My vet told me that metacam should only be used for short-term use (week or
so). Of course, ask your vet what he/she would recommend.

Sue

"Brian Link" wrote in message
...
When Louis was diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia, the vet gave him an
analgesic and anti-inflammatory (Metacam). His rear leg was almost
unusable when we took him in, but after a week of Metacam and rest,
you'd be hard pressed to notice anything wrong.

Of course, if it is Hip Dysplasia, all this means is that the femur
popped itself back into its ill-fitting pelvic socket after the
swelling went down and he had a few days to rest.

Does anyone know whether Metacam is safe for medium-long term use?
This could allow us to put off surgery for a bit longer than I'd
expected.

Anyway, he's doing very well - though he hasn't jumped up on the
refrigerator, he's playing and happy.

After anguishing about the surgery, a friend reminded me that cats
have free-floating shoulder joints (allowing them to squeeze through
small openings). The Femoral Head Ostectomy surgery seems radical, but
it only results in the hip joints becoming free-floating. There's some
hope (and lots of anecdotal reports) that post-surgery, the cat can
function quite well.

Of course, the sticking point is surgery itself, which is always
risky. Louis is young and healthy though, so his prognosis is pretty
good.

The breeders we bought him from seem to have disappeared. Since HD is
transmitted by both parents, it makes me wonder whether they realized
their queen and sire were damaged goods.

Bengals are marvellous cats, as are many of the pure-breeds. I am now
officially a convert to adopting moggies, though. Tiger, the
Maine-Coonish moggie farm cat, is as active and healthy at 13 as he
was at 2. It's a stark contrast that our little 4 year old Bengal is
more challenged than he is.

BLink
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