Eli is 128lbs. He's been given (amongst other things) Tramadol. The RX reads 3 1/2 to 7 pills every eight hours. This seems like a lot.... up to 21 pills a day. Does this seem normal to others?

Eli has osteoarthritis in both front legs and something is going on with his back right leg. He has to go back on Monday for a repeat x-ray (12 were taken Thursday). He runs around, does circles when its time to go for a walk and seems very happy. The problem is I noticed he was reluctant to do the three steps in front of the house two days in a row. That's when I decided he needed a full workup.

I know with his size he has to take more of everything, but this seems like a lot of pills.

How many mg is that? You could look it up on Google and see what doses are common. Or just ask the vet why so many?

Seems really high, but he's a big dog and your vet may have him on the high end for his pain. Max took 1 50 mg. tablet twice a day. At that point he was probably around 100 lbs. Best to check with a vet, because there is a lot of information on the internet that conflicts on dosages. Isn't he also taking Gallaprant? That is a NSAID which should also reduce pain. Seems like a lot of Tramadol combined with the Gallaprant, but I'm obviously not an expert.

Risa was on 50 mg of Tramadol twice a day for her slipped disc/degenerative disc disease. She's only about 40 lbs.

It does seem awful high. I'll be talking to our regular Vet very soon about this and more. Tomorrow I'll have a better understanding as to what is going on and what we need to do going forward.

Can't speak re dosage for a 128lb dog but the maximum dosage for an adult human is 400mg per day. Eli is the weight of an adult human. If your tramadol is in 50mg/tablets, like your heading mentions then 21 tablets would be 1050mg which is above the max for an adult human. Checking with your Vet like you mentioned would be best. Hope this treatment helps Eli with her osteoarthritis pain.

My head is still spinning a bit. I don't even know what to write at this point other than this new Vet was so off base it's not even funny. The Tramadol has been reduced.

Tramadol has a pretty wide margin of safety. Kayos was 68 Lbs and she could take up to 6 a day.

21 is high tho.