Metacam

Whats the Metacam concentration for bunnies? the dog or cat one? Dog is 1.5mg/ml cat is 0.5mg/ml.

How do you know if a bunny has an allergic reaction to Metacam?

Please help!

Thanks for any replies!

The active ingredient is the same but you'd need to administer more of the cat Metacam than the dog one as the dog one is 'stronger'

What do you mean by 'an allergic reaction'- is your Rabbit ill :?

Well, She was given Metacam by the rabbit savvy vet I saw last Thursday, because her hocks weren't bad enough to prescribe anything else. I was told to give her 1.3ml twice a day which I have been doing, after today it's supposed to go to 0.6ml twice a day (she has the dog 1.5mg/ml). There has been no improvement with her hocks, infact they've got worse. (with no carpet access and her litter tray changed after every wee :shock:- I'm going through carefresh, megazorb and hay like nobodies business!)

With regards to the allergic reaction, she's panting/ breathing very rapidly all the time, I did abit of research on't internet and apparently this is a symptom of an allergic reaction to the metacam. I'm not sure if it's the metacam ofc it could be something else. However, she's eating, pooing, weeing, drinking, flopping, digging, begging and everything else as normal. I might be over-reacting, but if it is nothing her feet still need a good seeing to!

I have her booked in to see the specialist again tonight (6.40pm), was the earliest I could get and my OH won't be back with car until 6pm, so i can't even go earlier if I wanted to.

Just wanted some advice, just in case!

Thanks!

What weight is she (approx) ?

When lying down does she elevate her head/stretch her neck forward?

Is the rapid breathing constant ?

She's 2.7kg (she's a dwarf lop), the breathing is fairly constant yes, with regards to lying down no she doesn't do that.

Sometimes when she's flopped out she rests her head on the floor, which slightly stretches her neck. She has always done this though.

She's not mouth breathing, when I say panting and it's not very audible. Its her sides moving really fast and I know nose twitching doesn't necessarily relate to breathing but her nose seems to continuously be twitching fast.

Well the 1.3ml dose TWICE a day does seem to be rather high but I am not a Vet and if she's been on it for several days and the breathing has only been rapid today I dont think it can be an 'allergic reaction'.

Has she ever had Snuffles ? The rapid respiratory rate *might* be due to infection in her LOWER respiratory tract. So there would not be any snotty nose etc.

The sore hocks may be a seccondary symptom of another problem.

I hope the Vet can help

She's never had snuffles no. I thought the same about the dosage and that why I was wondering if I'd been given the wrong metacam.

Thanks for all your help and yes I really hope I get some answers tonight!

That dosage does seem rather high. When Bob had GI Stasis he was on the dog metacam and was on 0.4ml per day. He is a 3.7kg bun.

BobbleG said:

That dosage does seem rather high. When Bob had GI Stasis he was on the dog metacam and was on 0.4ml per day. He is a 3.7kg bun.

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Definately will bring this up tonight.



:?

(Jason Dowing is my OH; just to erase any confusion )

BobbleG said:

That dosage does seem rather high. When Bob had GI Stasis he was on the dog metacam and was on 0.4ml per day. He is a 3.7kg bun.

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I'd say that was quite a low dose though. :? About 0.1ml per kg body weight. My vet prescribes 0.2-0.4ml per kg body weight of the dog metacam (1.5mg/ml) so my 2kg bunny would get 0.4ml twice a day. :?
But every vet prescribes it a little differently depending on the issue in question. The dose I give is for an acute bloat so only in the short-term.
Maintenance doses for chronic health problems are likely to be lower.

The maintenance dose you've been given for your bun's sore hocks Jaysmonkey sounds about right to me at 0.4ml/kg/day but split into two doses. It is the higher dose of 1.3ml which seems rather a lot but perhaps your vet had her reasons? Best to check in case in a hurry she made a typo.

Back from the vets now, the 1.3ml dosage is correct.

With regards to Lola's hocks we've been given several more things:

Flamazine Cream - to be applied twice a day
Engemycin (antibiotic) - 0.8ml once a day
Navilox (helps blood flow to extremities)- a small pinch on her food each day.
Metacam- as before.

So Lola is pretty doped up atm! :lol: bless her little cotton socks

Jaysmonkey said:

Back from the vets now, the 1.3ml dosage is correct.

With regards to Lola's hocks we've been given several more things:

Flamazine Cream - to be applied twice a day
Engemycin (antibiotic) - 0.8ml once a day
Navilox (helps blood flow to extremities)- a small pinch on her food each day.
Metacam- as before.

So Lola is pretty doped up atm! :lol: bless her little cotton socks

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Awwwww did the Vet mention any possible cause for her sore hocks ?

Jack's-Jane said:

Awwwww did the Vet mention any possible cause for her sore hocks ?

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Well i explained what I've always done for Lola and how its still the same now.

I cut her claws when they need cutting to an appropriate length.
I clean her toilet out every time she wee's now (it used to be daily)
She has a fleece and blanket in her cage, vetbed in her pen and lots of blankets and a duvet covering the floor so their no access to carpet, she's always had the blankets though, the vetbed is the newest edition.
She's not overweight, so it's not due to obesity.
And she cleaned out regulary so it's not due to a damp or dirty cage.

She believes it's inevitable in some (house)buns, since Lola or any of the bunnies don't get alot of garden time during the periods of year I'm at uni (every day but christmas hols and summer hols) that this is the sole reason.
the nails can't efficiently sink into the blankets, like it would do on grass and so rabbit stands in a way that applies much more pressure to the hock.

If i had a garden at Manchester I'd happily let them out .

For now though in terms of my other buns the main cure is prevention! so erm I'm going on a bulk vetbed mission

Jaysmonkey said:

so erm I'm going on a bulk vetbed mission

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Try padding the vet beds out from underneath, the blankets as well, we use folded old towels, several of them. It really helps provide a more flexible surface. :wave:
As much exercise as possible also helps circulation and prevents them sitting around on their hocks too much.

prettylupin said:

Try padding the vet beds out from underneath, the blankets as well, we use folded old towels, several of them. It really helps provide a more flexible surface. :wave:
As much exercise as possible also helps circulation and prevents them sitting around on their hocks too much.

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Thanks , I've noticed even though she has free range of the house, she's started to be a little lazy, she's flops out slightly more than she used to and just sits washing for 30mins at a time :shock:, really annoys me, so I'm usually running around the house trying to get her to chase me. My housemates think I'm very silly .

I will try the padding out underneath the vetbed most definately, Thank you.

The panting was also because of the central heating.

Also I've now layered vetbed over duvets for all my buns to party on!