Metacam Oral Suspension

You will need a written prescription to purchase Metacam from our website, it is advised to contact your vet regarding whether this medication would be suitable. It acts very similarly to Bute so you would need to use one or the other and not both. More information on this process can be found here.

Metacam is a prescription only medicine (POM-V classified) and so you need a written prescription to purchase it with us. I apologise for any inconvenience caused. More information on this process can be found in the link below:
https://www.viovet.co.uk/medication-supplements/prescription-medication

The manufacturers suggest that once opened the bottle will last 6 months and that you should discard the bottle even if you have some left after this time.

This is a very good question. The situation is that Metacam is remarkably safe in most dogs, but much less so if they suffer from certain medical conditions. Reduced liver function is one of these, so there is certainly a risk involved in using Metacam in your dog. That does not mean it is definitely a bad idea, but you have to balance that risk against the perceived benefit (control of pain and inflammation). You should discuss it with your vet who will be more familiar with the precise nature and degree of your dog's condition. I must admit that it I were going to use Metacam, I would start at a very lose dose and possibly monitor liver enzyme levels etc while doing so. If you feel your dog does not particularly need this treatment, it would be safer to avoid it.

If your vet is prepared to supply you with a particular medication such as Metacam, then they are not allowed to refuse to write you a prescription. They are howver allowed to charge a small feed which is usually about £10-15. For long term medication, you can ask your vet to write repeats which will allow you to use the prescription multiple times before going back for a new one which will save more money.

A vet may only refuse to write a prescription if they are not willing to prescribe and supply you with the medication themselves, as this means that they do not feel it is suitable for your animal.

You can then email, fax, upload or post your prescription to us.

There will not be a direct link with the Metacam, but possibly an indirect one:

Any male cat prone to any cystitis type problem is at risk of developing urethral obstruction at some point in future. It is not rare. Various factors increase that risk, including illness of some other type, altered eating and drinking habits, reduced mobility for a while (and holding on to the urine for longer than normal) etc. These other things might have triggered the cystitis, but it could have happened just the same, with or without the Metacam.

Personally I would suggest that in future you do not give your cat any dried food. If he eats only moist food, he is very unlikely ever to get these urinary problems, because they are rare in cats producing dilute urine. Cats on dried food can produce very concentrated urine at times, which is a risk factor in itself.

Metacam for dogs came out long before the cat version. Until that time, Metacam for dogs was commonly used in cats. This can however cause serious trouble if it is done inappropriately and if the cat has kidney or gastro-intestinal trouble, or is ill in some other way. Therefore we would not be able to recommend you do this without talking to your own vet first. Doing as you suggest is in fact against current prescribing regulations, so your vet might not feel able to help much either. (Metacam for dogs is three times as strong as the cat version, and the dose rate for dogs is twice that for cats anyway, so a cat should receive one sixth of the amount recommended for a dog of the same weight.)