daisy1
Member
My 5 year old bunny has arthritis. Is given medication twice a day, but I'm not sure if this is effective. Seems to be moving more slowly. I have heard there is an option for an injection. Any experience with this please?
Arthritis
- Thread starter daisy1
- Start date
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If it's meloxicam that was prescribed, and isn't a sufficient dose, it won't be very effective. Studies found that rabbits typically need a much higher dose than other animals due to their faster metabolism, and inexperienced vets often under dose this in rabbits, going off the dog dose instead.
Usually the recommended long term rabbit dosing is between 0.3-0.6mg/kg twice a day, provided kidney function is good and the rabbit consumes sufficient fluids. My 1.7kg arthritic rabbit was on 0.75mg twice a day (0.5ml of 1.5/ml suspension). Anything less and she'd show stiffness and discomfort.
https://www.vgr1.com/metacam/
If your rabbit is getting a sufficient dose of meloxicam, it may be your rabbit has more severe arthritis and other steps to alleviate the discomfort may be needed. There is an injection that may help, but can take a month before seeing improvement. Here in the US it's called Adequan, I think cartrophen is similar, so check whichever one you have available in your country.
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Arthritis
www.medirabbit.com/EN/Bone_diseases/Osteo/arthritis.htm
https://www.unusualpetvets.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Arthritis.pdf
There was a past RO member that tried Adequan injections with his arthritic rabbit and saw a drastic improvement. So certainly worth looking into. You may even be able to take your bun off the meloxicam if the Adequan/cartrophen is effective, which would be better as meloxicam can be hard on their kidneys.
Usually the recommended long term rabbit dosing is between 0.3-0.6mg/kg twice a day, provided kidney function is good and the rabbit consumes sufficient fluids. My 1.7kg arthritic rabbit was on 0.75mg twice a day (0.5ml of 1.5/ml suspension). Anything less and she'd show stiffness and discomfort.
https://www.vgr1.com/metacam/
If your rabbit is getting a sufficient dose of meloxicam, it may be your rabbit has more severe arthritis and other steps to alleviate the discomfort may be needed. There is an injection that may help, but can take a month before seeing improvement. Here in the US it's called Adequan, I think cartrophen is similar, so check whichever one you have available in your country.
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Arthritis
www.medirabbit.com/EN/Bone_diseases/Osteo/arthritis.htm
https://www.unusualpetvets.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Arthritis.pdf
There was a past RO member that tried Adequan injections with his arthritic rabbit and saw a drastic improvement. So certainly worth looking into. You may even be able to take your bun off the meloxicam if the Adequan/cartrophen is effective, which would be better as meloxicam can be hard on their kidneys.
