Is metacam worth a try?

elsien

Mutt had metacam for stiff back legs, it did help and she didn't have any nasty side effects. I varied the dose according to what she needed, but some dogs do have high pain thresholds, still do the spring chicken impression and don't show they're in pain even when they're struggling, so she always got a bit just in case.
If yours seems to seriously seize up, try a hot water bottle onto the hips - that helped mutt on a few occasions when she'd ground to a halt. I also tried the pedigree joint care sticks as I won a couple of months worth so thought I might as well give them a go. It was hard to judge how much difference they made given the other stuff she was on, but anecdotally I'd say they probably helped a little.

zaksmum

Would it complicate things, insurance-wise, to have the vet prescribe the medication, get a prescription, then buy it online?

You would then have two companies treating the same condition as regards making the insurance claim for it.

Lucy's insurance excess is £70 plus 20% of the remainder, so might be just as well to have the vet supply the medication rather than buying it online.

krlyr

I've not done it before, but I imagine you would claim the prescription charge and any consultation fees/checkups from the vet as one claim, and the medication costs with the receipt from the online stores. Gettingready does it this way I think, so she may be along and be able to explain what you do.

I know I can get Kiki's medication a bit cheaper if I were to do the precription thing, but as it's all covered on insurance I just get it through the vet. I was thinking more for if your policy does increase a lot next year, it's a cheaper way to do it if you need to cover the cost yourself rather than through insurance.

WolfSong2000

I know with our old dog who had similar issues we used metacam, but also a bio-flo collar which worked wonders (we took it off for a few days and the difference was very noticeable). Just a thought!

orlao

I had two dogs that were on Metacam long term - one a very old JRT who slipped a disc (at 18 yo chasing a fox!) and she stayed on it for the final 3 years of her life as it helped her hips too.

The other was a Rottie who had dodgy elbows - he started off having it 'as and when' he needed it and ended up having it daily for about 5 years. What really helped him was hydrotherapy...I was very sceptical about it to start with but as he lost all muscle and was very wobbly after an op with a long time on strict rest I thought we had little to lose by trying it. It really, really worked for him and after an intensive course we went weekly for the rest of his life. Might be an idea for your dog?

Rimadyl didn't suit my big dog but neither of mine showed side effects on the metacam. TBH I wasn't prepared to let them be in constant pain, even if relatively mild so was happy to put quality of life over quantity of life so took the risk that the meds could have shortened their lives IYSWIM.