Calpol and Metacam

[Percy123]

My bun has been prescribed 1.2ml Metacam (twice a day) for an ongoing foot abscess and the vet also recommended using 0.8ml Calpol to go along side this. I'm due to see the vet on Monday for his checkup but wondered what is the best way to administer the pain relief? I currently give the metacam every 12hrs with Calpol between those doses. Is this the correct way to give him his meds or would it be more beneficial to give him both metacam and Calpol together? I ask this because I'm not sure if I'm seeing much benefit from the drugs at the moment but didn't want to change it around if it's potentially harmful.

Thanks

 

[Shimmer]

For a human, it would probably be recommended to stagger them so that you get continuing relief from one as the other wears off. Sometimes its easier to dose rabbits in one go if they get stressed by the extra handling. Not sure if that's helpful.

Other pain relief is available via your vet if these are not helping. I think I had some that you dripped into the open wound (facial / jaw abscesses) so that it could be flushed out and packed with Manuka honey, so I guess it depends on what the aim of the meds is.

 

[Percy123]

For a human, it would probably be recommended to stagger them so that you get continuing relief from one as the other wears off. Sometimes its easier to dose rabbits in one go if they get stressed by the extra handling. Not sure if that's helpful.

Other pain relief is available via your vet if these are not helping. I think I had some that you dripped into the open wound (facial / jaw abscesses) so that it could be flushed out and packed with Manuka honey, so I guess it depends on what the aim of the meds is.

Thank you for your reply. In your experience did you have much benefit with manuka honey when fighting an abscess? Our vet says she hasn't had much luck with it so recommended against it

 

[Shimmer]

I would definitely use manuka honey again. It's cheap, easy to apply, does have proven value in healing wounds and has no adverse side effects, so there's nothing to lose - and sometimes, you need every advantage you can get. It inhibits bacterial action (ie infection) and so allows the wound to heal more naturally from the inside. You don't need much as it gets quite runny at body temperature, and you don't want it to be licked / groomed off. It shouldn't be too much of an issue if a rabbit ingests it, but it is basically sugar so could be an issue if a lot is ingested regularly. It's less of an issue with other species, but rabbit guts are not designed to cope with high sugar content food.

Flush the wound once or twice a day with an appropriate solution (eg saline or v dilute hibiscrub), pat dry and apply honey directly into the wound cavity so it coats the raw flesh. Apply a suitable dressing, if appropriate - sometimes it's better to leave it open. 1ml syringes come in very handy for both the wound flushing and applying the manuka honey (and so you don't contaminate the tube it comes in). You can also warm the honey in the syringe in the palm of your hand, so it flows better.

It was part of the standard post-surgery treatment protocol for jaw abscesses, as recommended by FHB (renowned rabbit vet). I had 2 rabbits under her care. These were basically holes created surgially in the rabbit's cheek which were kept open after the abscess capsule was (as far as possible) removed. The aim of regular flushing and use of manuka honey was to stop the abscess infection recurring and allow healing to take place without the bacterial infection taking over again, ultimately until it fully heals from the inside out (rather than closing over externally and re-abscessing).

You need the medical grade manuka honey. Activon brand comes in 20g tubes for around £6 from the various places online, including Amazon.

 

[Percy123]

Amazing, thank you so much. I'll order some now and start using it when it arrives