Meloxicam may be less expensive. If your vet feels your dog can tolerate it. Metacam is the veterinary formula for it.
If he is having stomach problems on the meds you might ask the vet about using Pepcid or Misoprostol.
You might ask your vet about the option of using another human pain med with him and see if you can find it as a generic at a low cost pharmacy such as Wal-Mart or one of the other stores offering $4 generic prescriptions. You can see the 2009 formulary for Wal-mart $4 drugs here
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/customer_list.pdf
Sometimes piroxicam can be used in dogs for example.
Also you could ask your vet about getting a prescription for online purchase of the medication. For example here is a site to compare your costs to
http://tinyurl.com/ybcnp8k
I would also suggest asking your vet about Adequan shots which you can read about here
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Adequan.htm
Hope this helps you!
Dog Expert:Rescue, Train,Breed,Care
30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics