• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Would you give a test dose of metacam to siblings of one who reacted?

What would you do?

  • Try a test dose of metacam on healthy bun

    Votes: 11 100.0%

  • Avoid metacam on all these buns for rest of life

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    11
What sort of dose resulted in those symptoms? I'm just thinking that if it is the sweeteners, if you gave a tiny test dose, you probably wouldn't get the same symptoms anyway.
 
Probably a bit less than that, more like 18 hours.

ETA 0.5mg/kg.
 
Last edited:
Jack's-Jane said:
Did the GA include Ketamine ? I have known that to cause acute diarrhoea
Click to expand...

I'd need to check, but I suspect it did - I've definitely had the medetomidine/ketamine combo used for male castrations although I couldn't tell you off the top of my head whether something different is used for girls - I tend not to ask for a detailed receipt as it's just evidence to hide from my OH :lol::lol:
 
Soooo, yesterday Gabby had a test dose of metacam and has been absolutely fine. Today, Jenniemouse had a test dose and has been absolutely fine. Assuming the same remains true overnight, tomorrow Emily will have her test dose. Hopefully she too will be absolutely fine. The first is booked for her spay this Wednesday, with the other two the following Friday. It would be easier to do them all at once but I'm still a bit nervous just in case it was something else and it does recur - I don't fancy trying to deal with three poorly bunnies all at once so thought it was best to do one first and check that all goes normally before doing the other two. Gulp.
 
Yes, if the first is ok after surgery I'll get the next two done together. If the first isn't ok, then it's probably not the metacam and I'll get the others done singly! Emily had her dose an hour ago and is fine so far. Big relief!
 
Well the first spay was done yesterday and all seems fine. Little Jenniemouse bounced back quickly, munched a little last night but is her normal, perky, greedy self today. She had the same anaesthetic protocol and the same take-home drugs as her big sister, and she's the other butterfly marked one, so I feel more reassured now that Lizzie was a random one-off...phew!
 
The three other sisters and mum have now all been spayed using the same protocol and the same take-home drugs and they have all been fine. Having seen how differently they recovered in the immediate post-op period, I'm now thinking that it probably wasn't the metacam after all. Lizzie was still very sorry for herself the evening of the op and was very reluctant to eat in the morning, whereas all the others were stuffing their faces virtually the moment they came home. So I now think it's more likely that it was one of the anaesthetic agents which caused it or triggered something underlying and it then exploded when she was given meds on a virtually empty tummy the following morning?
 
When Lizzie is fully recovered and healthy, I'd give her a test dose too. I think it's important to find out whether it was the metacam for her, as it's the go-to drug of choice, especially at vets less experienced with rabbits, which she may be treated by if rehomed.
Meloxicam is also meant to be much more irritant to the stomach if given on an empty stomach.
I'm glad the other spays went well.
 
Lizzie was spayed a couple of months ago so she has already been rehomed :D I've spoken to her new owners about exactly that - once her bond has fully settled down, maybe early next year they are planning on doing a test dose. Fortunately they do have a good exotics vet which is a few minutes drive from them and open 24/7 so it's probably the best thing to do. When they first suggested it I was a bit nervous about the idea because I know how hideous it was, but now I really don't think it was that so it would be really helpful to find out for sure.
 
That's a scary thought! Although I guess if they can plan it for a time when they are about and on a day when the vets are open, better than finding out later!

What a mystery.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cyane182
Metacam dosage for 3kg bunny & Enrocare
Replies
1
Views
93
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
S
Metacam Dispensing Rule Change in the UK
Replies
12
Views
716
KarenM
KarenM
a reader of books
Could Sophie get some vibes? Another dental
6 7 8
Replies
141
Views
2K
bunny momma
bunny momma
Back
Top