dental pain relief

Question
Hi,I wondered if you could give me advice again, my rabbit went for a check up a few weeks ago, she had been on pen g for 4 months for abscesses which thankfully have gone for the time being. the vet checked her back teeth ( her front ones have been removed ) he said they were ok at the moment but might benefit from being filed in a couple of months time, she has a very bony jaw due to the roots of the teeth that were removed, the vet said this could cause her "toothache" i give her a drop of metacam every day, she has been having this drop for months now, is it ok to carry on with metacam for so long? if i try not giving it to her for a few days she goes quiet and gets an upset tummy, hope you can help. thank you

Answer
Dear Susan,

I know of rabbits who have been on Metacam long term with no ill effects, but there is always the concern of kidney insult with this type of analgesic.  You might want to ask the vet about trying tramadol for a while.  It's a synthetic opioid that will not challenge the kidneys, and
is a very effective analgesic.  When combined with metacam, it offers fantastic pain relief, if our anecdotal observations are any indication.

If you suspect that your bunny is having GI problems from the metacam (and even a Cox-2 inhibitor is not perfect), then ask about giving famotidine, an antacid, along with the drugs.

Hope this helps.

Dana