Metacam dosage

[Miami Mice]

Afternoon all
Hope you can help. One of guineas has been to the vet as he has sprained a leg/pulled a muscle in his leg.
He's been given metacam (cat strength), and I have been told to give him 1ml daily for the next 3 days.
He weighs about 1kg, is this the right dose, because it seems a lot of liquid to try and get into a wriggly piggie....
:{

Thank you

 

[sport_billy]

I'm sure 1ml of metacam isn't right at all, that is very very high. Please get in contact with your vet to discuss this...

 

[Toffeewoffee]

My goodness that is an awful lot. Is your vet experienced with Piggies?

 

[Niki]

I was told to give 0.2ml of the cat metacam to my pig. She was just over 1kg.

 

[claremw92]

That is a high dose but not unheard of...
My pigs have dog metacam and I had one pig that was 750g and she was on 0.4 and that's about 0.8 cat metacam... I would phone the vets and double check the dose... But as I said it's not in heard of if your piggie needs a really high dose...
x

 

[MerryPip]

1ml is pretty high for a 1kg piggy. The best advice is always to use the lowest effective dose to treat the pain.

My boy was prescribed 0.3 ml for regular pain relief of arthritis but 0.15 was enough to keep him comfortable so we never used the full dose.

Please check with the vet first before giving him such a large dose as Metacam is hard on the kidneys and tummys of little animals.

 

[Mummylind]

Metacam doseage

I have been told by several different vets that it should be 0.5mls for a 1kg guinea pig. This should be given twice daily, making it 1ml daily. So in my opinion that is the correct dose that you have been given. It shouldn't be difficult getting it into a guinea pig, draw 0.5mls into the syringe and I find my pigs love the taste.

 

[Abi_nurse]

People may not be aware that the cat metacam (0.5mg/ml) is not a strong as the dog one (1.5mg/ml) so people may be getting confused between the two.

The metacam dosage can be 0.1mg-0.3mg per 1kg per 24hr.

In which case a average of 1kg pig will need 0.6ml once a day of the cat metacam

And this would equate to 0.2ml of the dog metacam.

So yes, for a 1kg piggie the dosage is a little high, maybe ring the vet for advice on this, i do believe at times we underdose our piggies but also it would be much much better to ring and check the dose. I higher dose may be necessary.

x.

 

[Miami Mice]

Thanks all
The vet actually wrote the dose on the box, but I think I'll drop it to 0.3ml in the morning and see how he gets on during the day - he seems a lot better already :-)

 

[ellie_jo3213]

What exactly does it say on the label? 1ml or 1 unit on the metacam syringe? The metacam syringes are dosed in kg not mls. So for 1kg animal its one unti on the syringe. 20kg animal 20 units on the syringe and so on.
If it truly is mls:
1ml is the high end of the dose for a rabbit, if you're unsure check with the vet. It will give you peace of mind then.

 

[Miami Mice]

The label says 1ml once daily by mouth (cat strength 0.5mg/ml).
He had 1 dose at this strength, administered by the vet and 2 doses of 0.3ml administered by me.
He seems a lot better and is using the leg normally now, but I will definitely double-check with the vet next time.

Thank you for all your help

 

[Goldie]

That does seem a very high dosage ... I would check with your vet to make sure.

From my own experience, only 1 drop daily from the Metacam bottle was all I have ever been advised to give to a guinea pig by my vet and my vet is excellent with guinea pigs.

As I said above .. I do think it is worth a phone to your vet first thing tomorrow morning.

Hope all goes well and keep us posted.

 

[Chrisnbubbles]

That certainly doesnt sound right. I give my cat who weighs 4 kg 0.2ml a day for her arthritis. 1 full ml sounds much too much, i should try to speak to an exotic specialist vet befor you give that dose to your guinea baby. As Goldie says, one drop sounds more like it.

 

[Abi_nurse]

That certainly doesnt sound right. I give my cat who weighs 4 kg 0.2ml a day for her arthritis. 1 full ml sounds much too much, i should try to speak to an exotic specialist vet befor you give that dose to your guinea baby. As Goldie says, one drop sounds more like it.

Small furries have a much higher dosage of medications than cats/dogs. They have a faster metabolism. Hense dosages seem much larger.

x.