Metacam (generic: Meloxicam) is not a steroid -- it's a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (a distant relative of ibuprofen and aspirin). Yes, it can cause kidney damage, but in the past few years it has been approved for use on dogs and cats; Frigg was on it for about 3 years, and for the last nine months she was on 150-200% of the recommended daily maximum dose without hepatotoxicity. (She had really bad osteoarthritis, complicated by the happy fun addition of colon cancer. Metacam ensured that she wasn't in pain until right before the end, and there were no obvious signs of kidney failure.)
Note: the Metacam dosage needs to be carefully controlled for the animal's body weight -- a 2.5Kg cat needs rather less of it than a 5Kg cat, much less a 15Kg dog. I suspect a lot of the bad rep it has acquired comes from people who didn't pay for up-front blood tests and monitoring, and who didn't realize that the correct dose depends on the animal's weight and even a slight error can be hazardous.
I gather there's a new NSAID for small animals (can't remember its name off the top of my head); Mafdet will probably be going on it next month, once we've had blood tests performed to give us a baseline for monitoring.
Thanks for the clarification. We're hoping the horse dope will do it on its own. Himself had comprehensive tests when he first went in for his dental stuff, which is what flagged up the kidney problem in the first place.
Wretched creatures, they steal your heart. Hope Mafdet does well on this new thing.
Note: the Metacam dosage needs to be carefully controlled for the animal's body weight -- a 2.5Kg cat needs rather less of it than a 5Kg cat, much less a 15Kg dog. I suspect a lot of the bad rep it has acquired comes from people who didn't pay for up-front blood tests and monitoring, and who didn't realize that the correct dose depends on the animal's weight and even a slight error can be hazardous.
I gather there's a new NSAID for small animals (can't remember its name off the top of my head); Mafdet will probably be going on it next month, once we've had blood tests performed to give us a baseline for monitoring.
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Wretched creatures, they steal your heart. Hope Mafdet does well on this new thing.
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