My 120 lb dog got 15mg Meloxicam for arthritis. Is that dose too high?

Unfortunately, by law it is illegal for the experts at Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to give the dose information for any drug without seeing the animal in person first. That's because doing so requires a veterinary client patient relationship which cannot be achieved via an internet forum. In addition, the experts cannot say for certain if a specific drug is safe for your dog. You need to take Demi into the vet who can prescribe Meloxicam to him and can give him the correct dose.

No, I would not give this to Dixie. It may be the incorrect dose for her, and you can accidentally do harm to her by giving her it. I would have her seen by a vet first thing Monday. Until then, I would rest her and keep her as quiet as possible. You can give her glucosamine and chondrotin sulfate supplements which help with joint problems such as arthritis.

The dose of meloxicam is not toxic for a dog this size. I am unsure how much Carprieve he received as you just state "half a tablet". There are multiple milligram strengths of carprieve. The big concern with these is when you give multiple NSAIDs together you could cause a stomach ulcer. Be on the lookout for vomiting / lethargy and if you see anything, I would get Steel in to a veterinarian as soon as possible. I hope this helps!

Hi, I see you've posted again...you have confirmed that this is a massive overdose of meloxicam for a dog that size and it would definitely cause her to be lethargic. Overdoses are most concerning for causing stomach and/or intestinal ulcers/bleeding. It can also cause significant damage to the kidneys. For these reasons, I recommend you take Polly to the vet immediately. There are medications and treatments that can keep this from getting worse and it's imperative that they are given soon. However, it's worth double-checking the syringe. Liquid meloxicam is usually given with a small 1ml syringe. The 1ml may be written as 1.0ml, which could be confused with 10. A 10ml syringe is considerably bigger and would be quite difficult to give to a cat. Below is a link to a guide that explains the syringe sizes better: http://www.vgr1.com/metacam/

Hello. So sorry to hear that Goliath is having this issue. I would recommend you STOP giving the Meloxicam right away and I would honestly take him in to an emergency vet clinic to be seen right away. I think his dose of Meloxicam is quite high and it may be upsetting his stomach and could be causing some damage to his kidneys. With my calculations he should have been getting 7.5mg once a day, not twice. I would recommend he go in for some bloodwork to check his kidney values and get some additional medications to protect his stomach lining. If his kidney values are elevated he may need to be hospitalized so he can be on fluids to flush out his kidneys. I don't want to scare you but this could be a pretty serious issue. I wouldn't wait too long to have him seen. The longer you wait, the more damage that could be done to his body. I hope this was helpful. I am hoping for the best for Goliath. Dr. Amber

Meloxicam can be used in cats but with caution. Giving the wrong dose of meloxicam can be very dangerous for cats. The low dose (0.5 mg/ml) formula can be dosed with the provided syringe. In the cat this product is given either as a single one time injection in association with surgery (its FDA approved use) or long term 2-3 times per week (its non-U.S. dose). Long term use of this product in cats is "off label" in the U.S. In my opinion, there is a specific NSAID made for cats called Onsior that would be safer to give.

Unfortunately this is a very large dose for his size. Also, if he has kidney problems he could be even more sensitive than normal cats. I would have your vet or your local emergency take a look at him. They may want to check his bloodwork to ensure his kidney values look okay and also make sure he is able to pass irons. If he is blocked and cannot urinate then This can also cause more issues with his kidneys. I hope this helps and he starts to feel better soon.