Sasha (9 1/2) has been on Metacam now for about 10-14 days for arthritis. She also has DM.

The metacam was great for her pain, she was like a different dog but I did notice she was a bit itchy and drinking more and now she's started with black diarrhea (sp?).

I knew that the black diarrhea was a sign of bleeding in the gut as my old golden had the same problem with metacam but have looked for more information about side effects on the net and see that the itching and more frequent drinking can also be side effects :-( and I think that both of these things are connected with liver/kidney problems associated with the metacam.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had had any experience of this and, if so, what their vet had tried next.  With my golden, we tried tramadol but again that caused even more trouble with intestinal bleeding, so my vet didn't seem to think there was anything else to try.

Am a bit upset really as things just seem to be going exactly the same way as with Ellie, with the arthritis and dm, and with the medication now :-(.

Have you told your Vet about the black diarrhoea?  I would ring him now if not.  :(

You must stop the metacam, just as with any other NSAID, straight away if there is vomiting or diarrhoea, and ring your vet for advice. I'm assuming you've already tried Rimadyl and Previcox? Sasha might be able to tolerate tramadol better than your golden - they're all individuals. (For example Previcox made Piglet very poorly with vomiting and diarrhoea, but he's fine with Rimadyl and tramadol, so it's well worth trying another type of medication.)

Hi my lab had serious side effects on rimadyl so we were advised by the vet to try metacam. He was fine the first few times he had it but then started with excessive drinking and black stools. Our vet said that should we need this type of drug again we could either try zubrin (not sure if that's how its spelt) which is supposed to be gentler or we could use a drug to line and protect his stomach first. Hope you get your dog sorted.

Just replying to the last message.

The black diarrhea has just started this afternoon, she won't be getting any more metacam - her last dose was with her tea last night.

Will be going back to the vet on Monday morning, as she seems ok in herself I don't see any reason to have an emergency appointment. Though obviously I will be keeping an eye on her and will take her in if necessary.

Metacam is the first nsaid we've tried with her, so we haven't tried previcox or rimadyl.  Zubrin sounds hopeful.  I'll mention all these things to the vet.

It's such a shame as it's made such a difference to her pain, it'll be horrible seeing her in pain again tomorrow :-(

Keep an eye on the colour of her gums regularly.  If they're not pink - shout.  I lost a bitch after Rimadyl ....... she reacted very quickly. :(

Blimey, will do that WC.  I didn't realise that :(

Merlot is not too good with matacam so she has Onsior and is fine on that.

My boy had explosive bloody diarrhoea on metacam, but that was within a couple of days of starting the course. It scared me to death - we know to avoid it now!

One of my girls vomits on Metacam, so can't have the liquid - I think there's an injection version administered by the vets which she's OK with. We can give her Zubrin which she's fine with, albeit fingers crossed and touch wood, we haven't needed to use any pain killers ( for her HD) for some years now.

Jade is not good with NSAID, she had a really adverse reaction to Rimadyl but fortunately I realised what was happening and stopped it immediately so she only had one dose. We have recently tried Metacam but straight away she got a gurgling stomach. My vet suggested giving her Zitac an hour before the Metacam and she has been fine with this protocol.

I hope you manage to sort her out.

My exotic vet said that a side effect of mettacam is stomach ulcers. Happened to my bird who was on it, she started sneezing blood. So now she can't have it anymore.

Not for the original poster but just for others who are prescribed metacam and are now worrying, it can work wonderfully well for many dogs. One of my collies has been on it for 4 years, she has regular blood tests to check her kidney/liver functions and is absolutely fine. My old borzoi boy was on it for years too and was the oldest borzoi I ever had. As with all medications it may work well for some but not others.

>As with all medications it may work well for some but not others.

A very important point that can't be emphasised too strongly. All dogs are individuals; just because one dog had a bad/good reaction to a particular medication doesn't mean that every dog will be the same. Each case must be considered separately if we're to do the best for them. My boy can't cope with Previcox, which other dogs find extremely beneficial, yet Rimadyl - a medicine that has many scare-stories associated with it - saved his life.

> My boy can't cope with Previcox, which other dogs find extremely beneficial

We've got one of ours on Previcox - she's gone off her food though her lameness is much improved. Is poor appetite a common side effect of Previcox does anyone know? She's always been a good eater althrough her life.

Has she gone off her food because Previcox is making her feel too ill to eat?

I agree each case has to be looked at one its own merits. I lost a dog to torsion while on rimadyl after a cancer op. She had been on it for 5 days before she came home then bloated but I was too late to save her inspite of getting her to the vet asap her stomach had twisted and tehy couldnt save her. It was thought that the rimadyl was one factor so would be very careful of using again

> Has she gone off her food because Previcox is making her feel too ill to eat?

She seems a bit more downbeat than usual, isn't wanting to play so much for instance. But she's still up for her walk and is taking an interest in everything the same as usual. So I don't think she can feel too awful, maybe just not as ebullient as she normally is. She's an outgoing with a capital O kind of girl in character.

Thanks everyone.

Sash is ok-ish today, her back legs are very wobbly again :-( but she seems ok in herself so far.

Vet tomorrow.  Will let you know how we get on.

Spoke to the vet this morning, who said she was surprised at how knowledgable I was :-D.

She's still got diarrhea but it's not at dark and she seems ok otherwise,

Anyway, the vet wants to wait til her stools are back to normal then start her on Previcox.  Have got some ranitidine to give her for a week (bought these over the counter after the vet told me what dosage to give).

So, fingers crossed the Previcox works :-)