Arthritis - VetPet Rabbit Food with Glucosamine

I am after a bit of advice..........

Katy was diagnosed last June with a bit of arthritis in her back after a statis episode, basically because they couldn't find anything else. She had lost Homer 3-4 weeks earlier and I feel that the statis was bereavement related. Then in November she stopped eating, she had a couple of small spurs which were dealt with and has been fine since.

Anyway, since las June she has been on a very low dose of metacam (0.2ml/day) to keep inflammation down. I am just concerned about longer term issues of being on metacam.

I was recommended the Vetpet with Glucosamine and I am now thinking of moving her and Cassie (who is 4.5) over to this from Oxbow Bunny Basics T slowly. So I have a couple of questions:

• If Katy has this can we reduce/stop giving her the metacam? Katy does not show any symptoms of arthritis, she jumps around and up and down onto pots with no problem (always has).
• If we do reduce/stop it what should we look out for and over what period of time e.g. stiffness, obviously not eating if pain.
• Will it be OK for Cassie to have too?

Thanks for any advice.

At such a low dose I doubt that the Metacam is actually having much of an effect. So I doubt that stopping it would cause a problem. Obviously check with the Vet first though

I have not used the VetPet food but I think it would be OK for Cassie to have it too. Glucosamine is often used as a preventative to arthritic conditions in humans at risk of developing it. But again I'd ask your Vet about this too

Thanks Jane, I wouldn't stop without speaking to the vet but wondered what experience and thoughts there were. They are due their jabs so I will have a chat and see if that is the way to go.

As I say, she has never had much of an issue getting around and jumping on high pots to eat the herbs (that were supposed to be out of reach). I am of course conscious she isn't getting any younger as she is about 8 this year.

Think I might have to start eating it myself :roll:

Slight tangent, but my cat Milly has recently been having acupuncture for her arthritis and it's making an astonishing difference. I go to a vet in the area who does Western ('trigger point') acupuncture which is based on principles of pinging muscle knots out of spasm and stimulating the nerves, rather than Eastern acupuncture which is based on the theory of unblocking lines of energy. My vet did me a referral and after four sessions Milly is clearly much more comfortable and at ease. Might be worth considering?

I feed my giants this as Jane says more of a preventative really. I would not stop the metacam but the food definitely won't do her any harm. Give it a go. We noticed an instant improvement when we put Mia on the glucosamine tablet version ( just human ones from the health store).

Santa said:

Slight tangent, but my cat Milly has recently been having acupuncture for her arthritis and it's making an astonishing difference. I go to a vet in the area who does Western ('trigger point') acupuncture which is based on principles of pinging muscle knots out of spasm and stimulating the nerves, rather than Eastern acupuncture which is based on the theory of unblocking lines of energy. My vet did me a referral and after four sessions Milly is clearly much more comfortable and at ease. Might be worth considering?

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That is interesting, how do you find out where they do this type of thing.

Lea-Anne said:

I feed my giants this as Jane says more of a preventative really. I would not stop the metacam but the food definitely won't do her any harm. Give it a go. We noticed an instant improvement when we put Mia on the glucosamine tablet version ( just human ones from the health store).

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I don't think she is really bad so that is what I was thinking, maybe stop it getting any worse. We would not have known about it, only that she had the x-rays as nothing else could be found. Still think it was bereavement and she had gradually slowed down eating (even though we kept a close eye on her) her normal amount, she was so sad you could see it in her eyes.

Glad they helped the lovely Mia.

I've been diagnosed with arthritis and take glucosamine every day. Can't say if it helps or not but it is definitely recognised as something to aid it.

I remember not being sure about accupuncture as I sometimes think in humans it can be the placebo effect. I saw a vet program with a dog who had terrible arthritis and was given accupuncture and the results were brilliant. I now believe it definitely works.

As for the metacam Doughnut is on two doses of 0.2ml a day. The specialist said to give her more if she is in pain. He said because a rabbits metabolism is so fast it doesn't stay in their body for that long, so I guess your little one may well be able to come off it and I would try the accupuncture if you see her in pain.

Good luck with the vetcare forumla. Doughnut gets half of the digestive formula ones and half of SS pellets. She much prefers the SS ones and ignored the vetcare ones to start with. I put them down first then and eventually she started eating them.

cpayne said:

I've been diagnosed with arthritis and take glucosamine every day. Can't say if it helps or not but it is definitely recognised as something to aid it.

I remember not being sure about accupuncture as I sometimes think in humans it can be the placebo effect. I saw a vet program with a dog who had terrible arthritis and was given accupuncture and the results were brilliant. I now believe it definitely works.

As for the metacam Doughnut is on two doses of 0.2ml a day. The specialist said to give her more if she is in pain. He said because a rabbits metabolism is so fast it doesn't stay in their body for that long, so I guess your little one may well be able to come off it and I would try the accupuncture if you see her in pain.

Good luck with the vetcare forumla. Doughnut gets half of the digestive formula ones and half of SS pellets. She much prefers the SS ones and ignored the vetcare ones to start with. I put them down first then and eventually she started eating them.

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I have a couple of cats at work who have had it and they have definitely benefited.

Yeah I was reluctant to try acupuncture because the whole thing about chi and unblocking energy meridiens always seemed like a load of old nonsense, but the western acupuncture which this particular vet does is based on science, and it is definitely helping a lot.

Bunny-babe, veterinary acupuncture has to be done by a qualified vet, if your own vet doesn't do it, they might know one who does. My vet asked around and I asked around (and googled) and between us we found one that I was happy to be referred to (and a few that I wasn't :lol. I pay just over £30 per session, they're weekly to start off with and then a bit 'as and when' after that.

I used it for my Jasper. It is fine for your other bun to have too, she had no problems and they both loved it