Reddit mentions of Natural Science - Joint Supplement, 60 Count

As someone who adopted two senior peegs, i salute you! I love older peegs. I recommend starting her on a joint support supplement because my veterinarian recently informed me that guinea pigs develop severe arthritis of the knees after 4 years of age. This is what i give my piggies every day

Natural Science - Joint Supplement, 60 Count

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PZEC52/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_mYQIwb7H2FJW4

In addition to glucosamine (Myristol pellets, or these), I'm giving mine:

• 85ml pomegranate juice which is an anti-inflammatory (this might not be a good idea if your bun is on the plump side, I've tried giving mine crushed pomegranate seed, but he won't touch it).
  
  
• 100mg (roughly) Omega 3 which is found in linseed/flaxseed/hempseed. I'm just using vegetarian omega 3 capsules for this.
  
  He also gets a mixture with ginger, turmeric and sage, which are said to be good for joints, I doubt it, but it is cheap and he likes it.
  
  
  My vet also mentioned Devil's claw (Harpagophytum), but I never got anywhere with that as I wasn't able to calculate a sensible dosage.

As /u/sneaky_dragon was referencing..... Twice a day is much better as "Plasma drug levels decreased rapidly to near-undetectable levels by 24 h." Giving it once a day creates a large swing in pain relief. Rabbits metabolize Meloxicam much faster than cats or dogs.

There are many concentrations of Meloxicam. The most common are for cats 0.5 mg/mL and dogs 1.5 mg/mL. Base on the info you gave 2 mL once a day for a 2.6 lbs rabbit is 2.54 mg/kg using the dog version. This is way to high so guessing your vet is giving the cat version. This works out to 0.85 mg/kg and is an 'ok' amount. Many vets are afraid to dose high... yours looks like they aren't.

There are side effects from any med... with Meloxicam the main concerns are kidney, liver, and in some rarer cases bone issues. It's a tradeoff... 'quality of life' type of thing. I have known a few owners that have used 1.0 mg/kg+ doses on rabbits for 4+ years with no issues. Many vets will do a blood test every 6-12 months (depends on vet) to make sure things are fine for long term use.

There are other options that might help. Oxbow makes a joint supplement that some have had luck with. Bunspace sells a pellet that has glucosamine in it along with a few other things that might help. Make sure to ask your vet before changing anything.