Long term metacam use and frequent moults-connection?

I am noticing a coincidence between medication and pelt health in my rabbits that I find a bit disturbing but I can't be certain that the two are actually connected.
As the title says, is there a possibility that frequent or chronic metacam use (as needed for arthritis, for example) could cause a bunny to moult more, or lose their fur more often than bunnies who don't take metacam?

If anyone has a bunny who needs this kind of chronic pain relief, does your bun seem to live with a never-ending moult, especially one that the fur goes down to velvet or even skin and doesn't really come back for 6 months or longer...and then it never really sticks around after that?

For most of his almost eight years Mimzy has had varying degrees of moult, in more recent years it's been terrible and unrelenting. He's currently been shedding to skin since at least August and still hasn't grown his fur back in spots. His pelt looks terrible and I worry that people who see him think he's malnourished or worse.

Pip and Fiver have recently begun a metacam regimen also, both for developing arthritis in their rear ends, and tonight while doing Fiver's nails I came away covered in fur and everywhere that it's coming out it's going to skin and it just falls out in clumps. His fur has been steadily shedding like this for at least a few months.

Pip finished a long moult two months ago and now is loosing fur again, once more just falling out in clumps. All three mostly lose their fur from the saddle area back. The spot that gets thinnest and takes the longest to return seems to be right over where you would think the kidneys are, which is an organ that is greatly affected by NSAIDs like metacam.

I'm concerned about them and have repeatedly asked my vet if she thinks it's a problem but she says they're fine and when Mimzy recently had surgery his bloodwork was unremarkable.

I can't really take Mimz off metacam, it is essential to his quality of life. I don't know if the other two could do without it and if it needs tapering or they can just drop it. I know I need to check again with my vet but I'd like to go armed with some other views on the subject.


TIA for all replies.

ETA: I also notice that all three are showing shortened tempers as well and irritation at being touched on the back end. I figure when we next go in it'll be time to have kidney and liver function tested but I'd like to know if there's anything else I should ask about.

I don't know whether there is any connection, but from my experience of long-term Metacam, Artie (who was on it for c 5 years) always looked immaculate. He did have kidney failure but the kidney removed 2 years before his passing was said to have the distinctive appearance caused by EC so I've considered that to be the cause rather than NSAID effect. I don't have any studies to back it up (might be available though) but FHB always reassured me that because of rabbits' metabolism, NSAIDs don't damage to kidneys in the way they do to cats, dogs, other species. Binky is also on long-term Metacam (c 2 years) and his coat looks fantastic too.

I have never had any Rabbits have any adverse reaction to Metacam, either when used for short or longterm. I am sure you do this, but arthritic Rabbits do need help with grooming out a moult. A moult can appear to be worse on them as the fur does not come away in gradual amounts as it would if they could groom themselves alot throughout the day, the fur hangs on til it almost drops off in clumps or with a very light touch. The location you mention 'the saddle back' is particularly tricky for an arthritic Rabbit to access.

Not sure I am explaining this very well, sorry !!

I have 2 rabbits on long term metacam (over a year each), and had previous rabbits on it. I have not noticed any difference in coat or moult patterns in these rabbits. As Jane suggests, it is more likely to be due to an underlying condition making it difficult for them to groom properly. There could also be more of an issue with other irritants (mites, dust, etc) building up if they can't groom themselves properly - which could also contribute to odd moult patterns.

If they are grumpy and flinching as well as not grooming, is there room to increase the dose of metacam and see if that makes any difference?

Thank you both for replying.
Bunny Buddy, we're using dog strength and my vet has gradually raised Mimzy's dose so as not to reach his max too quickly and when he was younger he had a lovely coat. What worried me was how quickly this seemed to affect my other two whereas Mimz has been on metacam since the age of 3.
Which leads me to your post Jane, and you've explained perfectly...in fact I feel a bit stupid for not thinking of it sooner!
I've watched them all and each one has trouble washing. It never occured to me that it was the arthritis that was responsible. Considering that each has grimy ears as well (I've been watching Fiver have particular trouble of late) you'd think I'd have made the connection.

Thank you both very much. Now if I can just get all three of them to appreciate my grooming them more often perhaps we'll see some imorovement. Each one of them gets so crabby when I try to brush out their coats.
Could they still need a higher dose of metacam? Sounds like they all still have residual discomfort if they're so tetchy about contact.

Mimzy is about 3 lbs and has 0.5 mls twice a day.
Pip is about 5-6 lbs and has 0.3 mls once a day.
Fiver is about 3 lbs. and has 0.3 mls once daily.

Since Fiver and Pip have just started daily metacam in the last year their vet wants to raise their dosages slowly.

ETA: Shimmer you beat me to it! :lol: And they're all regularly screened for mites, so far no sign of those nasty pests. We live in a very cold, dry climate and our house is heated highly so that might be a factor as well.

I had two bunnies on long term Metacam, and I never noticed any issues with their coats either.

When using Metacam to treat arthritis it can often be more useful to start with a highish 'loading dose' for 2-3 days and then titrate the dose downwards to find a suitable maintenance dose. Perhaps you could ask your Vet about this, I would not go against the advice already given by the Vet without speaking with them first

For the dose range my Vet uses 0.3mg-0.6mg/kg/day. This equates to 0.2ml-0.4ml/kg/day (of DOG Metacam )

Never noticed anything with Alfie either, and he's been on 0.3ml x2 for a couple of years now

i noticed matt was always more 'scruffy' but i thought that was because his body had other things to deal with so his fur went a bit out of control, rather than because he was on metacam long term. never noticed anything with bisc.

Barney's been on metacam for over 2 years now and I haven't noticed a difference. What both my vet and I have found though is that Barney's skin (and hence coat) is affected by his health and when he gets worse we often see dry skin, flaky skin on his ears and the topcoat isn't as soft and thick. It never really thins apart from the ears and neck, but then his coat is very dense, I think he's got a lot of a meat & fur rabbit breed in him, so that may be why. When Barney does well and gains weight, his coat gets softer. It's obvious really when you think about it, after all the skin is the body's biggest organ and healthy skin = healthy fur.

Barney has always constantly moulted a little, especially when kept indoors, and this is really common in house -rabbits, so I wouldn't think moulting itself would be to do with metacam, but maybe like Jane says it's more of difficulty keeping the fur and skin in good condition as they're not grooming themselves properly. Or perhaps it is just that their overall condition is slightly worse (hence needing the metacam) which is affecting the quality of their coat.

I've had several bunnies who were due a moult but didn't moult until they were on Metacam and feeling better and stronger and did then moult, quite frantically, but it did then settle.

My bunny has been on Metacam since March.His coat and moults are pretty normal.Hes been on quite a high dose as hes needed a lot of pain relief for a bad ear infection.Hes been on 2mls of dog Metacam twice a day since August(when his pain got worse) and weighs 3.5kg.His dose has now been halved as hes feeling better.