Metacam

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bugmankeith

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My cat was brought in the vet for slight limping she had for 5 days. She is 12 so I was worried she might have hurt herself bad and bought her in. Vet said its either torn ligament or sprain, gave her an injection of Metacam for the pain. I was given 3 filled of liquid metacam 1.5 mg/ml oral for 3 days to give.

I had never given a cat pain medication before, nor has my cat ever had it.

I was reading here about Medacam and the horror stories. On top of the worry not knowing how my cat will react, I had no idea what to do so that's why I let the vet give her the shot.

I need to know what bad signs to look out for, and should I really give the last 3 doses? I live in the US.
 
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stephanietx

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I am another one who refuses to allow the vet to administer Metacam to my  kitties.  I had a cat who got renal failure after receiving one of the shots.  She lived an additional 5 years, but the Metacam was the culprit.
 
 
white shadow

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bugmankeith said:
Vet...gave her an injection of Metacam...I was given 3 filled of liquid metacam 1.5 mg/ml oral for 3 days to give.
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  this is un -believable!

THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT THE US FDA WARNED AGAINST:

FDA Announces Addition of Boxed Warning to METACAM[emoji]174[/emoji] (meloxicam) Labels



Warning: Repeated use of meloxicam in cats has been associated with acute renal failure and death. Do not administer additional doses of injectable or oral meloxicam to cats.

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm231254.htm
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Metacam's "Dear Doctor" Letter  http://www.metacamkills.com/vetletter.pdf

Has this "Vet" been practicing on a different planet?
I had no idea what to do so that's why I let the vet give her the shot.
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Naturally...it's a matter of trust........or, perhaps, was a matter of trust now.
should I really give the last 3 doses? I live in the US.
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I can only tell you what I would do. I would not use that drug.

There is a safe pain med that you could request: buprenorphine. The common brand name is Buprenex. It will also be supplied in small syringes. You can just drop it into the side of her mouth - it gets absorbed inside the mouth by the mouth tissue, not by swallowing. Each dose will last about eight hours. Meantime you really should keep her in a small area where she will have little ability to move around/jump etc.

One more point for your information...because this Vet did not advise you that he was using this drug in an "off-label" manner (in a way not approved for administration) and because of his flagrant disregard for the "Black Box Warning", I suspect you would have a very strong case if you were to launch a complaint with your state's Veterinary Licensing authority.

(The injectable form of the drug is only approved as a one-time use before surgery.....not for situations like yours.)
 
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bugmankeith

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White Shadow said:
this is un- believable!

THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT THE US FDA WARNED AGAINST:

Metacam's "Dear Doctor" Letter  http://www.metacamkills.com/vetletter.pdf

Has this "Vet" been practicing on a different planet?

Naturally...it's a matter of trust........or, perhaps, was a matter of trust now.

I can only tell you what I would do. I would not use that drug.

There is a safe pain med that you could request: buprenorphine. The common brand name is Buprenex. It will also be supplied in small syringes. You can just drop it into the side of her mouth - it gets absorbed inside the mouth by the mouth tissue, not by swallowing. Each dose will last about eight hours. Meantime you really should keep her in a small area where she will have little ability to move around/jump etc.

One more point for your information...because this Vet did not advise you that he was using this drug in an "off-label" manner (in a way not approved for administration) and because of his flagrant disregard for the "Black Box Warning", I suspect you would have a very strong case if you were to launch a complaint with your state's Veterinary Licensing authority.

(The injectable form of the drug is only approved as a one-time use before surgery.....not for situations like yours.)
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I never knew people could find out laws what vets can and cannot do, this is beyond me how incredibly dangerous this is and how they have probably done this more than once. I had suspicions about this place but now I'm angry.

How will I know if my cat is sick, and who do I go to if I see signs of problems, the vet that caused it or a new vet?

I'm not giving the oral painkillers. It's bad enough she had the shot, and although it helped the pain she wasn't that bad off to begin with, being my first ever case of a pet getting injured I thought this was the norm to happen.

I wish I had known about the alternative I would have asked for that.
 
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jennyr

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Vets often only listen to the drug/feed companies. I have lost count of the number of times I have told different vets that my cats are NOT to have Metacam. The last one I argued with showed me an article she had 'proving' Metacam was safe for long term use in cats with arthritis. I took one look at it and showed her the study was commissioned by the manufacturers and was only based on a small number of cats, without any indication of how those cats were selected! Another vet I never went back to.
 
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jennyranson said:
  The last one I argued with showed me an article she had 'proving' Metacam was safe for long term use in cats with arthritis.
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This is why l trust my vet, because he hates giving any pain killers unless it's necessary,  or any form of injections for that matter.  He didn't want to give Rosie the steroid shot, but had to in the end because she hadn't eaten for nearly two weeks.

It's logic. If any human is on any long term meds they have to have regular blood checks because of the damage it can do to their kidney's, so animals are no different 
 
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bugmankeith

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The fact the vet hasn't even asked if she had Medacam before, and didnt offer an alternative pain killer is what got me.

I asked what side effects and the vet said tiredness, loss of appetite, vomiting or diarrhea may occur, but I never had anyone have problems with it. Not even anything like, "if there are any problems call", only if the leg isn't better.

As a first timer with this vets shouldn't take advantage to those who aren't familiar with this stuff. Give options, explain side effects, ask before giving someone pet something, she didnt even ask she just said I'm giving her a painkiller shot and gave it before I could say anything!


Was this wrong because the vet used it in the wrong manner, because I did read it can be used for after surgery, however this wasn't the case for my cat. I read various sites but don't know what to do. Could it not be as dangerous, did they change ingredients recently after the blacklist? I don't want to accuse someone if they actually did nothing wrong, prescribing Medacam with pre filled syringes so I don't get dosage wrong was the responsible way to give it, now it comes down to debate whether it safe to begin with, could vets opinions on it just differ?
 
feralvr

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bugmankeith said:
The fact the vet hasn't even asked if she had Medacam before, and didnt offer an alternative pain killer is what got me.

I asked what side effects and the vet said tiredness, loss of appetite, vomiting or diarrhea may occur, but I never had anyone have problems with it. Not even anything like, "if there are any problems call", only if the leg isn't better.

As a first timer with this vets shouldn't take advantage to those who aren't familiar with this stuff. Give options, explain side effects, ask before giving someone pet something, she didnt even ask she just said I'm giving her a painkiller shot and gave it before I could say anything!


Was this wrong because the vet used it in the wrong manner, because I did read it can be used for after surgery, however this wasn't the case for my cat. I read various sites but don't know what to do. Could it not be as dangerous, did they change ingredients recently after the blacklist? I don't want to accuse someone if they actually did nothing wrong, prescribing Medacam with pre filled syringes so I don't get dosage wrong was the responsible way to give it, now it comes down to debate whether it safe to begin with, could vets opinions on it just differ?
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Argh... this is what drives me batty :mad: with vets when they don't explain exactly what they are giving your cat up front. It seems to me that some vets think that their human clients don't need to know, they just need to follow directions/instructions. period. :nono: I have met a few of those in my years before I began educating myself and I will never again stay with a vet who "assumes" that position with clients. I think the answer to your last question is a big, fat yes that vets will vary almost to the point of contradicting each other. It can be so confusing and upsetting for us kitty guardians. :sigh:
 
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jennyr

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The problem right now is that no-one has done a properly conducted research study. There is basically no-one to fund it. The many reports of sick and dying cats following use of Metacam were enough to cause the FDA warnings and blacklisting. But vets in the US can and do give it 'off-list' because it has not actually been banned. In Europe it is different - there is no general authority to blacklist pet meds. Some people read about the FDA action and stopped using it, and the manufacturers in Europe brought out another Metacam 'cat formula' that they swore had a lower dosage and was safe. But in the US the FDA say that their observations (not hard research) show that NO dosage of Metacam is safe for cats, though not all cats react the same way. UNtil someone feels able to conduct a longterm blind study there is no way my cats are going to be given it. It is a very effective pain killer and anti-inflammatory, but it is not as if there are no alternatives.
 
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bugmankeith

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My cats leg is so much better, god willing nothing bad happens. If needed again I'm going to request the alternative. Those are safe right?
 
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bugmankeith

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Rosiemac said:
As my vet said, if you read the leaflet on side effects on any form of medication you wouldn't use them again.

There is always a risk with any meds
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I'm saying not as dangerous as Medacam.
 
envy

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I don't know if it's the same for cats (though I can't think of a single reason it would be different), but as a registered massage therapist, who deals with injuries in humans quite frequently: Pain killers do NOT heal injuries. There is a good chance that they can make an injury worse (Injuries hurt because it's your body saying "You shouldn't do this." All pain killers do is numb the pain, which makes people do things that they otherwise wouldn't do). If she's only limping and not yowling in pain, a painkiller seems pretty pointless to me. The injury should heal on its own.
 
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The local low-cost spay clinic that I took the fosters to the other day, I believe, was given Metacam. The female I got two extra days worth of pain meds, and it was Metacam. They are now at the humane society awaiting adoption so I hope their isn't any problems down the line for the people who adopt them. Can that few of doses be harmful?
 
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