Carprofen is an NSAID approved in the United States for use in dogs for its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic properties.

Clinical Applications

Carprofen is valuable for treatment of pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis (OA) and for control of pain after soft tissue or orthopedic surgery.

• PO formulation for OA inflammation/pain

  • 4.4 mg/kg (2 mg/lb) q24h or 2.2 mg/kg (1 mg/lb) q12h (Quellin scored tablets, bayerdvm.com; Rimadyl scored caplets, zoetisus.com].^1-3

  • Can be used as long-term maintenance or during acute flare-ups

  • Anecdotal evidence suggests that carprofen may be clinically more effective when used in conjunction with another pain medication (eg, gabapentin, amantadine, tramadol).

• SC formulation

  • Although anecdotally clinicians may primarily use sterile injectable carprofen (Rimadyl, zoetisus.com) for short-term postoperative pain control, SC formulation also labeled for OA pain/inflammation

  • 2.2 mg/kg (1 mg/lb) q12h or 4.4 mg/kg (2 mg/lb) q24h (50 mg/mL solution)⁴

    • SC administration 2 hours before procedure has shown greater analgesic effect than administration in early postoperative period.⁵

Peak plasma levels are reached 1–3 hours postadministration, although this does not always correlate with level of analgesia obtained.⁵