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Metacam.....Im confused....

yvette

Wise Old Thumper
0.6 of a ml for Lily bun.....
When measured in the same syringe from the metacam box with KG on it, Lily is having enough for a 10kg dog!!
And also when Mrs Bun had her spey, I was told to give her DROPS of the stuff, not mls.....and she was readmitted.Different vet though to the nice chap I have now...:oops:
:?:?:?
Can anybun shed any light???
 
AFAIK rabbits are much more tolerant of Metacam than dogs.

I usually give about 0.2ml/kg but you can give higher doses if needed
 
Hi

metacam has a very wide tolerance margin for rabbits and can be used anything from 0.2 to 0.6 mgs per kg depending on the need and cause of pain/inflamation.

Then you have to work out how many mgs are in your ml!

However do check that you are looking at 0.6 and not (for instance 6, or dose for 6kg dog or any other variatin!).

Depending on what she has had it prescribed for 0.6 seems fine for an 'average' rabbit (eg 1.5-3k).
 
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PS my vets used to prescribe in drops - but partner and I always ended up with different sized drops (depending on how hard squeezed the bottle) so really mls much safer!
 
Hi

metacam has a very wide tolerance margin for rabbits and can be used anything from 0.2 to 0.6 mls per kg depending on the need and cause of pain/inflamation

However do check that you are looking at 0.6 and not (for instance 6, or dose for 6kg dog or any other variatin!).

Depending on what she has had it prescribed for 0.6 seems fine for an 'average' rabbit (eg 1.5-3k).

She weighs .763 or something of a kilo, but has kyphosis of the spine and is having mobility probs.Im really worried.Its obviously the top dose.
I have a 1 ml syringe...have to give 0.6....its marked clearly....im giving the same dose of baytrill for her snuffles at the mo....
 
I think the syringe in the metacam box doesn't correspod with mls- it is working out by animal weight. The vet should be able to work out how many drops are needed to make up the amount required for your rabbit- we did this for our hens when they needed it. I would check with the vet again, because that sounds like quite a high dose ( amount for a 10 kg dog), although it may be because rabbits have a fast metabolic rate.
 
She weighs .763 or something of a kilo, but has kyphosis of the spine and is having mobility probs.Im really worried.Its obviously the top dose.
I have a 1 ml syringe...have to give 0.6....its marked clearly....im giving the same dose of baytrill for her snuffles at the mo....

Hmm that does seem a very high dose then . . . we did not give that high even for Viola Rose when she had her myxi and excruciating pain and swellings. Her max was the 0.6 mgs per kg and then ONLY for two days as it can cause gut ulcers and kidney problems.

Have you double checked that it is marked off in 0.X of a mls and not in dosage rates for kgs?
 
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Hmm that does seem a very high dose then . . . we did not give that high even for Viola Rose when she had her myxi and excruciating pain and swellings. Her max was the 0.6 mls per kg and then ONLY for two days as it can cause gut ulcers and kidney problems.

Have you double checked that it is marked off in 0.X of a mls and not in dosage rates for kgs?

It was over the phone.He asked me to pop in but I live so far away he agreed to do the messing about with syringes at the practice and let me know in a phone call.He rang and said 0.6 of a ml.
(I syringed that into the KG syringe just to see I might add....and its 10kg!!)

I have the 1 ml syringe...IM also (Like Ive said) giving baytril for her snuffles...I even rang back and said Im giving the same in baytril...Yes, thats right I got told.
Im really nervous now.Should I ring again????? Would I be a pain in the bum if i do???? Im just shocked its so much....
 
Well I am NOT A VET so cannot give dosing advice -

but I would personally ring and check - you can always say that you forgot to ask how long she had to have it for. . . or that you wondered if they knew she was only 0.7 kg or something . .

say you've read on the leaflet that O.6mgs per kg is supposedly top wack or something . .

I mean if it is right then thats fine isn't it - but if its not then best to have checked . .
 
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Nutmeg's been on .3 ml of dog metacam. Mini only had a few drops of cat metacam for her much more serious op but that was at another vet practise.
 
I have been through this a few times with my vet and last time he went online and checked the veterinary equivalent of the British National Formulary (what we use in human medicine) with me there so I could make sure! :D

This prescribing index says that rabbits can receive between 0.2mg and 0.6mg per kg of body weight in 24 hours - this is the recommended range so what a vet prescribes could be anything within this range. However, exotic vets may give a higher dose than this - as it is thought that rabbits can tolerate a lot more than was originally thought due to the way they metabolise it.
The dose you give will be dependent on the strength of the solution you are giving. So the dog metacam which is usually 1.5mg/ml given at the upper dose of 0.6mg per kg would equate to 0.4ml per kg.

It really is up to your vet based on their clinical findings, what it is being given for and because it is prescription only - only your vet can tell you what to give.

(When Nino has acute bloat I give him the full dose with permission of my vet - He is a 1.5kg bunny so he has 0.6ml. However, when it is very bad I have permission to go up to 1.0ml - this is for an acute pain where he is very ill. His daily maintenance dose for his arthritis is right down the other end of the scale - so it does depend on what it is being prescribed for. I personally feel that anything less than 0.6mg/kg for acute pain is not enough and that the range on the database needs updating a little in line with new findings on metacam tolerance of rabbits)

p.s. the syringe in the dog metacam box is much thinner than a normal 1ml syringe so if you are doing it in mls/per kg body weight then you need to use a 1ml syringe. The kg syringe in the box is purely for giving buns a certain dose x the dog dose, which I personally find far too inaccurate and never do it this way.
 
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When Mr Bingley was prescribed Metacam it was for a dose meant for a 15kg dog (Bingley is aprox 2.45kg)
When I went :shock: the vet explained that rabbits metabolise painkillers extremely quickly and that's why he needed such a huge dose ... by the way, this was to be given twice a day!
I suppose it makes sense with their little bunny tums working 24/7
 
Sorry - yes - should have clarified that its mgs per kg not mls per kg (oops ) but in fact with the Dog metacam (which assume you are on as you say you have a syringe giving a 10kg weight for a dog) then it works out about 0.4mls is 0.6 mgs (so your 0.6 mls would be very very approx 0.8 mgs which sounds a lot for a little one).

I really would call them and chat about it.
 
Yes on face value it does sound a lot. Santa is around 1kg and has the 4kg dog dose and that's pretty 'mid range' for the dose rate. (I think the dog dose rate is 0.1mg/kg so each kg on the syringe equates to 0.1mg - I think that means that a 10kg dog dose would be 1mg, which is above the 'normal' top dose rate for a bunny of 0.6mg/kg.

I would definitely ring and say you've got confused between the number of ml on the syringe and the dosage on the metacam syringe and ask them to check exact dose rates etc.
 
well.I rang.Spoke to a nurse,said I was confused etc etc....told her about Mrs B and Lily being the weights etc etc.J said she would ring me back.
Phone goes about half hour ago.Hello I say...(i know its the vets)..Hello miss H says a very familiar voice.(Its like a cartoon...I gulp and say Ah.)We talk.he says it surprised him.The marks etc etc....the syringe etc etc....he says I can ring again if i get confused.
So I came home and gave her 0.3 of a ml.
Im not happy with this dose of 0.6 and will pluck up the courage to say so.(gulp).
I will watch her and see if her mobility gets any better........and confess when i get the guts to do so.
Hes the vet.I respect him totally but alarm bells are ringing.
 
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