Meloxicam tablets?

[cate1124]

Has anyone had a vet prescribe the tablet form of meloxicam vs. the oral suspension?
I know the latter is more common, and perhaps the 7.5 mg tablets contain too high a dose to be successfully split for even a large chicken. My elder brahma with arthritis will readily take tabs in food, and a mobile vet will prescribe the tablets, which my local Safeway pharmacy stocks. But previously, I've had this prescribed only as a liquid, which you have to get from the vet's office. (I am trying to avoid taking her to my regular avian vet, as they're offering only curbside service, and it's important to me to be present to see that this old hen gets handled gently. )

 

[JustSarahThanks]

Has anyone had a vet prescribe the tablet form of meloxicam vs. the oral suspension?
I know the latter is more common, and perhaps the 7.5 mg tablets contain too high a dose to be successfully split for even a large chicken. My elder brahma with arthritis will readily take tabs in food, and a mobile vet will prescribe the tablets, which my local Safeway pharmacy stocks. But previously, I've had this prescribed only as a liquid, which you have to get from the vet's office. (I am trying to avoid taking her to my regular avian vet, as they're offering only curbside service, and it's important to me to be present to see that this old hen gets handled gently. )

I dealt with a wing fracture over the summer and our avian DVM had us give meloxicam in tablet form. Apparently they tolerate it very well. We were prescribed 7.5mg at 1/4 tablet twice daily, concealed the doses in a little glob of squeezy cheese which the chicken went totally bananas for and ate up without ever knowing there was a piece of a pill inside.

 

[cate1124]

I dealt with a wing fracture over the summer and our avian DVM had us give meloxicam in tablet form. Apparently they tolerate it very well. We were prescribed 7.5mg at 1/4 tablet twice daily, concealed the doses in a little glob of squeezy cheese which the chicken went totally bananas for and ate up without ever knowing there was a piece of a pill inside.

This is reassuring, thanks! Do you know, roughly, your chicken's weight? And how long you gave it? In observing her, did it seem to help with the pain?

Research indicates Meloxicam is the safest and most effective of the NSAIDS for chickens. I've been trying aspirin with my girl -- one low dose tablet, daily, split morning and evening -- but am not getting the response I want.

 

[JustSarahThanks]

This is reassuring, thanks! Do you know, roughly, your chicken's weight? And how long you gave it? In observing her, did it seem to help with the pain?

Research indicates Meloxicam is the safest and most effective of the NSAIDS for chickens. I've been trying aspirin with my girl -- one low dose tablet, daily, split morning and evening -- but am not getting the response I want.

Well, I'm not sure what Goga's weight was during the treatment because she broke her wing at 13 weeks of age and she was receiving treatment for about a solid month and therefore pretty much doubled in size over that period. Her dosage was not adjusted by the avian DVM in that period, for what that's worth. We also were doing multiple pain management modalities and so she was also gabapentin (and briefly tramadol, but we discontinued that a few days after starting it). As far as I know it all helped? It's hard to say because of course they hide pain and injuries as best they can.

 

[cate1124]

Well, I'm not sure what Goga's weight was during the treatment because she broke her wing at 13 weeks of age and she was receiving treatment for about a solid month and therefore pretty much doubled in size over that period. Her dosage was not adjusted by the avian DVM in that period, for what that's worth. We also were doing multiple pain management modalities and so she was also gabapentin (and briefly tramadol, but we discontinued that a few days after starting it). As far as I know it all helped? It's hard to say because of course they hide pain and injuries as best they can.

She must have been pretty light at 13 weeks. And she was on Meloxicam the whole month? It sounds as if you really went to bat for your little girl. That's good to hear. I hope she fully recovered. They're resilient when young and you sure gave her lots of help.

 

[JustSarahThanks]

She must have been pretty light at 13 weeks. And she was on Meloxicam the whole month? It sounds as if you really went to bat for your little girl. That's good to hear. I hope she fully recovered. They're resilient when young and you sure gave her lots of help.

She made about as full of a recovery as any of us could have hoped for. Nowadays unless you specifically knew that she broke that wing and were looking for signs you would never be able to tell. She has as much flight ability as any of them have. Really the only lasting negative consequence from her ordeal is that she now gets bullied a lot (we're working on it).

But not to go off topic entirely, we still have some leftover meloxicam (and tramadol too) that are now just a part of my little chicken medicine cabinet. Handy to have just in case something comes up.

 

[cate1124]

She's a Sussex! I have two Sussex pullets. So glad she recovered as well as she did. I am thinking I'll go ahead and take my hen into the avian vet I trust most, despite the limitations and concerns associated with curbside protocols. Assuming she agrees with Meloxicam and thinks the liquid and tablet forms equal, I'll ask her to prescribe the tabs for pharmacy pick-up. (It's around $5 for 30 of them with a GoodRX coupon.) That way I'd have a stash, too, for future arthritic flare-ups.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me! I've attached a photo of my old brahma in their run when she was getting around better last summer.

 

[JustSarahThanks]

She's a Sussex! I have two Sussex pullets. So glad she recovered as well as she did. I am thinking I'll go ahead and take my hen into the avian vet I trust most, despite the limitations and concerns associated with curbside protocols. Assuming she agrees with Meloxicam and thinks the liquid and tablet forms equal, I'll ask her to prescribe the tabs for pharmacy pick-up. (It's around $5 for 30 of them with a GoodRX coupon.) That way I'd have a stash, too, for future arthritic flare-ups.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me! I've attached a photo of my old brahma in their run when she was getting around better last summer.

For what it's worth, with Goga's above mentioned veterinary adventures over the summer we got to experience the curbside protocols of two different veterinary practices (first our local 24-hour emergency clinic and then all the many follow ups at the main avian vet) and both of them had it down to a good streamlined flow for the most part. It's a very different way to go through a veterinary appointment for sure, but they've all adapted pretty well. I hope you get the answers you need and you're able to get her the meloxicam she needs! She's a gorgeous bird.

 

[cate1124]

Thanks so much! The curbside protocol at my chicken vet isn't bad, but I've got only a TracFone, so we can't just chat, crystal clear, on a normal cell phone in real time. Plus, I'm feeling overprotective of this big old achy bird, wanting to ensure she is handled with exceptional gentleness and care. Which, you know, they might do, being vets and all. Anyway, I appreciate hearing from you. I know I can get the meloxicam 7.5 mg tablets tomorrow from either the mobile or regular vet, and knowing that form was prescribed by an avian vet trusted by an obviously on-the-ball chicken keeper helps. Oh, I'm amazed that you took your girl to an emergency vet. I can only imagine their response!

 

[JustSarahThanks]

Thanks so much! The curbside protocol at my chicken vet isn't bad, but I've got only a TracFone, so we can't just chat, crystal clear, on a normal cell phone in real time. Plus, I'm feeling overprotective of this big old achy bird, wanting to ensure she is handled with exceptional gentleness and care. Which, you know, they might do, being vets and all. Anyway, I appreciate hearing from you. I know I can get the meloxicam 7.5 mg tablets tomorrow from either the mobile or regular vet, and knowing that form was prescribed by an avian vet trusted by an obviously on-the-ball chicken keeper helps. Oh, I'm amazed that you took your girl to an emergency vet. I can only imagine their response!

I called ahead before we brought her just thinking that they *might* like a heads up that a chicken was coming their way, in case they had any specific staff or DVMs who were more comfortable with avian medicine... I was a veterinary assistant for eight years and it just seemed like common courtesy to give them the heads up, even though on their ER phone tree they say you don't need to call ahead when you're coming in. In our adventures Goga saw two different ER vets and one definitely seemed more comfortable with avian medicine than the other was. Not that we ever felt like the quality of care was lacking, just, you know... an impression.

I assume the vet will talk about this and apologies if it's totally obvious and you're way ahead of me here, but if your chickie has been on aspirin you're probably going to need to do a 72 hour washout before putting her on meloxicam to not overload her liver with too many NSAIDs. You sound like you know your stuff and have been through a lot of this stuff already, so apologies if it's redundant information, but I felt it was worth mentioning.