Please take the time to read this and spread the word (it may save a life)!

Last September my little 10 year old baby Opal hurt her back and my vet treated her with steroids (she had a similar problem several years earlier and this was how she had been successfully treated then, so Mike – the vet – decided to go down the same road. This was working, but the problem was still there at the end of the course of tablets, so I returned to the surgery. Mike was on holiday so I saw the locum vet who decided to change from steroids to a NSAID called Metacam. (His first mistake – NSAIDs should not be given until steroids are out of the system and vice versa!)

He asked me how heavy Opal was but I didn’t know so he picked her up as if he was judging her weight. Then he prescribed the drug dosage. I didn’t realise at the time but he had prescribed a 10 kg dose for a 5.5 kg dog. (The drug company have statistics to say that this drug is safe in overdose even to double this level!)

For three days I gave her the medication – during which time she went from being a naught, cheeky 10 year old puppy with backache to a zombie who wouldn’t eat or drink!! On the third night she vomited so violently that I stopped the medication and returned to the surgery the next morning.

Here the vet did not ask about any other symptoms so he never knew that the projectile vomiting was like coffee grounds, that she was refusing food and water (I couldn’t even get much syringed fluid into her and Metacam must not be given to dehydrated animals), or that she became very drowsy and difficult to rouse several hours after dosing. I, only now, know the importance of all these symptoms! I felt very uncomfortable with the man as he was not very communicative and on top of that I was in a highly stressed and emotional state as Opal’s sister Precious was being treated with chemo for lymphosarcoma at the time.

On that morning he said that we could not give her any more of the medicine and asked me again how heavy she was. He then decided to take her the few yards into the waiting room to weigh her, returning in a very jovial manner saying that we had “been a bit over-enthusiastic as she was not 10 kg but only 5.5 kg”!!

He gave her an injection and told me to return the following morning. (Again Metacam – though I was not aware of this)

That evening she was very sleepy and difficult to rouse, but there had been no more vomiting and when I lifted her out she seemed more comfortable.

I returned the following morning and he repeated the injection, as there seemed to be an improvement in the spine. At lunch time I went home to check on her and take her out to relieve herself – she was reasonably alert although I could not persuade her to eat or drink anything.

When I got home at tea time, I thought she was just asleep as she was snoring. Precious had had little accidents all over the floor so I set to cleaning up (I realise now that she had obviously panicked when her sister had the first fit or stroke or whatever!). Once sorted I went to rouse Opal and lift her out of the cage in which she had been confined to aid her recovery.
To my horror, I discovered that she was in fact unconscious. I rushed to the surgery, but she had another fit/stroke on the way and by the time I got there it was too late!

I have to live with my guilt at not questioning the vet’s decision now for the rest of my life. I can never forgive myself for allowing my baby to be subjected to this. I am crying as I write this – but I must write it in the hope it may save lives!

Metacam is used routinely in surgical procedures! It is considered a wonder-drug by the veterinary profession! It belongs to the same family of NSAIDs that has recently hit the headlines and been withdrawn from the human market! I have read hundreds of reports and postings on the Internet from people all in the same boat as me and had email from a pharmacist in the States.

I am aware that many dogs have great relief from this drug but just want people to be aware that there is a contraindication mentioned on the drug leaflet that says that whilst the side effects are usually transient they can in some cases be fatal!!

If your dog is treated with this drug and shows any of the symptoms I have mentioned above, please stop the treatment and demand an alternative.

I can be contacted at any time to discuss this on l.a.wilbourne@freeuk.com Please tell everyone you know about this

How horrible, Lesley! My deepest sympathies for your loss. You've done a truly brave thing in her honor to have posted this. Thank you.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Lesley. The vet was the professional and he let you and your beautiful girl down.

Here in the US, I've found that vets all too often are lax in their responsibilities too. Last winter, a vet told me to dose my 17 pound Shih Tzu with an amount of Tylan that I learned (when he began acting funny) was the standard dosage for dogs weighing more than 50 pounds. Sure, the studies say that dogs tolerate overdoses of this well, but I don't think it was any excuse.

I feel so sad for you, Lesley. You did everything you could. Please accept my condolences for your loss.
Janet

Thank you Janet for your kind words! I blame me because I did not pay attention to my gut instinct when I first read the drug leaflet!!

The awful thing was that I knew Precious had terminal cancer and these two babies were the last of my line - the daughters of my show boy Beau. Precious was affected by her sister's death as the chemo stopped working and I lost her seven weeks later. We'd had a rough couple of months and in my heart I had been promising a very patient Opal some fun times together once her sister had gone - though obviously we didn't get there!

I've been very sad (and I am sad now as I sit and think of this) but my mum has bought me a new baby (Josh) - he's not KC registered so I can't show him but he is everything I need ( a ball of fun with a character much larger than he is!) to stop me wallowing in self-pity.

The plan is:- I break all the record books with a Shih Tzu Obedience Champion (ha! ha!)

I hope your dog was ok after your vet's incompetence! All they need to do really is check the instructions/drug info a little more carefully and perhaps listen to the pharmacists a little more.

Best wishes
Lesley

Dear Lesley
I'm so sorry to hear about your tragedies. My word you've gone through a rough patch. You shouldn't blame yourself though, because when one of your dogs is ill, you automatically panic a little and seek professional advice, which we are led to have faith in. You weren't to know of his incompetence.
Less than 6 months ago, one of my Shih Tzu came down with really bad gastro, in a state of panic I went to my usual vet, unbeknown to me, the regular had left and there was a locum in her place.
He gave me a large bill and left me with little confidence.
I came home, starved Ben for near on 48 hours, even then he only had a little chicken, didn't administer any of the drugs the vet had given me purely because I had little faith in the guy.
I even slept downstairs with him and held his paw all night!!!!
I have since found a wonderful holistic vet called Nick Thompson who is based in the West County but comes up to London once a fortnight.
take care and I hope life is improving for you
Helen

Thank you, Helen, for your kind words.

Yes, life has been brightened somewhat by my bundle of mischief - Josh!!

I just would like as many people as possible to hear and remember the name METACAM or MELOXICAM because it is not as safe as they would have you believe and if the loss of my beautiful baby can prevent the death of just one other animal (or even human) then she will not have died in vain!
Best wishes
Lesley

vets are like doctors you believe they know best but it is not always the case i have learnt to my own cost that you need to argue with them and ask lots of questions you did what you thought was the best at the time sue

Just to add to my original post - my sisiter has the litter sister to my little Opal and she has been on another NSAID for some time now for a back problem. I begged my sister to check it out as I was very concerned that Meg spent most of each day in a deep sleep and she was having breathing problems (wheezing and coughing) which the vet could not diagnose. They were only 10 - their dad was still romping around at 14! Anyway, my sis tragically lost her other younger heinz57 and was very unhappy with the vet. At this point we chatted again and she decided to try Meg without the NSAIDs, giving her a natural pain relieving remedy called MOBILEASE instead.
I could not believe the difference in her when I saw her last week - she is lively, the breathing is greatly improved, she is not holding herself rigid anymore and she is pestering my sister to take her out for walks (something she hasn't wanted to do for a long time)!!
Taking her off the tablets has given her back her quality of life!

I am so sorry to hear of your loss but thank you for putting this information on the internet. I too am fighting for my Cavalier King Charles Spanials life at the moment after an overdose of Metacam after the nurse at my vets showed me the wrong dosage on the syringe and for three days I gave her 10 times more than she needed.
She is now being sick and although at the weekend we thought she had turned the corner, I went home today and she started yelping in pain and was sick again. I have found that milk with water stops the cramps. Megan is only 4 1/2 months old and is tiny. I pray that she will survive and she has now been fighting for a week. We only took her to the vets for a small scratch on her eye which she had got through running in the garden - I thought she had conjunctivitus! The eye cleared up straight away. I didnt think she was in that much pain but I did what I was told by the vets and the nurse. I will never again trust what they say.

Oh Sosler your poor dog, I so hope she pulls through, my thoughts and prayers are with you and Megan.

Please keep in touch and let us know how she is doing.

Sosler,
My heart goes out to you. You must be devestated.
Thinking of you and Megan ,sending our heartfelt wishes, let us know how it goes

Click to view attachmentThank you so much for your kind words, Megan had a rough night last night with stomach cramps, sickness and watery poo, so I am wondering if with all the medication she has been on to counteract the overdose if she might have constipation or a blockage which is causing her so much pain. We had tried taking her off the medication because she seemed to be responding but last night I put her back on it as I couldnt stand her being in so much pain. I am due to see the vets Wednesday to see where we go from here. I can only pray that we can beat this. I have attached a small picture of her before her illness. I hope you can see it.
Regards and thanks
Sue

Sue, Megan is beautiful and I wish you all the luck in the world, keep positive.

Sue please let us know soon how little Megan
is doing.Btw.. Megan is beautiful.

My thoughts and prayers are with you - as the person who started this topic I KNOW what you are going through. I do hope little Megan wins the fight! Please let us know how you get on.
Best wishes Lesley

Megan is back on full medication - three different tablets to stop pain for stomach ulcers, sickness, build up of acid and a medicine to line her stomach and bowel.
She had an x-ray of her stomach and she hasnt got any blockage and her kidneys and liver are ok.
She has now picked up no end, thank goodness but the vet has warned us that this could be because of the medicine, basically, her stomach needs to heal. She is now eating well, albeit bland food.
As one of the medicines is very strong - Cytotec (and incidentally can cause an abortion if she or I were pregnant and I have to wear gloves when handling) we have to keep an eye on her constantly. This drug is particularly good for stomach ulcers which the vet says she has after the Metacam overdose. I am feeling a lot more hopeful now, and thank you for all your support. She is not out of the woods yet because it is dependent on how she is when she comes off the medication. I'll keep you informed.
Thanks again for all your support
Regards
Sue

That sounds promising so fingers crossed she will keep improving, I really hope she isn't in anymore pain poor thing.

Thanks for keeping us up to date

Glad to hear things are improving for Megan
Keep in touch
Best Wishes
Susanne

I'm glad she seems to be improving - she's one very lucky young lady! I do hope she makes a full recovery.

Best wishes Lesley

Sosler

I'm so glad to hear that Megan is on the mend - you must have been going through hell these past few weeks.

When one of my bitches had gastro and just wasn't clearing up with antibiotics, Gloria (Redhall on OTL) recommended Goats Milk Live Yoghurt to re-line the stomach and calm everything down - it worked a treat. I now give my two girls some of this yoghurt once a month or so, and I've never had an upset tummy since.

I am going to contact the makers of Metacam and ask if I might be allowed to print the contra-indications of this medicine in the club magazine. Having spoken to my vet about it she told me the conditions that it should not be used in which she read to me from her medical journal (she does, of course, know the ways in which it should not be used but wanted to tell me precisely what the makers of the medication say themselves), obviously I need their o.k. to be able to put it into print. You do have to be very careful about the condition of the dog when the medication is prescribed. My best observation having heard what is written in the medical journal would be to tell the vet each and every detail about the dogs health and condition, even things that would not seem to have anything to do with illness. And make sure that they write it down so that there is no mistaking their understanding of the situation. There will always be room for human error, unfortunately, which is no help or comfort when you have a seriously ill or dying dog. All medicines carry some risks so there could always be situations where a medication is given for one aspect of ill health and unknowingly make worse or bring about something much more serious.
Some time ago my sister (who was at that time using a local vet) asked at her vet's for Drontal to worm one of her Shih Tzu. The receptionist/nurse asked her the weight of the dog which she gave in pounds and home she went with the dose and later gave it to the dog. She rang me very late in the evening to say he was bringing up bile which had turned to froth, looked awful and she was extremely worried. I asked her what dosage of Drontal she had given him and she told me two tablets - double the dose he should have had. This is what the nurse had given her. We raced him to my vet at midnight and she put him on a drip for a while gave him something to calm his system down and we waited there until he began to stabilise. He recovered o.k. with no permanent harm done - BUT - my sister never went to that practice again! So even worming can have it's dangers if the wrong dose is administered.

I think it's a lesson to us all to be careful with medicines, I know if there are directions on the box I always double check any weights and dosages but thats not always easy to do if the vets just give you the medicine with no information sheet. It will certainly make me more aware in the future, thanks to everyone who has brought this to our attention, it may save a dogs life.

Hi to everyone who has taken the time to send their wishes to Megan. I have been given her some intensive TLC and I am pleased to report that she is now gaining a little weight and has stopped having the stomach pains that caused her so much distress. She is still on the strong medication but the vet seems to think that after Wednesday when we go back to see her again that she should be able to be wheened off of it.

The other thing I was told was to try and keep her stomach full so that the acids didnt build up and attack the stomach lining. I did this with Goats milk and a digestive biscuit just before I went to bed at night and chicken with the skin on because the fat takes longer to digest so will keep her full. She is now looking happy again, her coat is shinning and she is back to her mischievious ways. Thank God.

Megan has been so lucky and I thank you all for your support.

Suprisingly, the vet practice has now sent me a bill!!! I am of course now disputing it. I will let you know how I get on.

Thank you all again.
Best wishes
Sue

I am so pleased for you and Megan!! My little Opal never had a chance - and the vet even charged me for the euthanasia!! I wish you luck with the dispute tho I somehow think you won't get very far!!!

Best wishes Lesley

Am so glad Sue that Megan has picked up, stand your ground with the vet even if you don't get very far, i would!!
Susanne

Just to let you know, Megan has now made a full recovery. She is now growing and coat is back to normal. She still expects to be handfed but thats small price to pay after what she went through.

With regards to the vets - I had a curt letter yesterday saying that he would not be taking me to court for the cost of getting Megan better but he did not want me back at the vets and I was to look for an alternative practice. Customer service or what - I had been with that vets 20 years. Still there was only one person I trusted there now so I suppose it is time to move on.

Please Please be aware of the dangers of Metacam and also never take what the vet says or shows you for granted. Look it up on the internet, ask questions no matter how silly they might sound.

Megan has been lucky, to which I thank god but poor little Opal wasnt and my heart goes out to Lesley because I know how close I came to loosing Megan. I thank you all for listening when I needed the support the most.

Regards
Sue

Hi Sue,

So glad to hear Megan is on the mend. What a relief



As for your vets, I don't think you'll give a backwards glance given the situation you been through, what a cheek.



Warm wishes, Tam

That's great news about Megan

I'm sure you were going to tell the vets to get stuffed anyway

Thanks again for making us all aware of the dangers

Thanks for keeping us up to date and I am so glad Megan has made a full recovery.

I'm so glad Megan has made it! Enjoy your life together.

Thank you for adding to this post (and although I am crying as I type) - if our warnings help just one dog it will have been worth the pain of writing it!

Something I am not sure I have said before is that my vet told me that it is common practice to use Metacam routinely whenever they give any anaesthetic as part of the anaesthesia ... but they don't tell you that when you discuss the operation.

I know if Josh needs an op I will be requesting they use something else!