Vets Aren't Sure

I hate reading those articles where pets spiraled out of control and they can't talk to you and tell you what is going on. My dog was getting old and was fine, but several times after she received vaccines she was wonky for 72 hours afterwards and I'd have give her CBD otherwise she couldn't sleep at all. The last year of her life she took 3 and within 24 hours was a basketcase. Panting at night - walking into walls - and eating and drinking unlimited.

We started the Liberia within a few weeks of this occurring we took her to the Vet locally and they recommended this because she was 14 and change and was getting stiff. I think it worked for the most part, and I don't recall any side affects like these articles mention.

After reading the article I am not sure what to tell people that have pets whether to take it or not. I think it helped my dog, but it's a real shame to read all of this and really confusing.

The biggest thing to realize is that condition x is not caused by (fill in the blank). I've seen drugs/vaccines blamed for things all the time that have no relation. When Trifexis was being blamed for killing dogs, a local news story came out and they interviewed a dachshund owner saying it killed her dog. The dog was paralyzed a few weeks after getting a dose. Now this breed is the poster child for disc rupture and is in all likelihood what happened to that dog with zero relation to Trifexis.
Specific to Librela, it has been in use in Europe for a few years. If it was causing all these deaths/side effects, we should know about a lot of it already. I personally have our 15 year old dog on it. He has received 6 doses now. 2 weeks after his fifth dose, he had a vestibular disease episode. Old dog vestibular disease is pretty common and I suspect is what he has. I don't believe it was related to the librela, and in fact gave him another dose a week ago. He's been more mobile the last 6 months than the prior 2 years on other arthritis meds.
I think with the internet/social media, things get blown out of proportion (see the 'new' respiratory disease in dogs a few months back). It is best to talk to your vet and see what makes the most sense for your dog.

I would just like to thank everyone on this thread because yesterday at the vet when this drug was brought up, I had only heard of it and possible side effects from reading it here. My vet said it was an option but she was very cautious and said she wasn't ready to recommend it yet especially since my dog is younger.