Metacam Dosage for Cats Calculator

Meloxicam is an oxicam-class non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that inhibits cyclooxygenase with preferential activity against COX-2, the isoform upregulated at sites of inflammation, reducing prostaglandin-driven pain, swelling and fever. In cats the therapeutic window is narrow and doses sit an order of magnitude below canine figures. Where an oral feline product is licensed, the labelled regimen is 0.1 mg per kilogram on the first day followed by 0.05 mg per kilogram once daily, against roughly 0.1 to 0.2 mg per kilogram daily in dogs; the injectable feline indication is a single subcutaneous dose of 0.3 mg per kilogram for surgical pain. Cats have a well-documented limitation in glucuronide conjugation, a species trait that makes cat-specific dosing and formulation essential rather than something to be scaled down from a dog label. The dominant risk is renal. Prostaglandins maintain glomerular perfusion when circulating volume falls, so an NSAID given to a dehydrated, hypotensive or anaesthetised cat, or to one with pre-existing chronic kidney disease, can precipitate acute kidney injury. Gastrointestinal ulceration and hepatic injury are the other recognised harms. Baseline bloodwork and urine specific gravity before starting, then recheck panels every three to six months on chronic therapy, are standard precautions, and NSAIDs must never be combined with corticosteroids or with a second NSAID. The volumes are tiny: a 4 kg cat on maintenance receives about 0.2 mg, roughly 0.4 ml of the 0.5 mg/ml feline suspension, which is why a graduated dropper or precision oral syringe is required and why substituting the threefold more concentrated canine 1.5 mg/ml product invites overdose.

Meloxicam was developed by Boehringer Ingelheim and entered human medicine in the 1990s as Mobic, marketed for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis on the strength of its COX-2 preference and comparatively favourable gastrointestinal profile. Veterinary versions followed under the Metacam name, first for dogs, where the oral suspension became one of the most widely prescribed canine analgesics for osteoarthritis. The feline story is more cautious and diverged sharply by region. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved injectable meloxicam for cats in 2004, but only as a single one-time subcutaneous dose for post-operative pain; after reports of acute renal failure and death associated with repeated dosing, the agency required a boxed warning against giving additional doses to cats. European and other regulators took a different route, licensing a dilute 0.5 mg/ml oral suspension specifically for cats with a low maintenance dose intended for long-term musculoskeletal pain. That divergence prompted the profession to examine the evidence directly: in 2010 the International Society of Feline Medicine and the American Association of Feline Practitioners published consensus guidelines on long-term NSAID use in cats in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, concluding that chronic low-dose therapy can be appropriate in carefully selected and monitored patients, including some with stable chronic kidney disease. Those guidelines, together with growing recognition that feline osteoarthritis is common and badly under-treated, shaped the monitoring-heavy approach used today.