I have a poor Betty ( 8 year old Lab bitch)

It looks like she has either injured or have got something in her paw.

She can't bear any weight , she fell over this morning after she tried to put it down.

I have her a dose of metacam last night which seemed to help a bit but this morning she is considerable pain.

The box says one dose per day but wondering if we should give her another dose this morning ?

My vet doesn't do emergency cover and the vets that do cover I am sure won't advise over the phone and will insist on seeing her which I want to wait to see my own vet on Friday as it is not life threatening and don't want a huge bill off them as happened when she had to go and stay overnight after a post op infection.

I have had a look on line at the recommended dosage and it says daily.

She is a fit active girl normally and has had metacam before without any problems.

Personally I would not risk it, as Metacam is one of these medications that can be very dangerous if overdosed on.

I'm with Marianne - I would stick to the recommended dose.

No, don't give more than a single dose daily - it can really mess with their kidneys. :-(

One dose should last 24 hours.   And I'd not give more to be honest.

Most UK vets will have a service that picks up out of hours calls, and then contacts the vet on call who should at least call you back so you can take their advice.   This doesn't necessarily mean a call OUT much as if your girl has badly injured herself, it should be looked at - before Friday I'd suggest?   Pain relief is only a band-aid solution after all.

Well she is at the vets having X-rays as looks like she has a broken foot

Luckily nothing broken but it has been drained so looks like a foreign object so we can pick her up in a couple of hours afte she comes round from the GA.

Let Christmas begin in a couple of hours !!

Pain relief is only a band-aid solution after all.

Metacam is anti inflammatory so can be all it takes at times. My smallest dog hurt her leg which was very swollen and after just one dose of Metacam it was fine again with all the swelling gone.

Luckily nothing broken but it has been drained so looks like a foreign object so we can pick her up in a couple of hours afte she comes round from the GA.

Well that's a relief -but what a time for it to happen!

I know and the bill to go with it has been estimated around £700

Oh dear - not what you need! Hope she recovers quickly

http://www.metacam.com/
Metacam may well be anti inflammatory, but it IS also pain relief.......   I know how you feel re surgery just before/over Christmas.   My Whippet's tumour-ectomy isn't healing as it should and right now I can't wait to get her back in for another check - it's not an 'emergency' but means everything else has had to be postponed right now.

Metacam may well be anti inflammatory, but it IS also pain relief.......

Yes of course, but as it is anti inflammatory it can hardly be described as "band aid" as it does far more than just relieve pain.

It relieves pain by reducing inflammation/swelling which relieves the pressure that causes the pain. :-)

Not to prolong this, but my 'band aid' comment meant that it's always better to find out the CAUSE of pain, inflammation etc.etc. rather than perhaps attempting to cover it up...... in other words get to a vet!...?  And then, depending on what's found, use the Metacam???

I wasn't covering up the pain I was using it to relieve the pain for a non life threatening condition.

As it happens it didn't work as the pain relief wasn't strong enough.

As an experienced dog owner of 25 years and a good understanding of my dogs this would have been fine to wait until tomorrow to see a vet.

Not to prolong this, but my 'band aid' comment meant that it's always better to find out the CAUSE of pain, inflammation etc.etc. rather than perhaps attempting to cover it up...... in other words get to a vet!...

But TREATING the inflammation is NOT covering it up -and we all know dogs can get minor injuries for no apparent reason that then heals. My vet makes SURE I always have Metacam at home both for dogs and cats in case of out of hours emergencies when it's not serious enough to have to use the out of hours vet (which I frankly would only use if it was a matter of life and death urgently, as I do not trust them), but you cannot leave the animal until normal hours.

Hi LJS I know you've got sorted now but my vet has twice before advised a double dose of Metacam - a full first dose then a half dose top up 12 hours later.  However, as others have said, it pays to be cautious and I wouldn't double dose without vet agreement and advice.

Hope she's on the mend now :)

I have many decades of experience with mine, but I am still no vet-qualified expert, so again, rather than treating the inflammation without finding out where there is inflammation in the first place, wouldn't be something I'd be doing.   And yes, I have Metacam in my cupboard too.

Plus one more thought before I stop joining in with this one, once masked (as another word than covering up?), that could make a proper vet diagnosis more difficult?

Of course, if a dog has an ONGOING medical problem, using pain /inflammation relief would be perfectly acceptable.   I had a hound with spondylitis, for example.  We got it under control using PLT tablets but although for the most part, he was fine, occasionally he would have a flare up at which point we'd put him back on PLT without having to rush him to an Emergency Vet.   We didn't use Metacam at that time.

With apologies for hi-jacking poor Betty's thread.   I hope she's feeling better now!!

Hope your Betty is on the mend.

Sheila xx

Thanks Shelia yes she is a lot better and has been on her first walk today as we are away for a few days in the Forest of Dean.

Licking the wound a little bit but no limp so happy that it is healing well :-)