My cat was given Metacam without my permission.. how concerned should I be?

On Wednesday morning I dropped one of my 6 year old cats off for a dental as well as a needle aspirate of a growth on his mouth(believed to be a salivary gland).  They went over his plan with me and I agreed to various things like IV fluids, two sets of X-rays, the usual.  However, when I picked him up, the tech told me they gave him an injection of a pain medication because "we understand he can be difficult to give medication to."  I had never said anything to that effect, and they also sent me home with strong-smelling cherry Amoxicillin drops to give him twice daily.  I have enough experience giving cats buprenorphine, which the clinic knows, to know it's easier than 1ml of cherry stuff..

When he wasn't fully recovered(still hiding) yesterday, I called them but they were closed for the day due to a meeting.  I spoke to someone from their call service and she was unable to find what drug he was injected with in his records(I hadn't asked at the time as I hadn't slept the night before and the possibility hadn't hit me).  Finally, I received a voicemail today from a tech stating he was injected with Metacam.

He's had a dental(not that long ago) as well as tumor removal(they took a large amount off of his hind leg) and recovered the same day.  This time, he's been hiding(soooo not his personality) until this afternoon.  I wonder if it's the fact that he was given this drug?

Regardless, I've read the horror stories online and have also been told by at least one vet(when I inquired prior to surgery) that they didn't use it on cats.  I've read cats have developed renal failure after one injection.  How concerned should I be?  I feel awful that I allowed this to happen to him and not pleased that the doctor didn't ask me.  Every other surgery or dental I've been through with my cats involved a discussion of pain management.

OK...this is what I was able to find that best fits your situation:

http://www.askavetquestion.com/metacam.php

Since you're upset, and you have to read quite a bit to get to it, I'm going to copy and paste the most pertinent paragraph:

"But is it safe to give Metacam liquid orally to cats? In Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and now Canada the Metacam label says it is safe for use in cats. In the US and Canada, the only form of Metacam that is officially safe for use in cats is a one time dose of the injectable product. However, many vets will still prescribe Metacam for long term use in cats. This is called “off-label use” and is very common in veterinary medicine."

Your vet gave the one-time injectable,  so it looks like you are ok.

I have also read about cats who developed renal failure after one injection, but have to balance that against the fact that every living creature reacts to any given drug differently.  I've known, in my years working in hospitals in respiratory therapy, people who went into orgarn failure after a single dose of "perfectly safe" over the counter medications.

How is he doing today?  Eating?  Drinking?  Elimination looks normal?  The hiding MIGHT be from having that many  procedures in a short period of time, and he's just a bit skittish from it all.  Just a thought. 

Thank you! I've read a bit more and am feeling less concerned now. I would guess that the IV fluids could have helped protect his kidneys. Also, to my knowledge, he didn't have a large amount of blood loss or anything involved which could have caused a drop in blood pressure.

He's doing well and not hiding as of this afternoon. It was just surprising to me as he had a much more involved procedure not that many years ago(3?) and recovered quickly. This was just a needle aspiration/dental, although he had one very minor extraction.

medicam, as I was told, is more localizing for pain management. My kitty was on this, but for arthritis. I found it didn't really help her and I switched her (After a week break) to prednisone (with my vet's help), and I'm seeing improvement. For both of their needs with pancreatitis flares, I used buperenoriphine. I find that works amazing.

I'm surprised they didn't talk about pain management prior to this surgery because obviously getting a tumor removed from the leg will be VERY sore.

Medicam is not a bad drug when you follow the directions.

The hiding is likely due to not feeling great, but don't worry, he will come out soon! My boy did this when he was very ill and I worried so much. He is now doing much better and back to his normal self

darkhorse321 said:

 
medicam, as I was told, is more localizing for pain management. My kitty was on this, but for arthritis. I found it didn't really help her and I switched her (After a week break) to prednisone (with my vet's help), and I'm seeing improvement. For both of their needs with pancreatitis flares, I used buperenoriphine. I find that works amazing.

I'm surprised they didn't talk about pain management prior to this surgery because obviously getting a tumor removed from the leg will be VERY sore.

Medicam is not a bad drug when you follow the directions.

The hiding is likely due to not feeling great, but don't worry, he will come out soon! My boy did this when he was very ill and I worried so much. He is now doing much better and back to his normal self

Click to expand...

BOY I am glad you chimed in!  Hekitty has had one bout with pancreatitis, and I know she could have more.  I'm going to write bupernoriphine down in her book.

I second buprenorphine. I'm very careful about what I give my boys(obviously lol) and it's something I am very comfortable using. I have used it to ease one boy through cancer(prolonged his quality of life until it was time to say goodbye), post surgery for a cat who had almost a full mouth extraction(actually, this was a fentanyl patch but also an opiate so counting it), and I use it when one of my boys has a bout of cystitis. I have it on hand for that reason and it's very reassuring to know I can grab a syringe and start the process of stopping his pain before making an ER trip.

My 6 year old is doing fine now. I just wish I had asked about pain management prior to the procedure.


Just to clarify: when he had the mass removed from his hind leg, he was given buprenorphine from that vet. This is a different vet and he had a very minor tooth extraction during a dental and the draining of what the vet believes was a salivary gland. He recovered very quickly from the more involved surgery(also had a dental at that time), which is why I was so concerned about his slower recovery from the more minor(imo) procedure on Wednesday morning.