• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Non-urgent: Daily metacam dose for piggy arthritis?

Free Ranger

Free Ranger

Forum Donator 2023/24
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
3,731
Reaction score
4,874
Points
1,275
Location
South Oxon UK
George is 4 and has been prescribed metacam daily for arthritic knees. I am interested to know the dose (because I bet there's a real range!) that people have been prescribed for their pigs. The last pig I had with such problems was a few years back before the cat metacam was licensed and surprisingly George has been proposed a higher dose than Daisy was, albeit once a day this time. I'm hoping to keep him around as long as possible so I don't want to overdo things as he really doesn't seem that bad compared to Daisy who was visibly stiff when she walked and who preferred to drink from a bowl than stretch for a bottle. Obviously he may get worse, but we'll cross that guinea-pig bridge when we come to it!
 
Peggy who is 5.5 years old and weighs 1.1kg is on 0.3ml of Metacam twice daily for arthritis in her back legs and spine (she also has ovarian cysts). As piggies metabolise Metacam very quickly a twice daily dose is usually recommended. It may be worth discussing this with your vet.

Mavis who is 5.5 years old and weighs 1.2kg has been on a low dose of Metacam (0.2ml twice daily) for 2 years now (for bladder related issues) without any health problems from the long term use. She has 6 monthly health checks with the vet.
 
Hi!

The dosage depends very much on the weight of your piggy and severity of the arthritis. You generally start on a lower twice daily maintenance dose and then gradually go higher as the arthritis progresses. Please speak to your vet.
 
Christian weighed 1030g when he was put on 0.7ml dog Metacam twice a day he was on this very high dose for around 9 months until I slowly reduced it (under the advice of the vet) to 0.5ml twice a day which he was in till he toddled off to the Rainbow Bridge last year. In total he was on Metacam for 18 months.

Meg weighs around 750g and she's been on dog Metacam for 15 months at 0.3ml twice a day.
 
Holly weighs just over 1kg and is on 0.3mls of dog Metacam twice daily for long term pain relief. She’s 5 and still very feisty.
 
The dosage varies hugely, often more experienced vets are willing to go higher or go with dog metacam.
For example, when we brought home Ollie he had been prescribed 0.4mls dog metacam for painful deformed back legs and hips, but our vet didnt feel he was in so much pain and as he was young, just over a year old, they suggested we reduce to wean him off it and see how things went- and he now only needs a bit of metacam occasionally.
Our vet also initially prescribed 0.4mls dog metacam for Clover who came to us with a badly healed broken leg, which again as she was only 2 and improved a lot was reduced then stopped.
But more recently Clover now age 5 was prescribed 0.5 mls cat metacam twice daily for arthritis causing noticeable pain, which a second vet revised to a 0.25mls cat metacam maintenance dose twice daily once she seemed pain free.
So a huge range, and sometimes if the arthritis flares up or is progressing fast and piggy is in pain the prescribed dose should increase on the vets advice until they are pain free- but if the arthritis is fairly stable and under control a lower dose may keep piggy comfortable.
If high dose metacam isnt effective I believe tramadol or similar can provide stronger prescription pain relief, either alone or in combination with metacam.
So although this doesnt really answer the question... the vet should be guided by piggy's pain levels, and the amount of inflammation- no piggy should be in pain, but vets may be conservative to begin with if they are following the textbook dosing guide rather than their own experience based on many years of piggy practice!
 
Thanks for all this feedback - I thought there would be a range. I made such a fuss last month about Zara only getting prescribed 0.1ml of cat once a day for her eye poke that I think I got a reputation! My piggy vet then prescribed 6u of dog for Zara's poor tooth (I reckon about 0.4ml) but then the (3rd) vet I saw for George in her absence said 6u for him too and I suppose I was a bit surprised as he didn't seem so bad to me - he generally looks quite comical so maybe I'm mistaking this for cheerful! I'll be checking with piggy vet when she gets out of 'track n trace' isolation and back from hols but we're marking time for a bit...
 
PigglePuggle said:
The dosage varies hugely, often more experienced vets are willing to go higher or go with dog metacam.
For example, when we brought home Ollie he had been prescribed 0.4mls dog metacam for painful deformed back legs and hips, but our vet didnt feel he was in so much pain and as he was young, just over a year old, they suggested we reduce to wean him off it and see how things went- and he now only needs a bit of metacam occasionally.
Our vet also initially prescribed 0.4mls dog metacam for Clover who came to us with a badly healed broken leg, which again as she was only 2 and improved a lot was reduced then stopped.
But more recently Clover now age 5 was prescribed 0.5 mls cat metacam twice daily for arthritis causing noticeable pain, which a second vet revised to a 0.25mls cat metacam maintenance dose twice daily once she seemed pain free.
So a huge range, and sometimes if the arthritis flares up or is progressing fast and piggy is in pain the prescribed dose should increase on the vets advice until they are pain free- but if the arthritis is fairly stable and under control a lower dose may keep piggy comfortable.
If high dose metacam isnt effective I believe tramadol or similar can provide stronger prescription pain relief, either alone or in combination with metacam.
So although this doesnt really answer the question... the vet should be guided by piggy's pain levels, and the amount of inflammation- no piggy should be in pain, but vets may be conservative to begin with if they are following the textbook dosing guide rather than their own experience based on many years of piggy practice!
Click to expand...

May I ask what the difference between dog and cat Metacam is? And how will I know which my babe’s on? Moe has been taking it for about 6 months now, and we’re trying to reduce his intake, but my (very lovely) exotic vet never mentioned the dog/cat thing.
 
fournakedpigs said:
May I ask what the difference between dog and cat Metacam is? And how will I know which my babe’s on? Moe has been taking it for about 6 months now, and we’re trying to reduce his intake, but my (very lovely) exotic vet never mentioned the dog/cat thing.
Click to expand...

Dog metacam is three times stronger than cat metacam.
The label should say that it’s strength is either - 0.5mg/ml, in which case it’s cat metacam; or 1.5mg/ml in which case its dog metacam.
 
Silk has 0.2ml once daily (cat metacam, 0.5mg/ml) for arthritic knees, which she's been on for about 2 years without needing to increase. This seems to be the lowest dose quoted so far! Which surprises me as she's a chunky girl at 1300g.

If for any reason she doesn't get it for a couple of days, she stops wheeking for food. So I know it is working, and how to tell if we did need to increase the dose.
 
My boar Dexy has arthritis in his knees. He is on Metacam and Glucosamine . His maintenance dose of metacam is 0.3mls dog strength twice daily and my vet is happy for me to give him 0.6mls short term if he is having symptoms.
He is so much better now he is on medication that is controlling his condition
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top