female rabbit just spayed

Question
QUESTION: My female rabbit, Sweetie, was just spayed on January 20, 2010.  I was given two weeks worth of Metacam.  My question is how safe is this pain medication for rabbits, and how long should I give Sweetie metacam without it affecting her liver and without her having side effects from it?  I was told 4 days at most.  Sweetie is 3.5lbs.  She is on .25ml of metacam once a day for pain.  She is eating and drinking, she started eating and drinking after surgery, not right after, but on the way home and when I got her home.

How safe is metacam for rabbits?

How long should I give Sweetie metacam for her pain without it affecting her liver and without her having side effects?

ANSWER: Hi,

metacam is very safe for rabbits.  It is an excellent painkiller.  Safest one for owners to give them too.  I'd keep her on it for the 4 days.  Spays are more invasive and potentially painful than neuters, so she needs to be on it that long in order to keep her pain free so she will be able to eat and drink normally.  That's why they put rabbits on pain medicine.  they can't stop eating without dire consequences.  Cats and dogs and people can, but rabbits need to continually graze and drink, and if they are in pain, they won't move.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I was given two weeks worth and the instructions say to give until gone.  It says to give once a day until gone.  Is that safe to do?

Answer
Hi,

a week would probably be sufficient, but what I'd do is on the eighth day, see how she is, and if she is still in her normal routine (moving around, eating, drinking okay, eating hay). If at all she appears to just be sitting tight and compact and/or making hard crunching sounds with her teeth, she's in pain and would need metacam.  Usually by the end of a week she should be feeling a lot better than the first days after the spay.

Save the rest in the refrigerator as part of your emergency med kit supplies for her.  Extra metacam is good to keep in case of problems that would help minimize her pain before getting to a vet (accident, etc).  Never throw pain meds away.  This is better for her than aspirin or anything else you could give her.