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Meloxidyl daily?

weedug

Mama Doe
What would the long-term problems be?

I really want to avoid another incident like he has just had, being so ill with what appeared at first to be pain from his bad leg, then bloat. It really looked like we were going to lose him, and at one point my hubby even fetched me in from seeing to the outdoor buns as Floppy looked like he was leaving us :(.

I am stuck with the problem though, if I medicate him every day, I believe it will damage his body, and if I don't he runs the risk of another bloat episode due to pain.

The vet has always left it up to me as to whether he gets pain relief or not. They are quite happy for him to get it.

Just wondered what others would do? He doesn't appear in pain every day, although maybe he just hides it well from me :(.
 
Personally I would rather a Rabbit with a chronic problem were given daily analgesia if needed, even if this did shorten their life expectancy. My view is better less time PAIN FREE, than more time in pain or discomfort.

I have had numerous Rabbits who have needed life long daily Metacam and not one has developed any adverse side effects at all. No GI ulceration, Kidney or Liver problems. Some have even been on the higher end of the dose range.
 
It is a chronic condition. One patella is dislocated and the other one dislocates easily. The vet reckons the one that pops out of place would be more painful than the one that is constantly out.

Thank you Jane for telling me that you have had rabbits long term on Metacam with no adverse side effects, and at a high dose. I realise that this doesn't mean that Floppy will have no problems, but there is hope for the little guy.

I had been told that I should try to reduce his dose, and only give it when he appears to need it, but this was by a different vet.

I will keep his dose at 0.6ml daily (he's 1.5kg), which is what my usual vet recommended, although they said I could give him this dose twice a day for a short while for extreme pain.
 
bisc and matt are also on twice daily metacam forr life. the dose ranges from 0.5-0.8ml twice a day and my vet considers this a low dose.

they have to warn you of the possibility of damage from long term use, but only because it belongs to a group of medicines that have been known to cause problems, although none have been known from metacam itself. but obviously they have to let you know because of the group it belongs to.

i was very worried about it but after the vet discussed it with me i am ok with it now. and if the bun needs it, then it is a better option than them being in any pain and/or discomfort.

i was told that even though my two are on life long treatment, there should be no reason they can't have a long normal lifespan, even with daily metacam.

hope some of this helps. :)
 
Same here - Santa was on low dose metacam daily (for anti-inflammatory rather than pain relieving properties) for probably about 3 years and it never caused her any apparent problems.

One of my cats is also on daily metacam for arthritis. It's much more 'dangerous' for cats because they lack the liver enzyme to process it properly so it can easily cause irreversible kidney damage. But seeing how much difference it has made to her quality of life leaves me with no doubt that it's the right thing to do regardless of whether it shortens her life, which it probably will.

I didn't actually realise how much discomfort she had been in, until I saw how different she was once she'd been on the metacam for a couple of weeks; sometimes it's so subtle that you just don't realise how much their behaviour is being affected by pain until you see how they are on pain relief. It might be worth giving it a go for a month or two, to see if it seems to make any noticeable difference if it's administered regularly?
 
bisc and matt are also on twice daily metacam forr life. the dose ranges from 0.5-0.8ml twice a day and my vet considers this a low dose.

they have to warn you of the possibility of damage from long term use, but only because it belongs to a group of medicines that have been known to cause problems, although none have been known from metacam itself. but obviously they have to let you know because of the group it belongs to.

i was very worried about it but after the vet discussed it with me i am ok with it now. and if the bun needs it, then it is a better option than them being in any pain and/or discomfort.

i was told that even though my two are on life long treatment, there should be no reason they can't have a long normal lifespan, even with daily metacam.

hope some of this helps. :)

It is a help thank you.

I am a bit annoyed at the vet who told me I should reduce then stop his dose, but I suppose there is no proof that his leg was the cause of his bloat, it just looks that way.

I will definitely be giving him a higher dose each day now, as I want to do whatever I can to avoid him getting so ill again.

In all fairness, he was even in great discomfort after Buprecare, so maybe there is something else that happened to his leg, which has now recovered.

I'll discuss a realistic dose for him when he is next at the vet.
 
Personally I would rather a Rabbit with a chronic problem were given daily analgesia if needed, even if this did shorten their life expectancy. My view is better less time PAIN FREE, than more time in pain or discomfort.

I have had numerous Rabbits who have needed life long daily Metacam and not one has developed any adverse side effects at all. No GI ulceration, Kidney or Liver problems. Some have even been on the higher end of the dose range.

I agree. Quality over quantity. Wish is dosed up to the eyeballs, and Badger was prior to needing steroids but it made them happy and enjoy life. That's all they want.
 
The vet got advice about that from the D1ck vet school. They said that surgery would be a really major op and a huge risk for him, because there was a high risk that his bones would just shatter while they were trying to reshape the joint. Although I believe it is a fairly common op for dogs.

They also said something about it possibly needing to repeat it if it did work because the ligaments might just pull everything out of place again. Hope I explained that right :oops:

If it did all go totally wrong, amputating wouldn't work well because of the condition of his other leg.

They said they really wouldn't recommend it when he was still young (he's only about 10 months old).
 
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