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Metacam and Arthritis

Kenziee

Kenziee

New Born Pup
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Morgantown West Virginia
My senior piggy Hugo was recently diagnosed with arthritis and was prescribed Metacam (0.3 ml every 24 hours) along with Buprenorphine (0.05cc every 12 hours).

He just started taking them. He got them yesterday and has only gotten 2 doses of each so far. How long does it typically take to help? Any other tips with helping him?

He has troubles with his back legs and has a hard time picking them up, according to the vet it’s arthritis in his knees. :(
He otherwise eats perfectly fine and has a huge appetite for such a little animal.

I really appreciate any advice!

(Just a little photo of him 🥰)
04E6C47E-80E3-44D8-9A31-356AC9E2AB7B.webp
 
Kenziee said:
My senior piggy Hugo was recently diagnosed with arthritis and was prescribed Metacam (0.3 ml every 24 hours) along with Buprenorphine (0.05cc every 12 hours).

He just started taking them. He got them yesterday and has only gotten 2 doses of each so far. How long does it typically take to help? Any other tips with helping him?

He has troubles with his back legs and has a hard time picking them up, according to the vet it’s arthritis in his knees. :(
He otherwise eats perfectly fine and has a huge appetite for such a little animal.

I really appreciate any advice!

(Just a little photo of him 🥰)
View attachment 227546
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Aw bless him. My Ella was on 0.06ml of Buprenorphine every 8 hours for a sore jaw after an incisor removal and 0.4ml of dog metacam twice a day and the meds worked within a couple of days. I would weigh him daily and if he’s losing weight, may be ask your vet to increase his Buprenorphine to may be once every 8 hours rather than twice a day x
 
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It took a couple of days for it to kick in with Jenny. I’ve just recently started giving the glucosamine biscuits and they seem to be helping too. We don’t have buprenorphine though, might be something for us to consider.
 
Tigermoth said:
It took a couple of days for it to kick in with Jenny. I’ve just recently started giving the glucosamine biscuits and they seem to be helping too,. We don’t have buprenorphine though, might be something for us to consider.
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Hugo has actually been eating the oxbow joint support cookies as well! They seemed to help a lot in the beginning. Hoping the medicines start helping him soon then. 🤞
 
Claire W said:
Aw bless him. My Ella was on 0.06ml of Buprenorphine every 8 hours for a sore jaw after an incisor removal and 0.4ml of dog metacam twice a day and the meds worked within a couple of days. I would weigh him daily and if he’s losing weight, may be ask your vet to increase his Buprenorphine to may be once every 8 hours rather than twice a day x
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I’ll ask about adjusting the doses and times! He also goes back in about 3 weeks to see how everything is going. Thank you 🤍
 
Is it dog or cat metacam, and how much roughly does Hugo weigh?
As Metacam is an anti-inflammatory, a sufficient dose should start to work quite quickly I would think.

My 7.5 year old boar has arthritis -as well as dental pain - he is on 0.4ml Dog metacam twice a day and now also Gabapentin (0.1 ml twice a day). I'm not so keen on Buprenorphine, my RB sow tried it, it didn't seem to help but made her more lethargic, being an opiate.
 
Ive noticed improvements in less than an hour sometimes although my vet gives much higher doses than most. In his last 24 hours of life my boar Gus was allowed 0.95ml of dog metacam 2xs a day, although he received 0.8ml 2xs a day usually along with cartrophen injections, he was much improved by the following day when medication started. His knees were absolutely awful, and needed impaction cleared upwards of 3xs a day, and this almost completely cleared up too.

My other arthritis piggies get 0.6ml 2xs a day of dog metacam and improvement was also very quick, again in a matter of hours.
 
Our piggies with arthritis are on Metacam and Gabapentin prescribed by our vet. We also give 4joints 0.4ml per day, this is available on Amazon and is a dietary supplement which our vet is happy for us to give them. It isn't an instant cure but we noticed an improvement in mobility over a few weeks.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Is it dog or cat metacam, and how much roughly does Hugo weigh?
As Metacam is an anti-inflammatory, a sufficient dose should start to work quite quickly I would think.

My 7.5 year old boar has arthritis -as well as dental pain - he is on 0.4ml Dog metacam twice a day and now also Gabapentin (0.1 ml twice a day). I'm not so keen on Buprenorphine, my RB sow tried it, it didn't seem to help but made her more lethargic, being an opiate.
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I'm actually not sure which it is but he’s about 2.7 lbs.
 
YvonneBlue said:
Our piggies with arthritis are on Metacam and Gabapentin prescribed by our vet. We also give 4joints 0.4ml per day, this is available on Amazon and is a dietary supplement which our vet is happy for us to give them. It isn't an instant cure but we noticed an improvement in mobility over a few weeks.
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If you’re able to could you link the supplement you give them? I’d love to try it out for Hugo!
 
Eriathwen said:
Ive noticed improvements in less than an hour sometimes although my vet gives much higher doses than most. In his last 24 hours of life my boar Gus was allowed 0.95ml of dog metacam 2xs a day, although he received 0.8ml 2xs a day usually along with cartrophen injections, he was much improved by the following day when medication started. His knees were absolutely awful, and needed impaction cleared upwards of 3xs a day, and this almost completely cleared up too.

My other arthritis piggies get 0.6ml 2xs a day of dog metacam and improvement was also very quick, again in a matter of hours.
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Thank you for the info! I think I’ll want to ask the vet about a dose increase if there’s not a lot of improvement. His vet did want him to comeback in 3 weeks to see how everything is working.
 
Kenziee said:
I'm actually not sure which it is but he’s about 2.7 lbs.
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Sometimes it will say "...for cats" on the label, if not, the concentration is different. Cat is 0.5mg/ml, dog is 1.5mg/ml.
My pig's weight was 1.1kg, which is a bit over 2.2lbs, so I believe yours (all other things being equal ) could have more than his 0.4ml of Dog metacam twice a day, safely. (Or 1.2ml of cat - but they sell that usually in such tiny bottles here in the UK that it wouldn't last long!).
[The problem is most vets don't know that guinea pigs can actually have a lot more than the manufacturers recommended dose, and need it twice a day because of their fast metabolism]
 
The label on his actually says 1.5mg/cc, so I assume that’s dog Metacam. In that case, I’ll try and call the vet to see if it’s possible to adjust his doses!
It’s hard to find good exotics vets, but luckily Hugo has a good one who is pretty open to possible suggestions.

Another thing I did try was a CBD gel I found through the LAGPR, but he only got 1 dose before his vet gave the Metacam and Buprenorphine.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Sometimes it will say "...for cats" on the label, if not, the concentration is different. Cat is 0.5mg/ml, dog is 1.5mg/ml.
My pig's weight was 1.1kg, which is a bit over 2.2lbs, so I believe yours (all other things being equal ) could have more than his 0.4ml of Dog metacam twice a day, safely. (Or 1.2ml of cat - but they sell that usually in such tiny bottles here in the UK that it wouldn't last long!).
[The problem is most vets don't know that guinea pigs can actually have a lot more than the manufacturers recommended dose, and need it twice a day because of their fast metabolism]
Click to expand...
The label on his actually says 1.5mg/cc, so I assume that’s dog Metacam. In that case, I’ll try and call the vet to see if it’s possible to adjust his doses.
It’s hard to find good exotics vets, but luckily Hugo has a good one who is pretty open to possible suggestions.

Another thing I did try was a CBD gel I found through the LAGPR, but he only got 1 dose before his vet gave the Metacam and Buprenorphine.
 
It's great that your vet has given you the dog version, over here since cat metacam was licensed for guinea pigs most vets prescribe that unless asked.

Hopefully your vet will agree to prescribe it twice a day, perhaps a slightly larger amount as your pig is fairly heavy, I think that would help ease his pain.
 
Kenziee said:
The label on his actually says 1.5mg/cc, so I assume that’s dog Metacam. In that case, I’ll try and call the vet to see if it’s possible to adjust his doses.
It’s hard to find good exotics vets, but luckily Hugo has a good one who is pretty open to possible suggestions.

Another thing I did try was a CBD gel I found through the LAGPR, but he only got 1 dose before his vet gave the Metacam and Buprenorphine.
Click to expand...
Jenny is tiny, possibly about half the weight of Hugo, and is currently on 0.2ml twice a day. We have the vet soon to talk about quality of life (ok just now I think) but with that I want a dose increase.
 
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