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Metacam Dosage

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idlewildgirl

idlewildgirl

Teenage Guinea Pig
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As some people know Freddie is currently on metacam to help with an inflamed joint in his back leg, what is worrying me now is the dosage the vet has advised us to give. 0.6ml twice a day, I thought this seemed high but assumed she knew what she was talking about, Ashleigh vets in manchester came recommended for guineas.

Freddie is now eating and drinking much less than normal, his poos are tiny and there is a bloody tinge to his pee. He has been on the metacam since wednesday and I'm so worried we are overdosing him. 8...
 
my cavy savy vet recomends 0.3 twice a day but his colleague has prescribed me 0.6 twiw a day but the cavy vet said that would be the absolute maximum and rather i stick to .3 for my grown boys. hope this helps. have you given probiotics they can help with tummy trouble. mostly only antibiotics that upset tummys but maybe metacalm could too. i would be a bit hesitant to use that dose. how long is it for? Also I am talking about the dog strength Metacalm if it is cat strenghth dosage can be higher
 
as it is a joint maybe the higher dose had been recomended to reduce the swelling? i've only had it for UTI and chest infections.
 
Whenver Ive been given metacam for the girls its always been a lot less, Lily who was just 2lb in weight was prescribed 1 drop daily and Panda who had a UTI she is nearly 3lb in weight and was prescribed 1drop twice a day. I can remember the baytril dosage being very similar to those described though.
 
usually my Baytril is 0.5 so a bit more than the Metacalm. my boys are all around 1.2kg they were given the doseage after being weighed.
 
Thanks, its for 10 days, he is using the leg more but still holds it up every now and then so i'm guessing there is still pain
 
. 6 seems a lot for 10 days but as my vet said that would be a real maximum so not wrong just very high did you see the piggie vet at the recomended vets?
 
Apparently the best piggy vet there is Aidan but It was an emergency so I had to see a girl called Sara, she did seem to know her stuff. On speaking to the OH who went to see her the second time he said she advised he may need a 6 week course?! I am going to get him to phone them today and confirm. Freddie really doesn't seem himself and I would not be able to forgive myself if something we forced into him has caused him to deteriorate :( :(
 
Are you sure that freddie hasn't got a urine infection as well? My last Guinea went off his food and had blood in his wee when he had a urine infection, could just be a coincidence that he is on Metacam as well.
 
rachan said:
Are you sure that freddie hasn't got a urine infection as well? My last Guinea went off his food and had blood in his wee when he had a urine infection, could just be a coincidence that he is on Metacam as well.
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I was just wondering that too?
 
idlewildgirl said:
Apparently the best piggy vet there is Aidan but It was an emergency so I had to see a girl called Sara, she did seem to know her stuff. On speaking to the OH who went to see her the second time he said she advised he may need a 6 week course?! I am going to get him to phone them today and confirm. Freddie really doesn't seem himself and I would not be able to forgive myself if something we forced into him has caused him to deteriorate :( :(
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You are doing good don't fret! I would consider getting him checked for Urine infection definately. I think you need to speak to Aidan just to reassure yourself if anything. do you want me to ask my vet too?
 
Cgilchrist said:
You are doing good don't fret! I would consider getting him checked for Urine infection definately. I think you need to speak to Aidan just to reassure yourself if anything. do you want me to ask my vet too?
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Thankyou, that would be great! xx>>>

He is also on antibiotics so would that help the UTI as well?
 
Ok well the antibiotics are the most likely cause of the gut stasis. which antibiotics and have you been giving probiotics with them? basically in very simple terms antibiotics kill bacteria/nasties- that are in the body but they can also kill the good ones in the gut which help with digestion. Probiotics help repopulate the gut adn keep things moving. if you haven't got probiotics you can mush up a healthy pigs poops with water and syringe :)>>> as the poops form part of their digestive process. the main thing is trying to keep you piggie eating adn fluids up. if piggies tum isn't working then they won't want to eat. Apologies if you already know this but if you don't my very basic biology lesson might help. the antibiotics should help the UTI as well. Please let me know what antibiotic and doseage. also weigh your piggie daily to keep an eye on their weight
 
Cgilchrist said:
Ok well the antibiotics are the most likely cause of the gut stasis. which antibiotics and have you been giving probiotics with them? basically in very simple terms antibiotics kill bacteria/nasties- that are in the body but they can also kill the good ones in the gut which help with digestion. Probiotics help repopulate the gut adn keep things moving. if you haven't got probiotics you can mush up a healthy pigs poops with water and syringe :)>>> as the poops form part of their digestive process. the main thing is trying to keep you piggie eating adn fluids up. if piggies tum isn't working then they won't want to eat. Apologies if you already know this but if you don't my very basic biology lesson might help. the antibiotics should help the UTI as well. Please let me know what antibiotic and doseage. also weigh your piggie daily to keep an eye on their weight
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Thanks so much, I havent been giving any probiotic, I will try the vita poos! Can I mix some with pellet mash to try and get more food into him?

He is on 0.3ml of engymycin once a day.
 
Just to let you know that i also use the metacam for dogs for one of my pigs who has arthritis and he has one drop twice daily. I'm not sure what that is measured out as i just give him one drop from the dropper bottle, on his fave veg and he loves it. Thats what my vet told me to do and he is very good with guinea pigs.

Hope the vets visit goes well.

:)
 
fingers crossed make sure you ask for some probiotics. Avipro plus is the one i use its a palatable powder and can put it in the water bottle but i like to make it up and syringe too so you know they are getting some x
 
thanks :)

the vet said she was happy with his progress he is using the leg a lot more and hasn't lost any weight, in terms of the UTI he is now on an injectable antibiotic and they have given us some probiotic sachets as well. He has an appointment with Adian at Ashleigh on tuesday, apparently this guy travels the world giving seminars on piggy health so should be a good insight. In regards to the metacam she said he can go up to at least 1ml twice a day but we will reduce his dosage as his leg is improving.
 
yeah I still think its a lot myself, think we will give a bit less than recommended as he doesnt seem to need that much pain relief
 
I think less metacalm would be better to be honest. I'm obviously not qualified but if piggie isn't in agony then I would cut down as most medicine taken in high doseage over a period of time is likely to cause some ill effects i think. and he might build up a bit of a resistance to it as well which means over time he may need a higher dose to get the same amount of relief in future so i always try to start at a lower dose so there is the opportunity to go up if it isn't effective rather than total overkill if that makes sense (not suggesting he is on overkill but just trying to explain what I mean) it's the same with me taking paracetamol, i always start with one tablet rather than two then I can always up it if it doesn't work as well. :)
 
If you have a look at this thread here I received some good dosage advice about Metacam from several people on here http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49901

There's a post from Laura-CCC4 near the bottom where she wrote:
"The dog and cat strength Metacam issue: dog Metacam is 1.5mg/ml, cat Metacam is 0.5mg/ml. So the dog version is three times the strength of the cat version.

The standard dog Metacam dose is 0.1ml 2x daily.
This would mean that the standard cat Metacam dose is 0.3ml 2x daily.

Maximum dosage of dog Metacam tends to be 0.3ml 2x daily for a short period only, so cat strength would be around 0.9ml."

So the vets dose of dog metacam does seem on the high side (in my admittedly limited experience, only based on advice I have received). My piggies problem was specifically a UTI, so your vet might've have put it higher as it's joint trouble
 
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Well we started him on the new antibiotic last night and he ate a good amount of the probiotic stuff off a spoon, we were a bit naughty and didnt give him any metacam yesterday and he is so much brighter this morning! He is still lifting his leg a little so may give him a small amount but I feel he is better off without it, please let me know if you disagree!
 
The (regrettably) late Peter Gurney also swears by Potters tabritis tablets - from Holland & Barrett; Boots et al - works a treat for my old 'un

I aso give much extra Vit C - Tescos chewable (no zinc) ground up and diluted in water - one 500mg tablet in 5ml water - syringe dose piggie with 0.2mg

Grommie is now a (randy) old (bow legged) man - and much perkier :)):))

x
HTH
x
 
Metacam does vary in dosages depending on what you use it for. As for the funny poo's, metacam has been known to cause a bit of tummy upset in dogs/cats, so I'm thinking guinea pigs are not too different.
 
Well he has just been for his check up today, they have taken him off the antibiotic and reduced the metacam to 0.3 twice a day, he has very small poops so she didnt want to risk him on antibiotics any longer. I have some syringe feed is there anything I can give him to help get his poops back to normal?
 
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