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Metacam - how long does a dose last?

This might sound a little morbid but for some buns we don't know how long they have left. Like Grim I take each day as it comes and make it the best for him as I can. I don't think about the long term because there isn't necessarily a long term. But he's happy and that's all that matters. :love:
 
http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/s/00Chem/ChComplex/Meloxicam.htm

This refers to the elimination half-life in rabbits and says it's about 8 hours.

I wonder if Ginger would be better having the meds split into two doses a day?

I understood that the 1/2 life was about 8 hours too.
If given for effective pain relief, it needs to be given at 12 hourly intervals.
If given purely for the anti inflammatory effect - that persists for longer & x1 daily is sufficient.

Ginger is a difficult case because of her kidney problems, it may be a case of keeping her on the minimum dose to keep her comfortable & accept that some risk is involved.
 
I understood that the 1/2 life was about 8 hours too.
If given for effective pain relief, it needs to be given at 12 hourly intervals.
If given purely for the anti inflammatory effect - that persists for longer & x1 daily is sufficient.

Ginger is a difficult case because of her kidney problems, it may be a case of keeping her on the minimum dose to keep her comfortable & accept that some risk is involved.

We're currently scrubbing the idea of worrying about her kidney problems - we all know they dont work well at all, so we're keeping as comfortable as possible and try and fight the RTI instead.

I guess we just carry on and hope, maybe even pray.
 
I just made a thread basically about this in rabbit chat. I even replied in this thread earlier. Not a good couple of days.

But I just wanted to say I agree with your tactics. I think you're doing everything right.
 
We're currently scrubbing the idea of worrying about her kidney problems - we all know they dont work well at all, so we're keeping as comfortable as possible and try and fight the RTI instead.

I guess we just carry on and hope, maybe even pray.

I also agree with your tactics. :)
I use similar tactics with Thumper.

We used 12 hourly metacam to try to control gut pain for about 6 months, although he's prone to dehydration which is the main risk factor for renal side effects. Subsequent bloods for other reasons showed no abnormality. :)
My impression was that Thumper had good pain control for 8 hours which would fit with the data.
To reassure you, it seems that most oxicam NSAI's are inactivated in the liver & the inactive metabolite excreted via the kidney.:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meloxicam

You've so much to gain by controling pain. There's the kindness aspect, but it will also help the fight against the URI. In rabbits pain causes a marked drop in white cells so they can't fight infection properly, let alone the effect on the gut! Low pain & low stress seems to win the day for bunnies.
 
I also agree with your tactics. :)
I use similar tactics with Thumper.

We used 12 hourly metacam to try to control gut pain for about 6 months, although he's prone to dehydration which is the main risk factor for renal side effects. Subsequent bloods for other reasons showed no abnormality. :)
My impression was that Thumper had good pain control for 8 hours which would fit with the data.
To reassure you, it seems that most oxicam NSAI's are inactivated in the liver & the inactive metabolite excreted via the kidney.:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meloxicam

You've so much to gain by controling pain. There's the kindness aspect, but it will also help the fight against the URI. In rabbits pain causes a marked drop in white cells so they can't fight infection properly, let alone the effect on the gut! Low pain & low stress seems to win the day for bunnies.

We used 12 hourly metacam to control Nino's arthritic inflammation and pain - worked so much better than 24 hourly and had no impact on his blood results for liver/kidney function.

Definitely noted that efficacy tailed off after 8 hours as Thumps says above.
 
My vet recently told me that she thinks it only lasts for 8 hours.

She also said there's just been a study on rabbits about the long term effects of Metacam. (It wasn't a very nice study for the rabbits, apparently :() She said it showed there was no risk of damage (to the liver or kidneys? I forget..:oops:) from long term use like there is for cats and dogs. Does anyone here know about this study?
 
I had a rabbit with spondylosis on metacam (.5mlx2 a day) for 4 or so years with no ill effect. She died of cancer of the caecum in the end. My vet is convinced that long term metacam in rabbits is safe. It would be really interesting to know if there is any evidence for kidny damage as I have another elderly bun just starting long term metacam.
 
Thats interesting, as i was under the impression that it could cause kidney issues - long term. Not that she has much to cause issues to :roll:
 
Thats interesting, as i was under the impression that it could cause kidney issues - long term. Not that she has much to cause issues to :roll:

Most people say that it can cause kidney issues, but the evidence is lacking on the internet accessible to the general public.

The only evidence I found was that it caused kidney damage in cats particularly if they were dehydrated. Cats & rabbits have a very different metabolism - no way can we compare the 2.
I'd love to know if there was anything specifically about rabbits.

I haven't seen a kidney problem from metacam on Ru either. RU has so many members & even more bunnies I'd expect even small problems to show up from time to time.
 
I'll be seeing my vet tomorrow, so I'll ask her what the name of this study was, and if it's available online. Maybe I can persuade her to join RU so she can tell us herself! :lol:
 
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