Harri_Hughes
New Born Pup
Hi all, hoping someone can help me with a Metacam dose calculation for my guinea pig.
She's an unspayed female, almost 3 years old and weighing 962g, and presented on Saturday (11/04/2026) with sudden onset hind limb paresis and back spasm. Seen out of hours by our vet who has documented paresis and suspects a ruptured disc as the likely cause. She's been prescribed Metacam 0.5mg/ml and has also just been started on gabapentin 25mg once daily today.
Our vet prescribed 0.02ml daily maintenance following a 0.1ml loading dose. I queried this at a follow up today (13/04/2026) and took the BSAVA exotic formulary Metacam entry with me, they recalculated in front of me and still arrived at the same figure, but were happy to double the dose to 0.04ml following my query. I cannot reconcile this figure with the calculation as I understand it, which is weight x dose ÷ concentration: 0.962kg x 0.2mg/kg ÷ 0.5mg/ml = 0.385ml.
As the loading dose of 0.1ml seemed more in line with BSAVA guidance for her weight, I've continued on that dose rather than dropping to the prescribed 0.02ml maintenance. She has shown noticeable improvement on 0.1ml. She's more able to use her legs again, though still not fully right which is to be expected so soon.
Before considering a referral to an exotics specialist I just want to confirm whether my calculation is correct or whether I'm missing something, I don't want to escalate unnecessarily if I've got this wrong. Can anyone confirm the correct calculation and appropriate dose range for a 962g pig with a suspected ruptured disc? I'd also welcome any thoughts on whether 25mg gabapentin once daily is appropriate for her weight and presentation.
Thanks
She's an unspayed female, almost 3 years old and weighing 962g, and presented on Saturday (11/04/2026) with sudden onset hind limb paresis and back spasm. Seen out of hours by our vet who has documented paresis and suspects a ruptured disc as the likely cause. She's been prescribed Metacam 0.5mg/ml and has also just been started on gabapentin 25mg once daily today.
Our vet prescribed 0.02ml daily maintenance following a 0.1ml loading dose. I queried this at a follow up today (13/04/2026) and took the BSAVA exotic formulary Metacam entry with me, they recalculated in front of me and still arrived at the same figure, but were happy to double the dose to 0.04ml following my query. I cannot reconcile this figure with the calculation as I understand it, which is weight x dose ÷ concentration: 0.962kg x 0.2mg/kg ÷ 0.5mg/ml = 0.385ml.
As the loading dose of 0.1ml seemed more in line with BSAVA guidance for her weight, I've continued on that dose rather than dropping to the prescribed 0.02ml maintenance. She has shown noticeable improvement on 0.1ml. She's more able to use her legs again, though still not fully right which is to be expected so soon.
Before considering a referral to an exotics specialist I just want to confirm whether my calculation is correct or whether I'm missing something, I don't want to escalate unnecessarily if I've got this wrong. Can anyone confirm the correct calculation and appropriate dose range for a 962g pig with a suspected ruptured disc? I'd also welcome any thoughts on whether 25mg gabapentin once daily is appropriate for her weight and presentation.
Thanks
