? Metacam for kittens after spay/neuter?!?!

[Deborah & Shasta]

My babies (~5 months) just had their spay/neuter surgeries today and the Humane Society sent home Metacam 1.5mg/ml oral for pain relief (female to receive .14ml every 24 hours for 3 days; male to receive .18ml every 24 hours for 3 days). It's midnight and I'm about to go to bed, but I need to feed them and wanted to give pain meds. Metacam is NOT a med that I want to be giving to my kittens...not with so many warnings about kidney failure.

Any suggestions?! Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Can you keep them quiet tonight? Maybe in a small room so they can't move around much?

Although I agree that cats should have always had pain control after neutering, it's still a fairly new idea for a lot of vets.

I'd be wary about using the Metacam too due to the black box warnings.

I do know it's used in other countries safely though but it's given at much smaller doses than usually given here in the US (but I don't know what's considered "safe")

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

It is highly possible that your kitties were given an injection of Metacam at the time of the surgery. According to the black box warning Metacam is only approved for a one time injection at the time of surgery and should not be followed up with oral treatment afterwards. In the US the dosing of oral metacam is 3X stronger than it is in Canada or the UK (possibly other countries) where it has been approved...with cautions..for oral use...0.5 mg/ml. Many people will request something like buprenorphine for pain relief after spay/neuter or dental procedures.


"Cats: Administer a single, one-time subcutaneous dose of Metacam 5 mg/mL Solution for Injection to cats at a dose of 0.14 mg/lb (0.3 mg/kg) body weight. Use of additional meloxicam or other NSAIDs is contraindicated"


"Do not administer a second dose of meloxicam. Do not follow the single, one-time dose of meloxicam with any other NSAID. Do not administer Metacam Oral Suspension following the single, one-time injectable dose of meloxicam."

https://www.metacam.com/docs/BIVM-15129MetacamInjectableCATPI_SignOfffnl.pdf

 

[Deborah & Shasta]

Thank you, Chris & Mary Ann for your advice and information. I did check the paperwork from the Humane Society and none of it mentions an injection of Metacam/Meloxicam...but then again, their paperwork is not very detailed. I did give them a small dose last night as Lucy was very uncomfortable walking and laying down. I squirted out at least half of what was in the syringe, so I'm thinking that it was approx. .07ml each...I used Lucy's syringes for both because they were a smaller dosage to begin with. I will pitch the other syringes when I get home. I feel like I have some of Shasta's old Bupe hidden somewhere in my kitchen. I will search for it when I get home and if I can find it, I'll give Lucy a drop of it tonight. Also, I will try to call the Humane Society to see if they can tell me if an injection of Metacam was given at the time of surgery.

They are confined in their tiny bedroom (10ft x 10ft), but they do still have tons of stuff they can jump up on and jump off of and since Linus is feeling pretty ok, I worry about him wanting to play and getting Lucy all worked up. Lucy was up on my jewelry case this morning (3ft) and jump to floor...scared the mess out of me. I can't keep an e-collar or donut thingy around her neck because she's so tiny, she just slips out of them. Incision looked good this morning, but she did lick it a little.

 

[Deborah & Shasta]

Update: I just called the Humane Society and they said that my kittens did NOT receive an injection of Metacam/Meloxicam at time of surgery. They would have received "torb and penicillin". Doing a quick google search for "torb", I came up with Torbutrol (Butorphanol Tartrate) a heavy duty pain killer. So, I'm relieved to know they did not give them any metacam.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Congrats on getting kittens. When I had my two kittens spayed my vet sent me home with buprenex for five days. I only used it once. They ate right away and on,y one was a little mellow for a few days. My vet said to let them do what they wanted.