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advice needed on metacam dose?

blackbunsmum

Young Bun
Hi everyone. I got my bun back from her vets yesterday after a removal of a mammary lump and a spay. She has been prescribed 2ml twice daily of metacam. When I look at the syringe it seems quite alot. Is this a normal amount after such an op as when I read through the leaflet it seemed to recommend 0.20 ml per kilo of body weight. My bun is around 3.3 kg in weight I think so that would be about 0.70ml. Has she been prescribed this higher dose of 2ml twice a day because she has had an op?. She has seen a very rabbit savvy vet so I assume this is the correct amount.

I was worried because when one of my buns was put on metacam for hind leg weakness a year back he only had to have a small amount. I guess its because an op is alot more painful. Advice wd be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
In general the dose range that has been used is 0.3-0.6mg/kg/24hrs (you need to make sure you don't get the mg/kg mixed up with the mg/mls!) Metacam isnt actually licensed specifically for rabbits so the leaflet will be referring to dog or cat! Bunnies work differently and it seems can take increased levels of pain relief!

It makes a big difference which type of metacam you are using ie Dog metacam contains 1.5mg/ml and Cat metacam contains 0.5mg/ml (a 3rd of the strength!!)

Eg 3.3kg bun max dose would be 1.98mg based on max of 0.6mg/kg If you have dog metacam at 1.5mg/ml, 1.98mg would equate to 1.32mls. Cat metacam at a third of the strength would therefore be 3.96ml

Having said that higher doses can be used and John Chitty (bunny specialist) often uses 0.5-1mg/kg by SC injection every 12 hours!!!

There was also an article on pain relief in the recent edition of Rabbiting On but I haven't read it yet to see what they recommended!

Hope this helps!
 
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Thanks for that. Wanda has been put on 2ml twice daily of the dog metacam 1.5 mg/ml. Does that sound ok to put her
On that amount. It must be the max dose. I havent dosed her yet but will do her in the next hour. The vet is v rabbit savvy - it just seemed a big dose
 
i think it sounds right. matt has been on 1.5ml before, and he is 2.4kg approx. if you're worried, ring them to double check, but alot of the good vets do higher doses than most, and if it's just for a short time then it's fine, as they will then probably stop it, or lower it for the remaining time. :wave:

eta: that's 1.5ml twice daily. they are on 0.5-0.8ml twice daily normally and have been for years. but this particular time we were told 1.5ml twice daily but it wasn't for a long time. even my piggies have had doses that some people would be worried about, but again, it depends what it's for and how long etc. :wave:
 
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i think it sounds right. matt has been on 1.5ml before, and he is 2.4kg approx. if you're worried, ring them to double check, but alot of the good vets do higher doses than most, and if it's just for a short time then it's fine, as they will then probably stop it, or lower it for the remaining time. :wave:

eta: that's 1.5ml twice daily. they are on 0.5-0.8ml twice daily normally and have been for years. but this particular time we were told 1.5ml twice daily but it wasn't for a long time. even my piggies have had doses that some people would be worried about, but again, it depends what it's for and how long etc. :wave:

Thanks everyone. You have reassured me that the dose is ok. I was really worrying about it as it seemed alot but then she does have 2 wounds - spay and mammary lump scar. I suppose these could be quite painful. I have given her the 2ml and will see how she goes. She has to have another 2ml 12 hrs later. I kept reading stuff in the net abiut them having much smaller doses and was getting more and more anxious. This forum is great for advice. Ops are traumatic for our pets and us!
 
Thanks everyone. You have reassured me that the dose is ok. I was really worrying about it as it seemed alot but then she does have 2 wounds - spay and mammary lump scar. I suppose these could be quite painful. I have given her the 2ml and will see how she goes. She has to have another 2ml 12 hrs later. I kept reading stuff in the net abiut them having much smaller doses and was getting more and more anxious. This forum is great for advice. Ops are traumatic for our pets and us!

i used to panic so much about doses. but i've found that good vets/exotic vets start high to get a hold of it, then reduce. other vets do it the other way round - start low and increase if needed. but in the time your waiting to see, other problems could have got worse, then you need a higher dose anyway to bring it back under control.

just keep an eye on her. she has been through alot.

did they say how long that dose is for? :wave:
 
I kept reading stuff in the net abiut them having much smaller doses and was getting more and more anxious. This forum is great for advice. Ops are traumatic for our pets and us!

Because Metacam wasn't designed for rabbits they didn't really know how it effected them and vets used to prescribe smaller doses. A rabbit metabolism actually works very differently to cats/dogs so its recently been found that they can tolerate/need much higher doses. I think its great your vet prescribed the dose they did, it shows they are up to date with modern info.
 
I would always call if you're unsure. Doughnut who is just over 1kg has been on 0.6ml split into twice a day. Your dose does sound a lot only as I would imagine the 2 to be split into twice a day not to give 4. There again as everyone else has said other rabbits have had more.

Rabbits have a high metabolic rate so it's better to split the dosage into twice a day as by 12 hours they are running low on it. Good luck hope your bun is feeling better soon.
 
Thanks for that. Wanda has been put on 2ml twice daily of the dog metacam 1.5 mg/ml. Does that sound ok to put her
On that amount. It must be the max dose. I havent dosed her yet but will do her in the next hour. The vet is v rabbit savvy - it just seemed a big dose

Yes that's 3mg every 12hrs and for a 3kg bun that is the top end of John Chitty's recommended dosing! So I'd say fine considering her wounds! But always keep a watchful eye on buns being given new meds or increased doses as everybun is individual!
 
Yes that's 3mg every 12hrs and for a 3kg bun that is the top end of John Chitty's recommended dosing! So I'd say fine considering her wounds! But always keep a watchful eye on buns being given new meds or increased doses as everybun is individual!

you've explained it all perfectly :)
 
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