From:
Alison Skipper
Date: 2001-02-26 08:01:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Digest Number 14
> "Ulrike wrote:
> Great to have a UK ferret vet on the ferret health list! I'm glad you
> posted and said that you've had experience with giving Rimadyl, at least I
> won't be frightened if my vets want to use it again... It's just after
> reading about dogs who have gone into liver failure, I was scared that it
> might happen to one of the ferrets.
Well, it might, but I think it's a slight risk rather than a near certainty, as some dog lists imply. We have a (dog and cat) orthopaedic specialist in our practice, who obviously gets through bucketloads of the stuff, and he'd never heard of Rimadyl liver problems till I asked him about it a while back following an Internet discussion. Doesn't mean it doesn't ever happen, though....
> So Rimadyl and Metacam are used as pain killers? And they're
> anti-inflammatory? They seem to have a wide range of use...
Not all painkillers are anti-inflammatory (eg morphine), but anti-inflammatory drugs generally reduce pain to a greater or lesser degree, because the chemical processes of inflammation (which I used to be able to write out, once upon a time, but now can only vaguely remember without looking them up) are painful. So the two effects are related. Since Dr Williams is a pathologist and more up to speed than I am on this sort of thing he may be able to clarify further - my brain is too mushy after a evening with my pyrexic toddler...
> Is Metacam the
> better choice?
How long is a piece of string? Even in dogs, where both drugs are tested, I find that some respond better/have fewer problems with one and some the other. For long term treatment Metacam is a lot more practical for small animals, eg rats, because you can give a small dose accurately by mouth, as it can be measured in drops. We sometimes give our more committed rabbit owners both antibiotics and Rimadyl to give by injection at home, pre-measured, and that seems to work well in some cases. Both are used by exotics vets in the UK, and I haven't heard convincing arguments
one way or the other yet.
I can see I am about to become a crashing bore on the subject of Rimadyl, and since I am not a great expert on it anyway, I shall shut up!
Best wishes,
Alison Skipper MRCVS, UK