Apologies for being late to this thread: Metacam dosage is often asked about because it is very confusing.
I'm going to try and provide an overview as to why that is...in the hope this may be made a sticky for future forum users.
Metacam dosage:
- Metacam is only licensed for cats and dogs...not rodents, rabbits or piggies.
- Most small animal drugs are ONLY licensed for cats and dogs because it is too expensive for the drug companies to include other animal groups in their trials. As far as piggies are concerned, thire only licensed drugs are ivermectin and baytril
- That doesn't prevent the British Small Animal Formulary (UK vets prescribing bible) from recommending that cat and dog drugs can be prescribed for other animal groups "off license" at appropriate dosages.
- Most vets are now happy, (as far as piggies are concerned) to prescribe off-license drugs.. Some are still more cautious than others...which is why a piggy savvy vet is a must
- Both cats and dogs are prescribed to receive a 0.1-0.2mg/kg dose of metacam
- The Dose for rats is 1mg/kg...but dose for rabbits is only 0.1-0.2mg/kg.....piggies aren't mentioned.
- Rats and other rodents (including piggies) are recognised as having a higher metabolic rate than rabbits cats and dogs (and therefore drug clearance rate)
- Most vets will adopt a cautionary approach however and prescribe at 0.1mg/kg for piggies (rabbit/cat/dog lower dose) ...however others will on occasion adopt the 1.0mg/kg for rats
- There are two different strengths of metacam supplied - cat (0./5mg/ml) and Dog (1.5mg/ml)
- They are supplied with syringes that are graduated according to the animals weight in kg and not ml.
- Most guinea pigs are around the 1kg mark whereas most cats and dogs are upwards of 7kg.
- Owners therefore need to know how many mls of the metacam strength they have been supplied should be given to their pigges rather than relying on the syringe supplied
- The graduated syringes supplied with the metacam are therefore not helpful for piggies and should be disposed of in favour of 1.0ml syringes. You can cut the spout top off the metacam bottle or alternatively drip the contents into a spoon or other receptacle to draw up the appropriate amount into your 1.0ml syringe
Bottom line- there are a myriad of outcomes of what is "best dose" for piggies under what circumstances...and it depends upon your vet.......Hence why there is always a lot of confusion on dosage range for piggies[you]
Peanut Butter (lovely name!)[/you]
I am basing the following on the lower rabbit/cat/dog dosage of 0.1mg/kg body weight which appears to be the more common preferred prescribing amount here in the UK and agreeable with your vet
Given the illustrious PB weighs in at a healthy 1.24kg PB's total daily dose of the drug should be (his weight kg) x 0.1mg = 0.124mg.
Cat metacam contains 0.5mg of active drug diluted in 1.0ml of fluid.......so PB's dose should be 0.124/0.5 x 1.0ml - 0.25ml
,
He should therefore be receiving 0.25ml per day cat metacam for a minimal dose....(or 0.125ml twice daily which some vets prefer given pgigies high metabolic rate)
In exceptional circumstances (ie palliative care/pain relief for inoperable kidney stones and tumours) I have in the past given piggies up to the equivalent of 1.0ml cat metacam per day on the instruction of my vet.
Having said that, for most routine pain situations involving urinary, gut, dental or ear issues....guinea pig medicine has moved beyond metacam.
My vet routinely prescribes a combination of tramadol for pain relief with metacam for anti-inflammatory purposes..
To date, my piggies have had no problems with gut motility as a direct result of prescribing tramadol at 1mg/kg in conjunction with metacam at the same dosage...and in more acute or palliative situations we have successfully given 3xthe above doses of both drugs together with no ill-effects.
.Perhaps it is worth discussion with your vet on a dual med regime for best effect and get them to confirm the dosages for you?
x
