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Concerns about prescribed dosage of dog metacam for 1kg piggy

Charlottibiscot

Charlottibiscot

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Hi all,

My 1kg female guinea pig, was taken to the vets yesterday. The vet prescribed her 0.6ml dog metacam to be taken twice daily for an unknown chronic pain issue (possibly spinal). I was concerned that this was super high so have started her at 0.2ml twice daily to match my other pig with arthritis, and she seems calmer already.

Is 0.6ml of dog metacam usual? I was really surprised because I've had to push very persistently for dog metacam before at that vets!

I don't know whether to query it with the vets or just go with it. She gave me a 32ml tub of dog metacam which will last me a few months, which financially is great for me as a student.
 
There is a sliding scale that vets can dose pain meds on - they will certainly go higher if they think it warrants it, and the dose you have been prescribed is not unheard of.
You can of course check the dosage with your vet so that you are sure, but likely they have gone high for a reason.
 
Charlottibiscot said:
Hi all,

My 1kg female guinea pig, was taken to the vets yesterday. The vet prescribed her 0.6ml dog metacam to be taken twice daily for an unknown chronic pain issue (possibly spinal). I was concerned that this was super high so have started her at 0.2ml twice daily to match my other pig with arthritis, and she seems calmer already.

Is 0.6ml of dog metacam usual? I was really surprised because I've had to push very persistently for dog metacam before at that vets!

I don't know whether to query it with the vets or just go with it. She gave me a 32ml tub of dog metacam which will last me a few months, which financially is great for me as a student.
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Hi

Your vet is maxing out but if you have concerns you are always welcome to ring the clinic/vet for confirmation. On the current dosage the tub will last you about a month (1.2 ml daily).
 
When Rainbow Piggy Silver Fox Christian was first diagnosed with spinal arthritis he was prescribed 0.7ml dog Metacam twice a day. He was on this high dose for months before (vet lead) reducing it by 0.5ml at a time to his maintenance dose of 0.5ml for the rest of his life. I made the decision that it's better to lead a possibly shorter life out of pain than a longer life in pain. He lived until he was 5 and a half having been most of his life on Metacam.

If your piggy is losing weight on 0.2ml Metacam twice a day you will need to increase the dose. When Christian was in pain he would lose weight. I weighed him every morning and adjusted his dose (by 0.5ml) if he needed it.

You can ask your vet for a prescription of Metacam (you can get a 180ml bottle if you can use it within 6 months, if not a 100ml bottle) and you can get it online much cheaper than the vets. You will have to pay for the prescription but it will still be cheaper than the vets. I get a prescription for Misty now and I get it either from pet drugs online, Animed or Vet UK depending on who is the cheapest.
 
0.6ml is high, but if pig is experiencing weight loss it will be better to start high to give them chance to recover their strength properly. Please don't underdose on painkillers, pigs have a fast metabolism and burn through it quickly.
 
Betsy said:
When Rainbow Piggy Silver Fox Christian was first diagnosed with spinal arthritis he was prescribed 0.7ml dog Metacam twice a day. He was on this high dose for months before (vet lead) reducing it by 0.5ml at a time to his maintenance dose of 0.5ml for the rest of his life. I made the decision that it's better to lead a possibly shorter life out of pain than a longer life in pain. He lived until he was 5 and a half having been most of his life on Metacam.

If your piggy is losing weight on 0.2ml Metacam twice a day you will need to increase the dose. When Christian was in pain he would lose weight. I weighed him every morning and adjusted his dose (by 0.5ml) if he needed it.

You can ask your vet for a prescription of Metacam (you can get a 180ml bottle if you can use it within 6 months, if not a 100ml bottle) and you can get it online much cheaper than the vets. You will have to pay for the prescription but it will still be cheaper than the vets. I get a prescription for Misty now and I get it either from pet drugs online, Animed or Vet UK depending on who is the cheapest.
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Thank you, I really appreciate everyone's replies! This all puts me at ease that I won't be overdosing her, and I'm glad to hear about your piggys positive response. I'll talk to my vet about keeping Ermin on the 0.2ml for now since she has had a noticeable improvement and she is only 2 or 3 so has a long life ahead of her still.

I weigh her regularly and she has never had a problem with weight loss; as I type this she is stretched out like a pancake and tucking into her hay.

Price is definitely a big bias in how much metacam I want to give my guinea pigs. As much as I love them, I will literally run out of money if I give Ermintrude the 0.6ml twice a day as well as giving my other pig, Mabel, the 0.1ml twice a day.
It's £30 per month for 10ml for Mabel and £40 per month for 36ml for Ermintrude. My vets charge £20 per online prescription and only give a months worth of prescriptions out at a time, no doubt to get more money out of me!

So I'm looking at £840 per year spent just on metacam for my guinea pigs bearing in mind that is one twelfth of my income since I'm a student and became disabled recently.
(Edit to add: my main concern is that i will run out of money due to wasting it on overpriced small metacam bottles, and then I won't be able to afford any necessary operations and vet visits in the future)

I don't know how easy it would be to transfer prescriptions to a different vets or something who are willing to give out the 6 months worth of medication?

Advice from anyone who is wiser than me would be very much appreciated.🥲
 
An open Metacam bottle has a shelf life of 6 months. You have the right to change vets and have the notes sent over to your new vets.

I have a correction to make on my previous post
Betsy said:
to his maintenance dose of 0.5ml for the rest of his life.
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Meant to say 5ml for the rest of his life.
 
Betsy said:
An open Metacam bottle has a shelf life of 6 months. You have the right to change vets and have the notes sent over to your new vets.

I have a correction to make on my previous post

Meant to say 5ml for the rest of his life.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'll do this. :)
 
My vet will sell me as much dog loxicom as I want, which is usually in 200ml packs for my uses. They are not obliged to sell it in thimble sized containers, as controlled substances go it's barely different to calpol.

Good vets will dispense responsibly. Good luck finding one, well worth checking the recommended vets list!
 
GuineaDobbin said:
My vet will sell me as much dog loxicom as I want, which is usually in 200ml packs for my uses. They are not obliged to sell it in thimble sized containers, as controlled substances go it's barely different to calpol.

Good vets will dispense responsibly. Good luck finding one, well worth checking the recommended vets list!
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I should note that my vet is on the recommended list! They're great apart from the prices
 
Hey all it's been a while but I just wanted to post an update - the vet prescribed the wrong dose. She was meant to prescribe 0.3ml cat metacam, but she prescribed me with the dog stuff instead. I'm glad I checked. Anyways, at least that bottle lasted 3 months 😅
 
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