Hi
For (neutral) taste and ease of application you may find Feliway cystease capsules for cats very useful. They are widely available online and are well accepted by piggies.
Empty the contents of one capsule in a small medicine bottle, add 2 ml of water, wait a little and shake until the powder is fully absorbed. Then either give 1 ml of the solution every 24 h or 0.5 ml every 12 hours. Always shake before use and store in the fridge for the next day.
From my own experiences with IC piggies, I have found that I was able to get quicker on top of one of the flare-ups every few weeks by giving 1 ml every 12 hours for 2-3 days (i.e. one capsule per day instead of half) until acute symptoms subsided again rather than by upping the metacam.
But since sterile IC is a large sliding scale you will have to work out for yourself how little glucosamine and metacam you can get away with in the intervals and how much you need to max out any dosage to get on top of a flare quickly once you have settled symptoms down initially, which may take a few weeks since the glucosamine needs to build up in the body and that is not a quick process.
Alternatively, human glucosamine tablets will do. You need to cut them and or grind them, though. Your choice whether you want to opt for normal ones or vegan ones. The taste is not quite as nice and you will have to work out the correct dosage yourself but they are the cheapest for long term glucosamine support.
I hope that this helps you?
Some members are trialling 4joints extra strength liquid for arthritis; it also contains glucosamine like human joints tablets.
That would be about 0.4 ml per 1 kg once a day.
All these brands are UK based. Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not as a medication so these products are quite easily available.
. We've had two x-rays to check it's not stones. My vet is back next week so will be sending her an email. We aren't 100% sure it's IC because vet thought she may have had a swollen bottom