Companion Animal Products

Canine Osteoarthritis and Acute Pain

In veterinary medicine, as in human medicine, the most common cause of impaired mobility in dogs is osteoarthritis. This can range in severity from slight stiffness to extreme lameness. The main principles of management of osteoarthritis, as with people, are the relief of pain and the control of inflammation (swelling of the joint), to try to keep the joint working, alongside a sensible and controlled weight and exercise programme.

In dogs, identification of pain may be difficult as even affected dogs may behave in a largely normal way. Signs may be subtle including excessive licking, reluctance to play, or difficulty in climbing stairs. Vetmedica supports a combined approach of appropriate therapies to tackle osteoarthritis, centred on reducing pain and inflammation within the joint.

Metacam® plays a vital role in reducing the impact on quality of life that this painful progressive disease brings, and is the number one medicine used by vets treating osteoarthritis in both the UK and Republic of Ireland - in 2004 over 34 million doses of Metacam Oral Suspension were sold.

Just as importantly, Metacam is a honey-flavoured oral suspension which can be added to food or given directly to dogs, thus overcoming the difficulties owners often have in administering medicines to their pet. In a recent survey, 9 out of 10 dog owners who had used Metacam stated their preference for using oral suspensions over tablets.

Further information on the diagnosis of arthritis and how best to care for an arthritic dog, as well as details of the Metacam Continuous Care programme can be found on the Metacam website by clicking here.

Acute Pain

As well as the chronic pain of long-term conditions such as osteoarthritis, there is frequently a need to provide short-term pain relief to veterinary patients. This arises through either acute injuries (such as wounds and fractures), or more commonly around the time of surgery (for routine procedures like neutering and dentistry).

Metacam® Injection for dogs and cats provides reliable, safe, long-lasting pain control appropriate for pain relief around the time of an operation, and also the management of acute injuries. Metacam injection reaches effective levels in the patient shortly after injection, and is selective enough to avoid the side effects associated with some other NSAID injections (which include impaired kidney function, liver damage, and increased bleeding times). Metacam Injection has now enjoyed usage right across Europe since 1996.

After surgery, Metacam Oral Suspension also provides owners with a convenient and easy to use therapy for continued pain relief once a day for as long as necessary.

More information available at the Metacam® website www.metacam.co.uk