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Help for Gus. Metacam dosage and advice

Buggster10

Buggster10

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all it's been a long long while since I've been on here. I'm desperate. Our old boy Gus has lost huge amount of weight. He was 1100 g but now 700g. Vets have seen him and think it's his teeth as he is unable to chew food or take it in through his front teeth to try. He is drapery to eat. I stepped in with critical care immediately at 950 g but nothing is working. They don't want to put him under as think to weak to survive. Help please. They have given metacam but I'm unsure of dosage. He weighs 700 g and it's dog loxicam? Help what dosage should I give. I can feel he's in pain and he wants to eat and still in charge lol but he needs help now:(
 
I'm so sorry he is unwell.
I’m afraid we actually cannot tell you what dosage to give as we are not qualified vets.
The prescribing vet should have written the dosage on the label.
If he needs painkillers right now, then I would suggest for you to call your out of hours service and ask their advice.
 
They did but I'm not sure it's right,0:( plus the syringe is confusing
 
I just wish I knew what was wrong because they don't really know. They can't see back teeth properly as he won't let them.
 
Why dont you think it’s right?
What dosage have they told you to give?
Did they just give you the syringe which comes with it - it will show in kg measurements, that can make it confusing and it’s actually easier if the vet does the conversion and gives you the dosage in ml.

Are your vets hoping you can get his weight up before they carry out any dental work?
Are they experienced in piggy dentals? Is there another vet practice you can go to?

If you can get to Northampton to the Cat and Rabbit clinic, then Simon and Kim can do conscious dentals. You would need your vet to give you a referral to see if they could help. Of course, it is a long way from you though so may not be an option.
 
He’s a cute boy. I’m sorry he’s not well.

Are your vets experienced wIth guinea pigs? Could you go elsewhere for a second opinion?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Why dont you think it’s right?
What dosage have they told you to give?
Did they just give you the syringe which comes with it - it will show in kg measurements, that can make it confusing and it’s actually easier if the vet does the conversion and gives you the dosage in ml.

Are your vets hoping you can get his weight up before they carry out any dental work?
Are they experienced in piggy dentals? Is there another vet practice you can go to?

If you can get to Northampton to the Cat and Rabbit clinic, then Simon and Kim can do conscious dentals. You would need your vet to give you a referral to see if they could help. Of course, it is a long way from you though so may not be an option.
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Yes on kg
Spaniel said:
He’s a cute boy. I’m sorry he’s not well.

Are your vets experienced wIth guinea pigs? Could you go elsewhere for a second opinion?
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Not great no they try really hard but even my experience with specialist vets hasn't been great with teeth- dislocated jaws after!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Why dont you think it’s right?
What dosage have they told you to give?
Did they just give you the syringe which comes with it - it will show in kg measurements, that can make it confusing and it’s actually easier if the vet does the conversion and gives you the dosage in ml.

Are your vets hoping you can get his weight up before they carry out any dental work?
Are they experienced in piggy dentals? Is there another vet practice you can go to?

If you can get to Northampton to the Cat and Rabbit clinic, then Simon and Kim can do conscious dentals. You would need your vet to give you a referral to see if they could help. Of course, it is a long way from you though so may not be an option.
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Syringe is in kg
 
While the kg measurement isn’t necessarily the easiest, its still possible to give it that way, but we can’t help unless you tell us what you have been told to give.

Piggies need their painkillers twice a day and they can take higher doses than inexperienced vets often prescribe. Dog metacam is three times stronger than cat metacam though

The reality is, if there is the possibility he has overgrown teeth and his tongue is becoming or has been trapped then he needs dental work done. If your vet won’t do it, then you should seek a second opinion.
 
I've lost so many piggies to back teeth work under operations I'm so concerned. Work has always been done by specialist vets
 
Ive just tried to have a look for an old kg dog syringe, I may have had lying around, so I can compare a 1kg dog dose against a ml syringe but I cant find one.
The reality is though, your vet is the only person who can tell you what dose to give - its really is easier if it is worked out in ml per kg of body weight and not using the dog kg syringe at all (again, a knowledgeable vet will do this and will get you to discard the kg syringe). An inexperienced vet will often under-dose guinea pigs with pain killers thinking their tolerance is the same, but it isnt. Piggies can take higher doses for their body weight.

Otherwise, all we can really advise is for you to continue to syringe feed as much as is necessary to keep him from losing any more weight. You are looking for a minimum of 40ml per day (its the daily weight checks which will tell you how much more you need to give).
And also to seek a second opinion on getting the dental work done.
 
Does this help?

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If I was you I’d call the vet back and double check the dosage. Good luck
 
If you can get your piggy to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton I’d definitely recommend them. They are amazing. My Pepper had an abscess operation there two weeks ago. It takes us two hours to get there but it’s definitely worth it. Your vet needs to refer your piggy to them.
 
weepweeps said:
If you can get your piggy to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton I’d definitely recommend them. They are amazing. My Pepper had an abscess operation there two weeks ago. It takes us two hours to get there but it’s definitely worth it. Your vet needs to refer your piggy to them.
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I'm in Cardiff so too far to travel for him he would be too stressed out
 
Been back to a different vet. New dosage of metacam but cat version. Has baytrill aswell. New critical care food and suggested baby vegetable food to help on top. Good look at teeth at back. No overgrowth but he's obviously in pain with face and ears area. May need to put him under to look further but said no guarantee he will come out of it. Now weighs 650g
 
I.3 kilo George has a '4 kilo' dog dose (of 1.5 mg/ml) twice a day for his arthritis which seems normal to us as I've only ever had guinea pigs. It's about 0.2 to 0.3ml. When my dog owning neighbour dosed him while we were away she was double and triple checking because she couldn't quite believe it. But it's right.
 
Buggster10 said:
Been back to a different vet. New dosage of metacam but cat version. Has baytrill aswell. New critical care food and suggested baby vegetable food to help on top. Good look at teeth at back. No overgrowth but he's obviously in pain with face and ears area. May need to put him under to look further but said no guarantee he will come out of it. Now weighs 650g
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What dose of cat version have they given you? The cat version is weaker than dog.
Is it with a ml syringe or are you now having to use the cat kg syringe ?

How much critical care are you giving him each day? If he is losing weight, then you need to syringe feed more.
 
He's fed every half hour. He will only tolerate 3 in that half hour. He has to have 0.26 metacam tonight and then 0.13 from tomorrow plus baytrill
 
Free Ranger said:
I.3 kilo George has a '4 kilo' dog dose (of 1.5 mg/ml) twice a day for his arthritis which seems normal to us as I've only ever had guinea pigs. It's about 0.2 to 0.3ml. When my dog owning neighbour dosed him while we were away she was double and triple checking because she couldn't quite believe it. But it's right.
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Thanks so much that's very helpful
 
Buggster10 said:
He's fed every half hour. He will only tolerate 3 in that half hour. He has to have 0.26 metacam tonight and then 0.13 from tomorrow plus baytrillm
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how many mls of syringe feed is he actually getting each day?
Are you weighing him every morning?


To confirm, is he to have his pain meds once or twice a day?
 
Pain meds and baytrill dosage in pics and he will tolerate. 5 ml critical care every half hour then spits it out
 

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Buggster10 said:
Pain meds and baytrill dosage in pics and he will tolerate. 5 ml critical care every half hour then spits it out
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Piggies really need their pain meds twice a day as they metabolise their pain meds in around 12 hours so they need it twice a day to stay on top of pain.

Is that 5ml of critical care every half an hour or 0.5ml every half an hour (I can see a little full stop after tolerate and just want to be sure what you actually mean).

So he weighed 650g today, presumably that weight was done by the vet?
Did weigh him yourself yesterday morning? What was his weight then?
 
Buggster10 said:
5 MLS every half hour. Weight by the vet and by us x
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This is concerning then if he has lost weight despite being fed at that amount?
If he is eating 5mls every half an hour then in 12 hours he is getting 120mls of syringe feed. At that amount he should not be losing weight at all, never mind losing it so rapidly.

What hours are you feeding between/are you feeding overnight?
 
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