He is doing well but we just started this in beginning of Dec..as we saw him slow down, hip waddle where i think arthritis is.....he will be 8 in two wks! Have the best exotic vet only in Orlando Fl , he started him on 1.5ml , Once a day...just wanted thoughts if that is enough..eating , drinking doing great..just has way slowed down..his gr son, cage mate 2.5 yrs old, so he keeps him company but I just want to see what you guys do over there doseage ...thanks Kay in Fla
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Dose for Meloxicam , arthritis med for my almost 8 year old Guinea pig...
- Thread starter GP MOM
- Start date
I’m afraid that as a forum we cannot advise on dosage of prescription medication. That depends on the vets examination, weight of piggy and strength (in the UK we have both cat and dog metacam which are different strengths), and licensing laws.
What I can tell you is that our exotics vets in the UK accept that due to piggies metabolising metacam very quickly we are often given a daily dose that is split into 2 and given at 12 hour intervals. My experience of arthritic piggies is that there is a scale of dosing and we tend to start at the lower end of the scale and increase slowly until we get the balance right to try to prevent long term issues associated with metacam use.
See how you get on and what improvement you see. He is a great age for a piggy. I’m assuming you will be going back for review and if so you can speak to your vet about how is doing and whether the dose needs to be adjusted up or down and whether it could or should be split into 2 doses.
Hope he gets on ok.
What I can tell you is that our exotics vets in the UK accept that due to piggies metabolising metacam very quickly we are often given a daily dose that is split into 2 and given at 12 hour intervals. My experience of arthritic piggies is that there is a scale of dosing and we tend to start at the lower end of the scale and increase slowly until we get the balance right to try to prevent long term issues associated with metacam use.
See how you get on and what improvement you see. He is a great age for a piggy. I’m assuming you will be going back for review and if so you can speak to your vet about how is doing and whether the dose needs to be adjusted up or down and whether it could or should be split into 2 doses.
Hope he gets on ok.
Lady Kelly
Senior Guinea Pig
Hi Kay, sorry to hear your piggy is struggling. I agree with what Vicki has said above. If you reach a point where maximum dose of meloxicam is not doing enough your vet may also consider a stronger pain killer like tramadol. Unfortunately my arthritic piggy passed away shortly before the vets visit to get a prescription of tramadol so I don't have experience of using it to share