Any good alternatives to Metacam for Arthitis Pain

Miss_J

My old man of 18 has been showing signs of arthritis for the last couple of months, it has worsened since jumping off a desk and landing at a funny angle and at the time he cried out with pain.

Over the last week or so he has become increasingly disinterested and less mobile and walks with an obvious stitled walk. At the end of last weekend I took him to the vets for a suspected UTI and he was given an Antibiotic injection as well as an injection of Metacam. By the next day he was like a new cat, he was happy and perky and like the cat he was a couple of years back. Then on Sunday night, he had a horrible painful attack after lying down for a while, he got up awkwardly , walked in a funny way and cried out for a good 5 minutes with big wide eyes, almost pleading me to help him. It was horrible to see and at the time I thought there was something seriously wrong with him. Thankfully he settled back down and slept the rest of the night.

I took him back to the vets on Monday and he was prescribed Metacam oral, I was a little hesitant at first because of all the scare stories, but having seen him in so much pain on Sunday night, I gave him a small 2kg cat dose (he's a 3.5kg) cat. By the next morning he was a different cat again, just like he'd been after the injection he'd had. However since then he has vomited and also had a bout of the runs and my vet has advised me to stop the Metacam for the moment to see if this settles down. I would love to be able to find something else that works as well as Metacam just in case he can't go back on it, I want to see my old perky man again.

Has anyone use any alternatives and found that it has helped with the arthritic pain?

redrufus

You could try something that contains Green lipped mussel, GLM helps with arthritis and also acts as a natural pain killer too, it is even more benficial if you can get a supplement that includes both GLM and Glucosamine.
Bear in mind that these are a more natural approach and do not work for every animal, the product we use is http://denes.co.uk/products/green-lipped-mussel-extract-with-glucosamine-powder
18 is a fantastic age, he is a credit to you.

krlyr

http://dogaware.com/health/arthritis.html is a fab read

olias

Also be aware that the supplements - glucosamine etc can take 4-6 weeks to start to take effect, so don't expect miracles immediately.

Olias

Celli

My old cat had a similar reaction to Metacalm, she was given Tramadol, which worked brilliantly, but it became impossible to give her as the tablet was so bitter. She was then given another pain killer which for the life of me, I can't remember the name of, it worked, but not as well as the Tramadol.

Froglet

My dog had the same reaction to metacam,she was very sick on it.The vet then tried rimadyl which worked very well for about 18 months,then a different vet suggested something similar and she was fine on that too for a few more months until the arthritis spread and it wasn't fair to keep on going.

Can't remember the name of it but arthritis is a painful condition.At the time i didn't have it but since we lost Jess i have it quite bad and have already had 2 operations for it.

Fosterdog

Speak to your vet about Cartrophen injections, I don't know if they use it for cats but it's worth asking (I know they give it to dogs and horses). It's very affordable, needs four injections initially one week apart, takes around 6 weeks to see signs of improvement and then further injections can be as little as a four week course once a year or as often as a single dose once a month.

There are no known side effects but only works on 7 out of 10 cases, it rebuilds the cartilage and improves bloodflow to the arthritic joints which improves mobility and reduces pain. My dog does still have to have occasional painkillers on a rough day but not very often at all (he also had a bad reaction to Metacam).

~Chameleon~

Fosterdog wrote: »

Speak to your vet about Cartrophen injections, I don't know if they use it for cats but it's worth asking (I know they give it to dogs and horses).

It's not licensed for use in cats but can be used off-label