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Metacam dosage

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beccalovar

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
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Hi all,
So my guinea pig Chuck was put on Medacam (the cat one) again 0.5 once a day for reoccurring bloat. It worked for the first half of the day, but when it comes to later in the day (around 7pm onwards) he gets withdrawn and his tummy swells a bit again and seems in pain.

In northern Ireland we do not have any guinea pig specialists vets here. At all. I asked my vet if I could even split the 0.5 dose to 0.25 twice a day but that didn't do anything for his pain.

I lurked on some of the threads here about Metacam and doses and read up that it's usually given to guineas 2x a day but standard non exotic vets do not advise this. Over the weekend I gave him 0.5 at 12pm and 12am, and he has been AMAZING. His poop his gotten better, it was very mushy, he's begging for treats, wanting snuggles and actually eating all of his veggie dinner.

I want to clarify I'm dosing him correctly, but I'm pretty sure I am. And I also want to ask advice on what to say to my vet about this?
I feel like she's not going to be pleased however I made sure I done my research on this and been thoroughly monitoring him afterwards and he's gotten so much better. How do I tell my vet? What do I tell her? I feel bad going against her instructions and compared to every other vet I've seen she's the only one who knew somewhat what to do and how to help Chuck.
 
Hi there, I'm sorry Chuck has been unwell. The dosage depends on his weight, piggies can use dog Metacam but non-exotic vets prescribe the cat one because it's officially licensed. However I'm not allowed to tell you how much you should give, cos I'm not a vet. It's ok to speak with your vet about it, and in case your vet can consult with an exotic specialist to discuss options, especially if the pain relief is not enough for your piggy.
What I can tell you is that if he's bloated and has mushy poops it's better to not have any veggies for a few days and just have hay to settle his tummy.
I'm sure others will be able to give you more details on what to do with bloat, but for now just keep him off the veggies as they will keep upsetting his tummy. Best of luck ❤️
 
beccalovar said:
Hi all,
So my guinea pig Chuck was put on Medacam (the cat one) again 0.5 once a day for reoccurring bloat. It worked for the first half of the day, but when it comes to later in the day (around 7pm onwards) he gets withdrawn and his tummy swells a bit again and seems in pain.

In northern Ireland we do not have any guinea pig specialists vets here. At all. I asked my vet if I could even split the 0.5 dose to 0.25 twice a day but that didn't do anything for his pain.

I lurked on some of the threads here about Metacam and doses and read up that it's usually given to guineas 2x a day but standard non exotic vets do not advise this. Over the weekend I gave him 0.5 at 12pm and 12am, and he has been AMAZING. His poop his gotten better, it was very mushy, he's begging for treats, wanting snuggles and actually eating all of his veggie dinner.

I want to clarify I'm dosing him correctly, but I'm pretty sure I am. And I also want to ask advice on what to say to my vet about this?
I feel like she's not going to be pleased however I made sure I done my research on this and been thoroughly monitoring him afterwards and he's gotten so much better. How do I tell my vet? What do I tell her? I feel bad going against her instructions and compared to every other vet I've seen she's the only one who knew somewhat what to do and how to help Chuck.
Click to expand...

Hi
I am glad that your boy is doing a lot better.

If you really wish to, you can tell your vet that the prescribed dosage didn't make any difference but when you gave the same dosage twice a day, having been assured by other guinea pig owners going on their own veterinary prescriptions that it would be safe to do so, it made a real difference.
Yes, you are safe to do so.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi
I am glad that your boy is doing a lot better.

If you really wish to, you can tell your vet that the prescribed dosage didn't make any difference but when you gave the same dosage twice a day, having been assured by other guinea pig owners going on their own veterinary prescriptions that it would be safe to do so, it made a real difference.
Yes, you are safe to do so.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response! I'm going to let her know cause I'll need more metacam and she will realise I'm going through it faster. He's so much better on it, seriously back to himself.
 
I'm very anxious that she will be mad at me or something but I know the worst she can do is say they can't prescribed it under what they're taught since they don't specialise in exotic pets. Very anxious hahaha. She's a lovely vet, but they're just not trained at all in NI about GPs, they only know basics. I know I can order it online but I want to let her know and not lie or hide the fact, just incase it's useful for her to know so she can help other piggies.
 
beccalovar said:
I'm very anxious that she will be mad at me or something but I know the worst she can do is say they can't prescribed it under what they're taught since they don't specialise in exotic pets. Very anxious hahaha. She's a lovely vet, but they're just not trained at all in NI about GPs, they only know basics. I know I can order it online but I want to let her know and not lie or hide the fact, just incase it's useful for her to know so she can help other piggies.
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Hope your vet is OK to up the dosage for you when you next see her, I was in a similar situation with my vet a year ago. Note, to get metacam online you will still need a prescription from your vet, it is a Prescription only Medication.
 
The way I go about suggestions with my own vet is..first and foremost, be honest, that's the best basis of any relationship. If I have an idea of a medication I want to try, it's usually because I've spoken to someone else whose piggy had it given to them, or I saw online someone being given it and having good results with it. I bring it up as a possible option to try, he will either take my word for it and we will trial it for a period of time or reach out to people he knows to learn more and get back to me.

Let her know that you have seen other people being prescribed much higher doses due to new formulas and dosing beliefs, ask if she has heard about it or if she would be willing to reach out to other vets in the UK to learn about the new higher doses, as you are extremely worried about your boy. You can let her know that you tried the higher dose and saw good results (after all, that's what vets want too!) Even though it was still a fairly low dose compared to what other people around you online are being prescribed, weight dependent of course. I have 5 piggies on metacam for the rest of their lives, 2 of which are pretty fragile lethal whites and they get 0.6ml twice a day of the dog version which is 3xs stronger. We recently lost my elderly little man Gus and the exotics vet he saw at the time said we could safely go up to 0.95ml twice daily too.

In the last few years dosing really has changed, but unless they're going out and looking for the information or have an exotics vet approach them/work with them, a lot of non exotics practices aren't receiving this info.

Your vet will not be mad at you for wanting to see your piggy out of pain.
 
Eriathwen said:
The way I go about suggestions with my own vet is..first and foremost, be honest, that's the best basis of any relationship. If I have an idea of a medication I want to try, it's usually because I've spoken to someone else whose piggy had it given to them, or I saw online someone being given it and having good results with it. I bring it up as a possible option to try, he will either take my word for it and we will trial it for a period of time or reach out to people he knows to learn more and get back to me.

Let her know that you have seen other people being prescribed much higher doses due to new formulas and dosing beliefs, ask if she has heard about it or if she would be willing to reach out to other vets in the UK to learn about the new higher doses, as you are extremely worried about your boy. You can let her know that you tried the higher dose and saw good results (after all, that's what vets want too!) Even though it was still a fairly low dose compared to what other people around you online are being prescribed, weight dependent of course. I have 5 piggies on metacam for the rest of their lives, 2 of which are pretty fragile lethal whites and they get 0.6ml twice a day of the dog version which is 3xs stronger. We recently lost my elderly little man Gus and the exotics vet he saw at the time said we could safely go up to 0.95ml twice daily too.

In the last few years dosing really has changed, but unless they're going out and looking for the information or have an exotics vet approach them/work with them, a lot of non exotics practices aren't receiving this info.

Your vet will not be mad at you for wanting to see your piggy out of pain.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for this reply. It really eased my brain.
My mum told me to tell her I haven't upped it yet but I don't see the point in lying about it. I'm going to inform her that he's gotten so much better and it's due to me upping the med and that I properly researched beforehand to assure its safe and watched him for any adverse reactions. I have a good relationship with my vet, she is lovely just unfortunately they're not trained with exotic pets.

He's just under 1KG. He was 600 at his most unwell, but a LOT of critical care and he went up to 1kg. I took a two day break from it to see if he had any changes in his poops or anything, and weighed him and he's 980 so back on the CC.

I believe he will be on Metacam for life too, along with emeprid cause his bowel just is not right. However with me upping it, for the first time in weeks, maybe even a month, he's had solid poos. Small, but they're formed. So I think the inflammation is messing with his bowel big time and just adding to everything. He seems so much better its genuinely a joy to see. Fighting his brother again hahaha.

Sorry about your loss of little Gus. Very cute name by the way.

I know my vet won't be mad, I'm just an extremely anxious person and it's worse ATM with all the stress with Chuck, and his big brother has a chest infection right now too so the three of us are going through it haha. I think the anxiety is worse cause when I asked about increasing metacam she told me the most he can have is 0.5 once a day which is just far from the truth.

My only worry is her refusing to continue giving me Metacam in a high enough quantity to cover 0.5 every 12 hrs. Stress
 
Always be honest but respectful and stick to the facts - you DID try it her way first and only looked for further input from a reputable guinea pig forum which promotes working with vets after her prescription didn't show any results and that you only did follow what had been successfully prescribed by other vets for comparable situations after being assured by experienced owners that it was safe to try.
Most general vets are not aware that guinea pigs need and tolerate much higher meloxicam (metacam) dosages than other species, even for the long term; that is why exotics vets prefer to prescribe dog metacam instead of cat metacam for guinea pigs.

PS1: Latest research seems to point towards the relatively long time that guinea pig food is spending in the caecum part of the gut, which is the major part of the 22 hours it takes on average for food to pass from one end to the other and to the way it is broken down and processed there compared to other pet species that could be the reason for guinea pigs reacting differently to meloxicam (the active ingredient in brands like metacam, loxicom etc.).

PS2: I've had plenty of discussions with vets about trying alternative meds/dosages or ways of treatment over the years. Key is that you do respect them as a person and the job they are doing and that you always do it their way first.
 
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