Had a routine check-up for my 14 yr. old cat, Chloe in Oct. Her blood tests were all normal, but she had gingivitis and needed some teeth removed. We felt we should do this and could prolong her life. Never were we told of what the consequences could be. She was perfectly healthy. Had good appetite and was loving her KD. She almost died 4 yrs ago, of some kind of poisoning. This could have affected her kidneys. They brought her back then. After surgery, they gave her the opiated meds, stayed over night, no antibiotics. She was lifeless when brought home. Two days later, I knew something was not right. She didn't move. Sat. we took her to vet again. They administered G-SubQ fluids, and noticed the suture had come out. So, they gave her antibiotics then and gave us the meds to take home. She was a basket case. They had said to give the pain meds 12hrs apart but after 7 hrs. at home they said give her more. We didn't want to but we did. By Sunday, she was still not responding. Brought her in again on Mon., they gave her fluids and more meds and this time a shot of anti-biotics that lasts 12 days. By Tues, we brought her in again and she stayed over night where they put IV in and did blood tests and had an ultra sound to see what was going on. They thought she had kidney stones blocking but it turned out to be an enlarged heart. How did this happen? We brought her home on Wed. and had questions for the Dr. Called 4 times and never returned a call. She had pooped and peed and we thought maybe thats a sign. We stopped giving her the opiate. We administered a different antibiotic they sent us home with. Meanwhile she had stopped eating the whole time. By this time we felt we should feed her through a syringe, since the vet never mentioned anything about feeding her. Later we gave her the fluids at home and then gave her the antibiotic they had given us. By this time she was lifeless. Thurs., and Fri came and went. No call from the vet asking how she was doing, NOTHING!! We were on our own. Chloe passed Sat. morning peacefully at 4am. She became so weak couldn't even stand.We were with her till her last breath. We are so sick now. We brought her in to prolong her life and this is what happened. Never did they tell us what the consequences could be. Doing research now and the opiate meds they gave her, say not to give to cats with kidney problems. I feel they overmedicated her and gave her the wrong meds. She was great before we brought her in. Had a healthy appetite, showed nothing of any pain. Still no word from the VET!! I think they know what they did. I truly believe this was malpractice. We miss her so much. It's so hard.

I found this on a website: Maximum effect is seen approximately 8 hours after administration. When beginning a trial course of meloxicam, a response may take 3 or 4 days to show. If no response has been seen in 10 days, meloxicam has failed and a different pain medication should be tried. If one NSAID fails, another may well work. I hope he gets relief soon.

We almost lost our 15 month old Cockapoo and we fear it was due to this drug 'Metacam'. We brought our dog to the vet with a slightly sore paw, nothing we were overly concerned about as he was putting weight on the foot and in good spirits. Reluctantly we agreed to our dog being given an antibiotic and an injection of Metacam (we felt this was a bit unnecessary but we trusted the vets opinion and that we were doing the best for our dog). That same day the dog was groggy and lethargic. By that same night our dog was groaning with pain so we gave him half a painkiller prescribed by the vet. The next morning our poor dog couldn't move, he lay unresponsive and couldn't lift his body weight upright. He wasn't eating or drinking a thing! If we touched any part of his body he was in severe pain. Our dog is very energetic with a great appetite and we were very worried! We returned to the vet and found our dog was running a very high temperature. The vet was adamant that this was as a result of his sore paw and possible bone infection and was very critical of the dog breed. Our dog was kept in over night and medicated with paracetamol and an IV antibiotic. Within 24hours our dog was returning to normal. The vet insisted we do an x-ray and nothing showed up. Thankfully we were able to discharge our pet after two nights but found the vet very reluctant to talk about what and how much medication he had prescribed our dog. We have no way to ever know for sure the reason our dog fell unresponsive within a couple of hours but we can't shake the feeling that it has a strong connection with the Metacam he was administered on first meeting the vet. We have also noticed our dog's weight is not correct on his medication label - it is double his weight! Finally, when leaving the vet practice with the prescribed medications, the vet had to call us back as he has prescribed double painkiller doses. The vet carried out a blood test without our knowledge and still has not disclosed the result of this blood test. When asked to discuss our concerns the vet became extremely defensive and condescending towards us. We would love to put our minds at ease and find out if any other dog owners experienced this reaction to Metacam or if it sounds like a over dosage of Metacam?

Don't ever give your dogs human painkillers without consulting with your vet first! They can be toxic and extremely dangerous for dogs. Besides there are so many painkillers and anti-inflammatories on the market that are especially for dogs. Why don't you look into them before just giving your dog a human advil? Also if your dog is limping, it could be a sign of a torn ACL and that's a serious issue that needs to be treated and looked at by a medical professional! If you just give your dog a pain killer and try to mask the pain, what you may very well end up doing is making the problem worse and creating further complications down the line. My dog tore her ACL and it was a long recovery process (without surgery). We give her this Inflamex all natural anti-inflammatory for dogs from the online store ortocanis and we also use their knee brace for dogs, during her recovery as well as after she recovered to give her that added bit of stability to her knee. While doing your research into products for dogs if they're experimenting pain and mobility problems is a good way to go, nothing is going to to substitute the opinion and diagnosis of your vet. That's where you really need to start.