Experiences With Meloxicam?

[Guest Houston1219]

Houston had a tiny limp in his step we had credited to a small sore on his paw the groomer pointed out to us. The sore went away quickly but the limp got worse, and fast. Off to the vet for full exam and xrays. It turns out it was not his foot at all, it's most surely his hips. Xrays showed nothing too out of the ordinary but there is some minor degeneration in his cartilage in one hip. The vet said it was likely the cause of wear and tear from his years as an athlete, and his limp was the first major flare up.

 

Vet sent us home with a script for meloxicam every 24 hours for 5 to 7 days, repeated as needed for flare ups and orders to keep him on limited exertion. Has anyone experienced such a sudden onset of symptoms? Were they helped with this course of treatment? Houston is 6.5 and otherwise perfectly healthy. I'm a worried mess afraid we may have a long painful road ahead :-(

[scullysmum]

When I first had Sadi she used to have a problem in her shoulder, right side if I remember, she would be hopping lame. X-rays were not done but it was assumed it was related to her time racing (she was six years old and had done 66 races) as she was not doing any running off leash at that time.

 

Funny thing was it went away and never caused her any more trouble even when she got very old and had arthritis just about everywhere else.

 

I do hope that Houston's lameness will clear up with rest and medication. It may be something that reoccurs or it may go away like Sadi's did.

[JohnF]

Angel, my last dog, was on either metacam or Meloxicam for nearly 9 years. She sustained an injury to her shoulder joint before I adopted her and it was described as a roughly healed fracture. I dosed her at full dosage for the weight on days when it was acute and half dose on the days when it was barely noticeable. I would advise starting any dog new to it with Sucralfate (Antepsin) for the first week to help prevent stomach bleeds.

 

Angel died aged 14 from Renal Failure and although the Meloxicam will have hastened that disease it certainly gave her a high quality of life until the last 6 weeks.

 

One word of caution though... some friends had their dog scheduled for a hip replacement, but on the table it was found to be Osteosarcoma and a full leg amp. was required, the outcome to which as far as i know had continued to be good. So keep a close eye on that presumed 'arthritis' and have a national expert look at the X-Rays if the condition worsens which, of course, i hope it does not.

Edited July 28, 2014 by JohnF

[mom2four]

Both Jamey, our tripod angel, and Heidi our Lab that reached age 14 were on meloxicam long term (years) with no side effects that we saw. If I remember an occassioanl blood test was needed to check that everything was OK.

[Robin1017]

A word of advice I got from here on GT.....

 

Robin has been on meloxicam for over a year for arthritis. I took him off it for a week to confirm that it was helping, and he got a lot worse after a few days, so I know that it is beneficial and "worth it". It can cause stomach issues, including my great fear, ulcers and bleeds. Especially if you are using the human pill form, rather than the liquid Metacam for dogs. In order to help reduce the risk for that, I give him the meloxicam every day after he eats a nice full dinner, so that his stomach is full. I also give him 10mg pepcid right before the meal as well.

 

Not sure if this is helping, but pepcid is cheap, so it can't hurt. And so far, he's done quite well on it. So I continue.

 

Good luck!

[heartdogs]

Annie (9yr old) was put on Metcam last month & her vet said it is easier on the dog's system & can be used long term. It does help her limp but as John said I keep a close watch on her.

[PatricksMom]

Patrick took Meloxicam periodically for years, no problem. Interestingly, my rabbit took it for probably 6 years, which should have killed her (it was the only pain relief option available so we risked it), never had a problem with it either.

[tbhounds]

Patrick took Meloxicam periodically for years, no problem. Interestingly, my rabbit took it for probably 6 years, which should have killed her (it was the only pain relief option available so we risked it), never had a problem with it either.

I bet your bunny had a pretty high dose too!--it's crazy how high the dosing range is for lagomorphs--aka bun buns.

Metacam/meloxicam can and used long term but, as mentioned should be given with food and to discontinue if GI issues occur. It's also recommended that you monitor blood work at least every 6 months--looking for elevated renal and hepatic values.

I know giving the human tablets are very inexpensive but, IMO it's very difficult to accurately dose that way. More in NOT better.

Also interesting-it's used as part of a metronomic chemo protocol.

[greysmom]

Toni has been on it daily for more than a year now with no problems. Her issues are general arthritis and a neuroma in one back leg. She also takes gabapentin for the nerve problem. She takes half a 7.5 mg pill in the morning with breakfast.

 

I gather meloxicam has a very specific dosing range based on weight, which is one reason the liquid version is used with dogs.

[PatricksMom]

I bet your bunny had a pretty high dose too!--it's crazy how high the dosing range is for lagomorphs--aka bun buns.

She did--the local compounding pharmacy made it strawberry flavored for her.

[Guest Houston1219]

All very reassuring responses, thank you. Do you think since we are just using it "as needed for flare ups" we should do the while 5 to 7 day course each time or stop when the limp stops? E.g. two or three doses in, he seems to be fine. Do we keep gong the few extra days to be sure or stop? I don't want to overdo it but don't want to under do it either

[PatricksMom]

My memory (DH concurs) our vet told us 5-7 days to see relief and be worth it, but we usually saw relief within 24 hours and continued improvement for about 2 days. It loads in the blood stream faster than deramax, by quite a bit. I used to use it for 2-3 days at a time for Patrick, no longer as he didn't need it. It also worked a lot better and he didn't need it as long if we jumped on any signs his pain was increasing, paid attention to the weather, etc.

[Hubcitypam]

Kenny Roo Who the greyhound GSD mix that was dumped on me was on Auricam (Mexican version of Meloxicam) for several years per vet advice with no problems. He was old and ad been hit by a car and never treated so his hip had made a new socket. It did help him. He took 1/2 a 7.5mg pill every day.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Hubcitypam

[KF_in_Georgia]

My old boy (he was 12, almost 13) took 1/2 of a meloxicam pill every morning after breakfast for a couple of months to help with old-age aches, arthritis, etc. Before breakfast, he got a Pepcid, we waited half an hour or so, then breakfast and the pill.

 

After just a few months (November to February), he stopped eating, started vomiting food and pooping blood, and was on the verge of an ulcer. We stopped the meloxicam, medicated for the ulcer, and slowly coaxed him back to eating. But his vet felt it wasn't safe to give him any form of NSAIDs after that.

 

Several people on here said that the liquid form of the medicine would have been safer: easier to get the right dosage (pill splitters aren't precise, and there's a reason those pills don't come with "divide here" crevices in them), and easier on his stomach. The problem is that the liquid is much more expensive than the pill form, so most vets prescribe the pills.

 

I'm just saying this so you know to watch for stomach issues--whichever form you use. Don't neglect the Pepcid, and make sure he's got plenty of food in his stomach when the pill gets there. You don't want to find that stomach trouble is limiting the pain relievers you can safely use.

 

Hint: If your prescription calls for a dosage of half a pill, when you bring home a new bottle of pills, split them in half right then. Eliminate any possibility that you'll get the pills confused with something (like tramadol) that he takes an entire pill of. These days, I've got a girl on Rimadyl, and I split all those pills before I put the bottle on the shelf with her other meds.

[o_rooly]

Limps can source from so many things. How long has the limp been present?

We adopted Aston at age 6, with a very prominent limp -- he almost three-legged it to avoid using his hind left. Past medical records passed on to us by our adoption group indicated that the poor bug had been stuck with a bum leg since he left the track at 2 years old.
Vet examined him and took xrays, found no hip anomaly, and assumed it was an old meniscal tear or other "old" injury, even though this didn't show up on the xray. Prescribed meloxicam. No difference. Washed that out and tried Deramaxx. No change. Started giving him glucosamine via Cosamin DS (people version of Cosequin DS). No difference.

Turns out it was a VERY hard-to-detect corn in a toe pad. That limp didn't disappear until I found another vet who was a) willing to recognize that corns can cause that severity of limp, and b ) willing to perform a minor surgical procedure to dig the entire thing out, which ran deep enough to touch a tendon.
His limp only disappeared after that (unfortunately, he was 10 by that time ).

Could be a back issue that causes a tweak, could be a hip issue, could be a foreign object sealed in somewhere. From my experience with Aston, I'm leery of vets who are willing to peg it on one thing right away when test results aren't definitive. A visit to a chiro might be a good idea, IF they take xrays beforehand to make sure there are no actual spinal anomalies happening.

As for NSAIDs, my understanding has always been that it's good to keep a steady stream of the dosage going to keep ahead of inflammation... but only if it's tolerated well by the dog. I've been warned by another vet since Aston's meloxicam regimen that the tablet form is dangerous due to the difficulty in obtaining exact dosages, vs. the liquid (as mentioned above). It really comes down to just watching for side effects, though, and talking to the vet immediately if you notice signs of GI upset or irritation/bleeding.

Other (OTC) anti-inflammatories you could try are:

--Fish oil. I used Carlson's liquid fish oil for Aston, since it's highly concentrated. Helps my own joint pain melt away, too. Stuff is great, but it needs to work up a bit to get ahead of inflammation. For me, joint pain goes away after ~4-7 days of taking a teaspoon a day.
--Spirulina powder. Bonus: It smells like fish and butt. Or fish butt. Aston LOVED it.
--Vitamin E? I think.
--Turmeric powder/capsules
--Springtime Fresh Factors -- opinions on this supplement vary on GT, but it seemed to help Aston, for what it's worth.

The fish oil and vitamin E are reputed to be blood thinners at high doses. Aston didn't have a problem while taking a relatively high dose of Vit E (1000IU 2x daily) + his two teaspoons a day of fish oil, but it's worth checking with the vet to see what's safe for Houston.

Signed,
This Post Was Going to be Short

[Guest Houston1219]

Your input has been so helpful. Sincere thank you to everyone who has shared their experience and input!

 

Here's an update!

 

After 4 doses of the meloxicam and staircase barricade the limp is gone and Houston is back to his playful goofy self. witnessing the initial exam made me pretty confident in the diagnosis. He was so thorough and checked things I have never seen a vet check before-and this was at our usual vets emergency/hospital location. He checked his joints and muscles from nose to tail, he bent the poor dog in ways I didn't know he could bend! Lol Houston never made a peep, and actually seemed to enjoy the massage! When he reached his hips there was no response to rotating or forward flexing. When it came to backward extension-even an amount in normal range of motion- the GSOD he let out made my heart stop and my eyes tear up. He went right to the xray room, and that's when the beginnings of degeneration were discovered.

 

Four doses of meloxicam later, and it's like nothing happened. I'm at a loss on where to go from here... Other than the extra 30 minute drive to see the same vet next time!

[tbhounds]

Wonderful!!!