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Long term meloxicam users - blood tests?

Liz47

Liz47

Wise Old Thumper
Jake, 11 years old, is starting rheumocam as I noticed he has started to dislike nail clips and handling. He jumps into the litter tray and runs around no bother but showed some discomfort on joint manipulation. My vet (who is great) says it doesn't have a tendency to affect the kidneys like a dog or cat, but there's no harm in doing bloods.

My question is do others on long term meloxicam do bloods, and how often? 6 months, or yearly? Thank you!
 
I think Rudey had them every 6 months but he had dodgy kidneys. Pretty sure Boo started without blood tests but had some perhaps 9 months in to treatment. Mouse was on metacam a few years & had bloods prior to starting & only one other time. It was all a bit ad hoc really

Jakey boy is doing so well to only just start needing it now. Fern must be keeping him young ❤️
 
I don't think any of mine had regular blood checks. Some may have had bloods done before starting meds. It was really a case of palliative care and doing what seemed to do the most good vs least harm as they had bigger issues to deal with.
 
Aw, it sounds like Jake is in great shape for his age, jumping into the litter tray and running around like that. I hope the rheumocam will make him feel more comfortable with the things that do trouble him.

I never did regular bloods just because of their Metacam with Sophie and Casper. I asked the vets about it a few times over the years, and they were always of the opinion that if it started causing kidney issues, weighing them weekly would alert us to that more quickly than doing blood tests once or twice a year. And like your vet they didn’t see it affecting bunnies’ kidneys the way it does in cats and dogs, something about carnivores processing things differently? Sophie and Casper did have blood tests for other things over the years and their kidneys were always perfectly fine, though I know that’s a very small sample size! But from what I understand, rabbits generally tolerate it really well compared to dogs and cats.
 
Yes, I had rabbits on it long term without tests. I have also had guinea pigs on it probably for even longer than the rabbits. Not that they really test guinea pig bloods - I've never yet had a vet able to get a sample.
 
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Thank you everyone, that's all really helpful.

I was concerned he was loosing weight but he's actually maintaining and put a bit on since his triple vaccine last year, I took them for the yurvac yesterday as I finally got round to it. I was a bit worried due to Jake's age I've been putting it off but they are both absolutely fine today.
 
When Willow was put on metacam long term for the start of arthritis, she had bloods/kindey function test done.

We was told to keep on it yearly, she shad a few other issues atm which have taken priority, but I guess I need to think about that soon.

I think it depends on the rabbit/results of the bloods as to how often you have to then repeat it.
 
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