Metacam Question

[Guest EmbersDad]

ember has arthritis in her middle toe on the right front foot. after the toe next to it, on the left was amputated, the knuckle started swelling and she would come up lame in the back yard. usually she would walk it off and be ok. we had the foot xrayed, sent the results to OSU, and are confident it isnt cancer. she has gone just about 2 months on the "get up and go" supplements from the greyhound gang and it does appear to be working....took longer to come up lame nowadays. well, for the last 2 days she has been limping pretty good. vet checked her out today, lymph nodes arent swollen, temp normal, heart & lungs sound clear. we decided to start her back on metacam and i dosed her with 4 ml around lunchtime. its now 3:55 and i just put her in the yard to potty before the rains come, and i see NO LIMP!!!! can it start working that fast? does my girlie now predict the weather with her foot? its not raining, but will be soon.

 

 

here is the right foot, notice the swollen knuckle

 

 

here is the other foot for comparison

 

Edited September 25, 2008 by EmbersDad

[mareyeka]

Yes, it can work that quickly. It's as if you took an anti-inflammatory, it has the same effect.

[CaliforniaGreys]

I've had several dogs on Metacam, but found that it took 2-3 days to work. That's great if it's worked so quickly for Ember.I've always been told that an anti-inflammatory takes about 3 days to build up in the system, but guess not!

[Guest EmbersDad]

I've had several dogs on Metacam, but found that it took 2-3 days to work. That's great if it's worked so quickly for Ember.I've always been told that an anti-inflammatory takes about 3 days to build up in the system, but guess not!

 

 

she is taking glucosamine and msm. perhaps the metacam + the msm had a faster effect?

[Guest whatahound]

Nikki had the same thing happen to a toe on a foot that already had a toe amputated. It was xrayed and determined it was arthritis. It worked very quickly, if I remember correctly she was on 1 ml per 10 pounds of body weight.

 

When it flairs up I just give her a few doses of metacam and she good as new.

[Hubcitypam]

FWIW -

The human version tablet is Meloxicam and is a $4 drug at Wal Mart if your vet is willing to work with you and you need it on a long term baisis.

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

For Vinnie and his back, 20 min. made the difference.

 

I used the liquid from the vet. Works super fast!

[Guest jerrybird]

My senior was on Metacam for quite a long time. I remember it kicking in within four hours.

[Guest longdogs]

It is both an analgesic and an anti-inflammatory. The pain-killing effect can kick-in quite fast but things will improve further once the inflammation is addressed. I reckon on about a week or a little less for the full effect to be reached (assuming a double dose for initial treatment).

[Guest EmbersDad]

It is both an analgesic and an anti-inflammatory. The pain-killing effect can kick-in quite fast but things will improve further once the inflammation is addressed. I reckon on about a week or a little less for the full effect to be reached (assuming a double dose for initial treatment).

 

thats what my vet said. she told me to use it for a week and see how she does. sadly, no walkies for the week in case it is a soft tissue injury.

[Guest EmbersDad]

does metacam increase their thirst? ember has been glugging water like crazy since i started the treatment. 4 ml yesterday, and 2 ml today.

[Guest ss556]

Have no knowledge or answers, just scritches to your beautiful Ember.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Glad to hear Metacam is working so well for Ember and he is feeling better!

 

Our late Alfalfa tried all kinds of arthritis meds and the Metacam worked best for him better than anything else and had the least negative side effects. And I do remember it started working pretty quickly, within 24 hours. I was very impressed! I can't tell if it increased his thirst cause he was diabetic and was already drinking huge amounts of water due to the diabetes.

 

 

[Batmom]

Try doing as follows: Give a pepcid (10 mg famotidine), wait 30-40 minutes, then give the metacam with a meal or substantial snack (slice of bread; large dog biscuit or a handful of small ones).

 

She might be drinking because her tummy's a little upset / acid-y feeling.

[Guest EmbersDad]

didnt think of that. she does get her metacam dose after breakfast.

[Guest EmbersDad]

i did 5 days of metacam. it took away the limp almost completely. after stopping, its back again. we are off to the vet at 1:20 for a followup. i am going to ask for xrays. could this also be from a tick bite?

[Jackandgrey]

% days isn't likely long enough. Jill gets the same thing and the last time she needed a full 14 days of the meloxicam and no running for 4 weeks. It is likely a chronic problem that will need addressing periodically but 5 days isn't long enough.

[Guest EmbersDad]

% days isn't likely long enough. Jill gets the same thing and the last time she needed a full 14 days of the meloxicam and no running for 4 weeks. It is likely a chronic problem that will need addressing periodically but 5 days isn't long enough.

 

 

chronic and manageble...now thats a c word i wouldnt mind hearing. i will post after we return from the vet.

[SAVED2]

Looks like that toe was dislocated and probably popped back in buy its self our frannie has two of them from all her crazy running.

[Guest longdogs]

After 5 days the Meloxicam would just be beginning to work properly. You would need to continue for at least another week to beat the inflammation. William's limp used to return after about a fortnight, during Winter, when we stopped his medication. We eventually dosed him for a fortnight, then tapered his dose back to half the normal amount and kept him on it. That seemed to work well.