Metacam

[rachiie]

I came across this thread (http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=127674) when googling Metacam, as my dog Nisha has just been to the vet for a burst cyst/abcess thing on her shoulder and Metacam appears on the vet bill so I was interested to see what it was.

I live in the same area as the OP in that thread but went to a different veterinary clinic.

Nisha was treated with 0.25 of Metacam 20mg Injectable 50ml. Given all the debate in the previous posts, does this seem an appropriate dosage? I note some people were stating that Metacam 20 was only for cattle... Has anyone discovered literature to the contrary? Why would two different vets be using it otherwise?

[Pippa]

What does your dog weigh?

[Staranais]

Nisha was treated with 0.25 of Metacam 20mg Injectable 50ml.

Do you mean 0.25 ml of 20mg/ml injectable metacam? Or 50ml of 20mg/ml metacam? Or something else? Sorry, am just a little confused by the way you have written this.

[rachiie]

She's 25 kilograms.

[Staranais]

She's 25 kilograms.

So the dog is 25kg, and she was given 50ml of 20mg/ml metacam (meloxicam). Are you sure?

ETA: it seems rather unlikely to me, as that's 1000 mg of metacam, which is a huge amount. And a 50ml injection is also a very large amount of fluid to put into a dog. I suspect you've got the numbers wrong?

Edited September 9, 2010 by Staranais

[rachiie]

Nisha was treated with 0.25 of Metacam 20mg Injectable 50ml.

Do you mean 0.25 ml of 20mg/ml injectable metacam? Or 50ml of 20mg/ml metacam? Or something else? Sorry, am just a little confused by the way you have written this.

Typed verbatim from what's on the receipt. I can't give you anymore info because I don't understand myself!

[Staranais]

Possibly they meant 0.25 ml of a Metacam 20mg/ml solution, from a 50ml bottle? That's merely a guess, but it sounds like a much more appropriate dosage. Not much else I can so without more info, sorry.

ETA: I've never personally seen a 20mg/ml solution licensed for dogs, only for large animals, but it could exist I guess. You'd need to check the packet. Shouldn't really matter so long as they give less of it to the dog, so the dog gets the right number of mg. It's all the same drug (meloxicam).

Edited September 9, 2010 by Staranais

[rachiie]

Here's an excerpt from the receipt (attached).

It seems like 0.25 is the quantity and the rest is the product. Does that make sense?

[W Sibs]

We were told 2 drops of metacam a kilo

Charlie is 6kg.. he gets 12 drops

If your dog is 25 kgs.. it should get 50 drops?

[Staranais]

We were told 2 drops of metacam a kilo

Charlie is 6kg.. he gets 12 drops

If your dog is 25 kgs.. it should get 50 drops?

At a guess that's probably the oral formulation though, CW EW?

ETA: if she's been given 0.25ml of a 20mg/ml solution, which it looks like from the receipt, and she weighs 25kg, that sounds like an entirely appropriate dosage to me.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Staranais

[rachiie]

Thanks Staranais I was a bit confused with the whole '50ml' deal on the receipt. So that (you assume) is the size of the bottle?

[Staranais]

I'm guessing so, since I think 20mg/ml metacam often comes in a 50ml bottle, and nothing else makes any sense. It's just a guess, though.

Hope your girl is feeling better soon!

[stormie]

Off the top of my head, the dose rate for Meloxicam (metacam) is 0.1mg/kg. So that would mean 0.25mg for your dog. So I'm guessing the 0.25 you're seeing on the invoice is not 0.25ml, but actually 0.25mg.

No idea why they'd use 20mg/ml Metacam though - surely that'd be a pretty hard amount to draw up?

[Staranais]

The package insert I grabbed off the net said 0.2mg/kg Stormie, so 5mg for a 25kg dog = 0.25ml of a 20mg/ml solution. Although package insert could admittedly be different in Aussie?

http://www.metacam.com/documents/Package_I...ADA-141-219.pdf

I can only guess they used the 20mg/ml as it was perhaps cheaper? Makes no sense to me, either.

[Pippa]

Off the top of my head, the dose rate for Meloxicam (metacam) is 0.1mg/kg. So that would mean 0.25mg for your dog. So I'm guessing the 0.25 you're seeing on the invoice is not 0.25ml, but actually 0.25mg.

What you have worked out here looks right, but if the dog had

0.25 of Metacam 20mg Injectable 50ml

isn't that a total dose of 5mg?

Confusing though as that would mean a 12.5ml injection which seems an excessive amount of fluid to inject.

[stormie]

Yeah I'm way wrong with my maths 0.1mg/kg isn't 0.25mg anyway its 2.5mg. Should have used my calculator

[W Sibs]

We were told 2 drops of metacam a kilo

Charlie is 6kg.. he gets 12 drops

If your dog is 25 kgs.. it should get 50 drops?

At a guess that's probably the oral formulation though, CW EW?

ETA: if she's been given 0.25ml of a 20mg/ml solution, which it looks like from the receipt, and she weighs 25kg, that sounds like an entirely appropriate dosage to me.

Yes.. sorry it is. I miss the injection part.

But i hope your dog gets well soon though

[stormie]

Yep makes sense. I think 0.2mg/kg is initial dose and 0.1mg/kg is then maintenance?

So yep, makes sense.

[rachiie]

Holy dooly... I could never be a vet! I'm so confused right now.

If the majority are satisfied, then I'm satisfied. Nisha seems happy. She has eaten, got up for a drink and toilet, then back to bed. Bit sleepy still.

She has a drain in her shoulder which has stopped "draining" quite so profusely. Looks clean now.

[Rappie]

It seems like the correct dose, I think the invoice line probably reflects the way products are entered into it for stock control. Probably something like pack size = 50ml, price per unit etc, 1 unit = 1.0ml which contains 20mg. Then charged as fractions of 'units'.

25kg dog, dosed at 0.2mg/ml = 5mg

5mg from 20mg/ml = 0.25ml

Clear as mud?