I have a one year old lab girlie with OCD in her elbow.  She has been operated on earlier this year and all was well but she still seems to get stiff in the evening and was put on Metacam for about 2 weeks.  While she was, it all was brilliant with hardly a limp at all, even after a bit of a wap round,
however now the metacam has finished and the limp has returned.  My Vet seems to think that all will settle down with time but I wondered how long could she be on the Metacam without it loosing effect.  Has anyones dog been on Metacam for a long period?

I had a Rough Collie some years ago who had bad arthritis.  She was on metacam for approx 3 years and did great on it. She was never really fond of exercise though!!! :)

Sadly, her water works gave out before her legs did, and being such a proud dog, we let her go to the Rainbow Bridge with her dignity in tact.

our Swedish Lapphund was on Metacam for at least six years for arthritis. We gave him as little as possible to keep him comfortable and he did ok until he was about 12. He was changed to a different one (Zubrin). Unfortunately the time he was on painkillers ulcerated his stomach and we finally had to have him PTS at 13 as he couldn't live comfortably with the pain and his stomach couldn't cope with the pain killers. I would try Glucosamine and Chondroitin rather than painkillers as she is so young and try to leave the drugs until you feel she really needs them. HTH Marion

When my old boy was on metacam the vet told me that he should'nt be on it too long as it could damage his kidney's, he was on it for about two months.

Metacam

Rimadyl

Your links keep crashing my computer MM :)  The side effects and contraindications are well understood in NSAIDs and I would hesitate to give to an elderly dog or one known to have gastric problems but weighed against that is the need to find effective pain relief and these are certainly that.  Getting a dog with arthritis to the age of 13 is, I think an achievement Dakkobear :)
We used green lipped muscle extract for our Dandie in the early days which has good supporting evidence of efficacy but in later life is was not enough so, with a poor gastric history making me reluctant to try NSAIDs we tried Cartrophen and found it very effective but that was only in her last year of life at the age of 14 and I do not know if it is appropriate for long term use in a young dog but perhaps something to consider with your vet.

I've not had a dog on Metacam long term, but my old male sheltie was on Rimadyl for 5 years because of arthritis. His bloods were tested before starting and every 6 months thereafter. They were always normal and he had no side-effects. He lived to be 19 when the pain from the arthritis became intractable even on the Rimadyl and he was PTS. That was a sad pity because despite being almost toothless and having the arthritis he was otherwise in good nick.

My 11yo deerhound has been on Cartrophen for 4 years for an old back injury. She has no side effects, but she doesn't need the Cartrophen every day.

The second link should be Rimadyl

Had a GSD on Metacam for years and years with no problems. Eventually though it seemed to lose it's effect and changed to Rimadyl, which she was also on for years without any problems, monitored regularly at vets though
Kat

My GR was on metacam for about 4 months then developed an ulcer from it. He was all right after dinner at 6:30, started vomiting around 8 and by 10:30-11 was vomiting blood, crying and hiding under bushes. We were terrified at the time and glad it was just an ulcer. Just something to be aware of if your dog start having problems.

I've only ever given metacam short term to my dogs (they've never needed it for long :D), but if I was using it long term I would want regular blood tests to check liver/kidneys were OK. :) HTH.