Metacam Oral Suspension For Arthritis

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wondercat

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Is anyone using oral suspension Metacam on a regular basis for arthritis pain? Monkster, our diabetic kitty (who will be 20 on April 15th) gets pretty stiff and lame from arthritis and doesn't move too fast so her doctor recommended giving Metacam a try. We are giving her .1ml every 3 days. We started it on March 15th and we have an appointment again on March 29th to check Monkster's kidney values to see if the Metacam is having any affect on her kidneys. Currently her kidney values are in the high-normal range. I've done a lot of research on Metacam, and as some of you may know, you hear some good things and some very bad things. Because Metacam has a "black box warning" in the U.S., I had to sign a release form indicating I will not hold the clinic liable for any "damages", which quite frankly scares the hell out of me! I'm so torn as to what to do about the Metacam...do I just stop it now? Do I wait until next week to see what her kidney values are? If they are good, do I continue to use Metacam? If her numbers are elevated, I will certainly stop the Metacam. Monkster is already on Gabapentin and Adequan, but I don't think they are completely controlling her arthritis pain. We love Monkster very much; we want to kill the pain, not kill her kidneys. I would never forgive myself if I caused her harm. If anyone has any advice, words of wisdom or if you have any experience with using Metacam on a regular basis for arthritis pain, I would love to hear from you. Joanne confused_cat
 
Good Morning!

I have experience using metacam oral suspension in my cat for arthritis. Unfortunately, Latte was one of the many who suffered severe consequences at the age of 14. Her blood values were all fine when she started on it. Within a few weeks she was in Acute Renal Failure. She was a fighter for sure! With very aggressive tx, suggested by and partially compensated by the drug company, she did survive. She remained a CKD kitty the rest of her life, tho. (you can read about her in my signature links)

There was a lot of effort put forth by many of us to push the fda into giving it a black box warning. I must say, I am thrilled to hear your vet has done the labs, gave you the warnings, and even made you sign a release! I was 'casually' warned, but told that all other options would be just as dangerous. It is good to see things change and the power of decisions given to the owner.

Im not sure if it would be fair for me to say it is right or wrong to use this on your kitty. Quite frankly considering age and renal values already elevated, I suspect your cat is at high risk for potential damage from metacam. This may be the risk you need to take at this point for quality of life. You are already giving some medications that should help. If you did not want to go the metacam route you could look into acupuncture, and possibly even tramadol.

If you continue with the metacam you will want to be vigilant about watching for symptoms/adverse reactions. I would not brush any of them off as being something other than an adverse reaction and get your kitty to the vet asap. By the time I realized what was going on it was too late. Stay on top of it!!! Here are the major ones:
• Vomiting
• Change in bowel movement (such as diarrhea, or black, tarry or bloody stools)
• Change in behavior (such as decreased or increased activity level, incoordination, seizure or
aggression)
• Yellowing of gums, skin, or whites of the eyes (jaundice)
• Change in drinking habits (frequency, amount consumed)
• Change in urination habits (frequency, color, or smell)
• Change in skin (redness, scabs, or scratching
http://www.metacamkills.com/newlabel.pdf Client Information Sheet from Manufacturer

This is the most recent letter from the manufacturer to vets:
http://www.metacamkills.com/vetletter.pdf

All of the above, and then some on metacam can be found in my signature link metacamkills.com

It is a tough call. I honestly hope you can find other alternatives. If not, I truly hope it will help with no ill effects.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Carolyn...your reply was definitely enough to make the decision for us; we are not going to use the Metacam! My husband and I have both been feeling ill about our decision to give it a try, so we're done with it! I would never be able to live with myself if we were to cause Monkster any unecessary harm. She has only had two .1ml doses of it, so hopefully it didn't already harm her. We watch her very closely anyways, but we will be looking for any of the signs you posted. I knew I would be able to find what we needed, on this board! Thank you for your much needed, and appreciated, advice! Joanne
 
I think the warnings are absolutely necessary, however only you know about Monksters quality of life. There arent very many pain relief choices for cats, so just like Steroids, sometimes its a necessary evil.

My Carly (almost 13yrs old) is diabetic in remission for a long time, but she has pretty bad arthritis in all 4 leg joints, and her back (lumbosacral joint) She looked SO painful when she was walking/limping and cried out when in the litterbox sometimes because of positioning. Carly is on Adequan once a week, and Dasuquin 2 capsules a day-which has helped tremendously.

Have you tried anything else for Monkster? My vet also mentioned Gabapentin but with Carlys sensitivity to anesthesia/sedation I am not sure that we will try that. She was on Tramadol for the arthritis pain but she was completely zonked out with a bad reaction to both the Tramadol combined with the sedation for Xrays. I actually think we should try the tramadol again without the complication of sedation to see if she can tolerate it at all.
 
Not for arthritis, but we was given, or rather, the rescue kittens was given, Metacam as pain killer when they got spayed and neutered in February last year 2011. They were around 6 months old and three of them Zackie, Donna and Sessan seemed to be able to handle the Metacam, but the fourth, Melvin, did not do well on it at all. He was totally lethargic and wobbly. And we read the side effects in the information, and they were just too many, and so drastic, that I decided we should stop giving them the Metacam.
 
Hi Joanne!

I used to be completely anti metacam under every circumstance. I was so traumatized and angered with what we went through for a very long time. I still think probably 90% of the time there IS a better option though. The black box warning (given when risks outweigh benefits of a drug) certainly supports what I believe. I was actually pretty shocked they finally did something. When the FDA steps in like this, they usually mean business.

At some point I realized screaming at the top of my lungs at people was not effective. The best thing I could do to honor Latte and all the other kitties affected by metacam was to educate, and help people make informed decision. If, after being fully informed, a cat owner believes the benefits outweigh the risks then I find it crucial for them to be aware of the adverse reactions. Often times the damage is already done once reactions occur, but not always. If any kitties can be saved because their owners were paying attention, I have done part of my job.

On a personal level, I am happy about the choice you made. But do understand, I would still completely respect your decision if you chose otherwise. You informed yourself, you weighed the risks/benefits, and you have decided to go another route. At some point you may need to revisit it, and you may make a different choice.

In all honesty the last week of Latte's life she was in a great deal of pain. Despite the fact the fact metacam caused ARF years earlier, I had fleeting thoughts that maybe it would make her last few days more comfortable. I had to dig really deep and put my anger aside in order to come up with the best decision for her QOL in the last bit of time she spent here. I think in my heart, I knew she would not have wanted me to take on that act of desperation... so I let set her free.
 
HI Joanne, I used Metacam on my cat Sitka and she almost died from a bleeding ulcer from it. It was the first time I hadn't researched a medication before giving it and I paid dearly for it. 3 days at the vet hospital and $1,000 later she came home. My suggestion for arthritis is Adequan - it has a GREAT track record (Sitka's been on it for 3 years now). Its done by subq injection and you can get it from your vet or by prescription from 1800petmeds or drsfosterandsmith.com. It was developed for arthritic racehorses and used in dogs and cats. The general protocol is injections twice a week for 4 weeks and then once a month for maintenance. You can also use it in conjunction with glucosamine/condroiten supplements. To help with pain before the adequan kicks in you might ask your vet for buprenex - its a effective pain med and very safe. To give you an idea how arthritic my cat is - the last radiologist who saw her xrays said he'd never seen a cat so badly arthritic that could still walk. Jan
 
Hello,

My beloved Buster cat, now GA, had arthritis in his hocks, spondylosis, and a bone fragment in the hind leg and limped quite a bit. It didn't help that he had been stuck in a cage at the shelter for 8 months before he broke my heart and I took him home. His vet recommended cartrophen injections and seemed to help him a lot. He was getting them once a month and seemed to help a lot. It is off market for cats (used for dogs) but I've heard of several cats who've gotten relief from it. The vet thought of Metacam as a last resort only.
 
There are certainly other treatment choices for feline arthritis. Gandalf received Adequan injections for the last 2 1/2 years of his life, in addition to acupuncture treatments. I firmly believe the acupuncture gave him relief at the end of his life. By that point we were also administering Gabapentin daily and I really liked how it allowed him to relax without acting loopy, as Buprenorphine did. Those are some of the best and safest options for cats with pain from arthritis. Also some may find that Dasequin supplements help, but I saw no improvement and he would not eat the food when the capsule contents were sprinkled on it, so I stopped it.

But as with a lot of things and cats, ECID.
 
OMG I LOVE this forum. Here I am reading thru posts to re-educate myself about diabetes since my boy Robbie has been OTJ after a 3 months on insulin 19 months ago and is now back on when I find info on Metecam! JUST today my Vet and I discussed this since Robbie's arthritis has gotten much worse in the last year. My Vet's comment was for me to look this medication up online - read all the good and bad and let him know what I thought - He feels it's not time yet with Robbie for this step but wanted me to look into it. He recently prescribed it (required signing of a release and reading of a pros/cons list) for a friend of mines Maine Coon who was almost crippled by arthritis and is also 7 years older than Robbie (he's 17 Robbie is 10) and the cat is doing GREAT. He's like a new cat - the poor thing has all sorts of other issues but the Metacam has really made him able to move around and have some quality of life away from arthritis pain. SO of course seeing this I was feeling maybe I shouldn't wait with Robbie - but now - I'm going to talk to my vet a lot more and also ask about the other meds mentioned here - which the vet has also brought up. First I want to get Robbie stabilized with this return to the juice and than I'll look into the meds for arthritis. This was VERY educational.
 
In HK, its's common to treat feline & canine arthritis with accupuncture. Some owners do find it easing off the pain of their pets. Sometimes, a light message plus a hot pad applied to the painful area helps a lot.
 
I have finally been able to help my cat Fluffy who has arthritis so bad. I can see such a difference in him.
Fluffy is 10years old and when i found him and brought him home he had history of crushed hips and foot and knee injuries. He was 7months old.

I tried lots of things.
I've now been able to control his pain by giving Adequan weekly and Buprenex twice a day. I now give the Buprenex subQ cause he got tired of taking it by mouth.
The Buprenex does not affect Fluffy in a negative way.

He is better. (running through the house right now) He is alert and happy.
 
I have to really thank everyone for their replies! Both myself and my husband feel a whole lot better now that we made the decision to NOT give Monkster the Metacam. We do already give Monkster Gabapentin, and Adequan sub-q injections. Although she walks slow (and kind of looks like a raccoon when she walks), she appears to be a happy kitty; she purrs, meows, "talks" to us, eats very well, walks up her stairs to her window seats, lets us pick her up and hold her. Because she does all of the above, I can't imagine she is in a great deal of pain, certainly not in so much pain that we would want to take the chance of harming her with Metacam. If anything, we will increase the frequency and dosage of the Adequan. She has shown some improvement on the Adequan which is encouraging. If I was directly responsible for Monkster's death by giving her Metacam, I would never, ever forgive myself; it would haunt me until the day I died...and thensome!

Again...thank you everyone!!

P.S. It was through this message board that we finally learned all the tricks to successfully poking Monkster's ears for her glucose readings. That had to be one of the most difficult things I have ever had to learn. I sure did shed a lot of tears during the learning process! I always give much praise to this Board; I have told a lot of people about the wonderful people here.

Joanne, Mike and Monkster
 
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