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? about metacam

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Pigmad

Pigmad

Teenage Guinea Pig
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as some of you know J.J had a cyst removed today and the vet gave me some metacam for him starting tomorrow (he had a painkilling injection today) its says 5 drops every 24 hours by mouth. now i'm much more confident if i can measure out the dose in a syringe then i know the exact amount hes having. i think 5 drops roughly amounts to 0.2ml (the metacam is the one for dogs) so i would rather give him 0.1ml every 12 hours as ive heard it can wear off quite quickly.

just wanted to ask the more experienced members who have dealt with metacam alot if this sounds about right?

(he weighs 1250grams)
 
I've only ever been given the metacam for cats, Pappy has had it recently for a soft tissue injury. Her dosage was 4 drops once a day she weighs about 1000g. I did ask about spliting the dose and was told 1 dose will last 24 hours.
 
I was told one drop once a day by my vet when terry had a UTI. 5 Drops seems an awful lot, i think that may be the dose for a cat! i may be wrong though. perhaps give your vet a call to confirm?!
 
i was thinking myself that 5 drops was rather alot, but then he has just had a big op and lots of stitches so it must be sore :( think i will ring the vet first thing in the morning
 
did the vets not put a sticker on the box/bottle. It should have your piggies name and istructions. id still check tho.
 
He can safely have 0.16ml of the dog metacam at the correct dosage of 0.2mg/kg. The dog metacam is stronger than the cats being 1.5mg/ml (the cat one being 0.5mg/ml) But i cant see 0.2ml being much of a overdose. Rodents need much higher doasages than cats/dogs. But if your in doubt at all just ring the vets like you said.

I think 4 drops = 0.2mg so 5 drops would be about right.

I hope he starts feeling better soon.

x.
 
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have had a nosey on Guinea Lynx and it says 0.2ml/1kg every 24 hours and also that 3 drops amounts to 0.1ml, who knew it was so confusing :)) rolleyes
 
thanks abi nurse! we posted at the same time lol



Zarapiggie, its says 5 drops once a day on the box :)


why do vets like confusing me @) why not put the dose in mls! rolleyes
 
Storm is on 3 drops a day and vet said she was currently treating a piggie who was on 7 a day so 5 should be ok? Hope he feels better soon xx
 
Abi_nurse said:
He can safely have 0.16ml of the dog metacam at the correct dosage of 0.2mg/kg. The dog metacam is stronger than the cats being 1.5mg/ml (the cat one being 0.5mg/ml) But i cant see 0.2ml being much of a overdose. Rodents need much higher doasages than cats/dogs. But if your in doubt at all just ring the vets like you said.

I think 4 drops = 0.2mg so 5 drops would be about right.

I hope he starts feeling better soon.

x.
Click to expand...

Just done the calculations and, assuing the dose is 0.2mg/kg, then I concur with Abi in terms of mls (I personally never deal in drops as I think they're too variable and syringe measures are best) You should be giving him 0.17 ml ....if it's a tiny bit over then it shouldn't matter because of the higher metabolic rate of piggies.

Maple is on long term metacam for arthritis..he weighs 1.58kg and is given 0.2ml once daily.


HTH
x
 
rang the vets this morning and they said 5 drops equals to 0.2ml so thats what I'm to give him, he back to the vets on thursday afternoon for his post op check so depending on how hes doing i think they may reduce it to 0.1ml until he has his stitches out. To see him this morning popcorning and running around like a loony you wouldn't think he'd had an op yesterday!

Thank you for all the replies :)
 
The dose sounds right to me. In acute pain, you can go even higher (I think up to 0.4ml), although it is not advisable for long term use.

Guinea pigs have a very fast meatbolism, so they usually are treated with a higher dose of meds per weight compared to dogs or cats. It can fool vets who are not specialised; they often pitch antibiotics too low.
 
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