Metacam Dose For Elderly Piggie

[Posyrose]

I just wanted some expert advice on how much metacam dose I should be using. I have an elderly piggy; likely to be about eight but not exactly sure as an adopted pig. In the last couple of months he's been losing weight then putting it on again. he was 1.4 kg at his biggest but now fluctuates almost daily between 990 and 950.

I thought I had a lot of metacam in my 'first aid kit' but found the bottles empty! I have been v busy with with work so couldn't easily make it to my exotics vet, but as I thought it was just a case of getting old, I saw a good vet but not a cavy savvy one. He said he was just old, couldn't find anything wrong with him. I asked for metacam as I suspected he might have arthritis or something similar as he is more reluctant to explore than he used to be.

I was prescribed 0.1ml per day. I'm sure my exotics vet suggested double this (split into 2 times a day) in a similar situation. What do you special people feel I should be giving him?

I'm worried about him as, having put on weight this week he's lost it again. He's eating, pooing, drinking etc fine, and being cuddly and vocal at lap time, but possibly exploring his cage less than normal. He's eating fine, but I'm supplementing it with extra nuggets as well as him giving porridge oats and water every few days (he won't eat it every day)

Can you just confirm whether it should be 0.1/kilo once or twice a day?

Thanks x

 

[Wiebke]

I just wanted some expert advice on how much metacam dose I should be using. I have an elderly piggy; likely to be about eight but not exactly sure as an adopted pig. In the last couple of months he's been losing weight then putting it on again. he was 1.4 kg at his biggest but now fluctuates almost daily between 990 and 950.

I thought I had a lot of metacam in my 'first aid kit' but found the bottles empty! I have been v busy with with work so couldn't easily make it to my exotics vet, but as I thought it was just a case of getting old, I saw a good vet but not a cavy savvy one. He said he was just old, couldn't find anything wrong with him. I asked for metacam as I suspected he might have arthritis or something similar as he is more reluctant to explore than he used to be.

I was prescribed 0.1ml per day. I'm sure my exotics vet suggested double this (split into 2 times a day) in a similar situation. What do you special people feel I should be giving him?

I'm worried about him as, having put on weight this week he's lost it again. He's eating, pooing, drinking etc fine, and being cuddly and vocal at lap time, but possibly exploring his cage less than normal. He's eating fine, but I'm supplementing it with extra nuggets as well as him giving porridge oats and water every few days (he won't eat it every day)

Can you just confirm whether it should be 0.1/kilo once or twice a day?

Thanks x

How much you give depends on the severity. Both dosages are within the acceptable level, one at the lower end and the other in he medium range for regular application. I would recommend to start with the lower dosage and see how that goes first. metacam builds up when you use it for chronic problems, so it is not quite the same as when using it for acute pain and short-term use where dosages can be even higher.

 

[TAN]

Truffles was 7 yesterday and suffers from arthritis - she is on 0.3 metacam which I split into two doses but my vet has said I can up it if i want to - she used to weigh about 1.2 kilo but now is between 850 - 900gs.

 

[Posyrose]

Thanks @Wiebke and @TAN I'l keep it to 0.1 for now and see how he goes.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks @Wiebke and @TAN I'l keep it to 0.1 for now and see how he goes.

You can up it eventually to 0.25 - 0.3 ml twice daily if that becomes necessary over time. I started low two years earlier, but had my similar weighted Nerys on 0.25 ml twice daily for the last weeks of her life when her arthritis was deteriorating more quickly.

 

[acapae]

I don't know how applicable it is for piggies, but with every other animal species I've given NSAIDs to, splitting the per 24hrs dose into two is recommended as best practice, for both chronic and acute health issues. So in this situation rather than 0.1ml all at once, 0.05ml twice a day.

The reason for this is the method of action of metacam and other NSAIDs; the drug blocks 'future pain signals' rather than cancelling pain already present, which means that when it starts to wear off in the period of time before the next dose, said next dose doesn't help with that. Meaning that even an animal with a stable weight on a stable dose can gradually have an increase in pain. Although it can look similar to, this is not the same action as the body acclimatising to metacam and dosage increases being required for chronic conditions. More frequent doses reduce both the liklihood and severity of this pre-next-dose issue.

According to my own vets, the main reason that once a day NSAIDs are usually suggested rather than twice a day is simply due to the idea that many people view medicating pets as an appalling inconvenience, rather than a highly likely aspect of animal-keeping that shouldn't come as a surprise. So the idea behind the once-a-day advice is to maximise the number of animals who will receive appropriate medication (especially into the medium and long term), rather than a 'best practice or nothing' approach.

 

[Posyrose]

I don't know how applicable it is for piggies, but with every other animal species I've given NSAIDs to, splitting the per 24hrs dose into two is recommended as best practice, for both chronic and acute health issues. So in this situation rather than 0.1ml all at once, 0.05ml twice a day.

I

I've always split mine into two doses before and wondered whether to do so this time. I think it's definitely better. How sad that pets aren't properly medicated because their owners don't want to be bothered with a job that takes seconds

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

I've always thought it would be more than once a day, human pain medication wears off (I presume metacam would too?) like co-codamol every 4-6 hours etc. To keep the dosage at a manageable level? Is it not the same for piggies or is it a vet/owner laziness thing? If that's true you guys are right, it's disgraceful if people can't be bothered for their pets

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Which Metacam were you prescribed? My oldie is on Dog Metacam, 0.3ml twice a day & she weighs 930g. Her dose is because we are treating her with palliative care as she has a tumour & heart failure. One of my previous piggies was on 0.1ml twice a day for arthritis, so if it's Dog Metacam your dose is well within the safe limits

 

[Adelle]

Fudge is on dog Metacam for arthritis in her hips and spondylosis of the spine. We started low to see how she went a half dose (0.075ml) once a day, seemed really stiff in the mornings so upped to half dose (0.075ml) twice a day... She seemed to get worse in the morning as time went on, really hunched and sore so we kept upping it eventually to the max dose of 0.15ml twice a day...
She then had a painful abdo from the Metacam so is stopped it completely for 48 hours and gave Zantac for the antacid properties.. Turns out her hunched posture in the mornings was abdo pain from her Metacam before bed, not the spondylosis!

She is now back on a half dose once a day but with Zantac 1 hour before the dose to try and protect her stomach. She does need the Metacam but it's trying to find that balance- every pig is different... She is on 2 heart meds and 2 diuretics all at max dose.. But can't tolerate a full dose of Metacam!

She is also on tramadol for her arthritis so I'm playing about with that too to try and get good pain relief levels but less side effects.

The tramadol is very well tolerated x

 

[Gem789]

I just wanted some expert advice on how much metacam dose I should be using. I have an elderly piggy; likely to be about eight but not exactly sure as an adopted pig. In the last couple of months he's been losing weight then putting it on again. he was 1.4 kg at his biggest but now fluctuates almost daily between 990 and 950.

I thought I had a lot of metacam in my 'first aid kit' but found the bottles empty! I have been v busy with with work so couldn't easily make it to my exotics vet, but as I thought it was just a case of getting old, I saw a good vet but not a cavy savvy one. He said he was just old, couldn't find anything wrong with him. I asked for metacam as I suspected he might have arthritis or something similar as he is more reluctant to explore than he used to be.

I was prescribed 0.1ml per day. I'm sure my exotics vet suggested double this (split into 2 times a day) in a similar situation. What do you special people feel I should be giving him?

I'm worried about him as, having put on weight this week he's lost it again. He's eating, pooing, drinking etc fine, and being cuddly and vocal at lap time, but possibly exploring his cage less than normal. He's eating fine, but I'm supplementing it with extra nuggets as well as him giving porridge oats and water every few days (he won't eat it every day)

Can you just confirm whether it should be 0.1/kilo once or twice a day?

Thanks x

My Sam was on 0.25mls twice a day for very bad arthritis and the vet did say it could be increased a bit when he started squeaking in pain when weeing.

 

[Posyrose]

An update on poor Bubble - well, after about a week of metacam, and a few days of twice daily doses, he has put on about 30g. He's back at 1kg! He's always been greedy, and he isn't shy when new food is put in the cage, but I suspect he has been a little uncomfortable, possibly arthritis, and just not been quite the greedy guts he used to be.

He sends his thanks for your advice and hopes that this doesn't mean that their increased pellet allowance will be scaled back again!