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other pain meds besides metacam

M

MartinR

Warren Scout
Hi everyone..

our bun is off to the vets tommorow because of issues with his tum, but whilst my vet is very good and seems rabbit savvy, he still seems to think that 2 drops of metacam is enough for pain etc, which I found very supprising and a bit startling really...

I am going to discuss this with him tomorrow but I'm worried that if he thinks that, and I keep asking for more metacam he's going to wonder why I'm going through it quicker. but there has been times I've given him 10 drops and even that didn't seem to make much difference. I'm also worried about the effects on his kidneys etc..

so I was wondering what other pain meds I could possibly ask the vet for which may be more effective, I tried googlin it but there is a lot of conflicting advice. it's for tummy issues as opposed to teeth.

are there are other pain meds as effective or more effective than metacam?..

Thank You..

Martin
 
As I understand it, metacam is THE pain relief for rabbits - both in terms of effectiveness and ease to give (ie, it comes in liquid form. Getting tablets into a rabbit is apparently quite tricky...!)

This is an extra from Marie Kubiak's reply to my thread about spondylosis and pain management:

See what response he has to the steroids - they are potentially more aggresive than the metacam so may give a better response, but longer term treatment would be low-dose non-steroidals (if metacam isn't giving great effects then there are others within this class of medications), and oral opiates are available for pain relief but don't reduce inflammation. There are also other less common medications for neurological pain if this is considered a factor but this doesn't sound like the case for him.
Click to expand...

Muppet is on a steroid painkiller, as metacam wasnt enough, but as you can see he cant stay on it long term. From what Marie has said, there are alternatives to metacam which is encouraging for me and Muppet :D

Two drops doesnt sound much to me but I suppose that depends on its strength. Muppet was on 0.5ml twice a day (but that was a metacam solution) and I think that's pretty much the top-end doseage for his weight (he's 1.7kg). I do remember reading here somewhere - possibly a post by Jack's Jane - that the recommended doses of metacam for rabbits has been increased but I cant remember where.

On my list of things to do this week is to look into acupuncture. Apparently there is an Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists... :)

I've not really helped much: yes there are alternatives but no I dont know what they are!
 
Hom much does your bunny weigh? 2 drops is only 0.1ml and the usual dose is around 0.2ml per kg 2 times daily. so he may just need an increase in the metacam.

If you are not happy with your vets explaination for the level of pain relief I would suggest trying another vet :)
 
If their issue is with dosing, you could tell them that it has recently been identified that the previous recommended doses of metacam have been underdoses for rabbits - if they want to check this they can try ringing an exotics specialist to confirm or fax the Bristol rabbit clinic on 0117 928 9593 - the rabbit clinic is on Wednesdays and offer a fax-based enquiry service for vets :)
 
I think you might need the metacam increased, my Inca is just over 2kg and she has 8 drops daily.....Its the 1.5mg/ml metacam that i use.
 
Thank You!.. Everyone.

he's approx 2kg, and that's roughly what I've been giving him when he's teeth grinding.. between 8-10 drops. It's the 1.5ml dog one. but at times even that doesn't seem to do much.

Thanks Santa for the number and the information, I will take that with me tommorrow.

I read a little about steroids, but like you said it's not so good for long term though I'm hoping he won't really need it long term, I also read they can have tramadol which my mum takes (not sure if its the same one) but will ask the vet.

it's really difficult to judge the best dose as sometimes it seems to help and sometimes it doesn't..

Though even when he's teeth grinding, he will still dive out when he sees food and want to eat etc..so it can be confusing too.

Hopefully will have a clearer picture tommorrow after his visit..

Thanks everyone, the replies are really helpful.

M
 
I meant to say too about the accupuncture, I've seen this mentioned in a few places, and they seem to of had some success, it can't hurt?. I would be interested to know how you get on with that muppet.. also I will look into it myself. the more we can to help them the better, just a shame they seem to be such sickly creatures.. seems so unfair..:cry:
 
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