[Eeyore]

I took my lame hen to the vet who examined her and prescribed Meloxaid 1.5mg (dog strength).  The vet got her book out to ascertain the correct dosage and told me to give her it for 5 days.  When I got home and went to give my hen the instructed dosage I thought it seemed wrong.  I am aware (please correct me if this is wrong) the dosage for a hen is 0.1mg per KG.  Well the vet instructed me to use the meloxaid syringe and to draw 30kg - what you would give a 30kg dog!  My hen weighs 3kg.  I do remember the vet said she was prescribing double the normal amount for a 3kg hen as she seemed to be in a bit of pain.


Any thoughts?

[bj_cardiff]

I'd ring the surgery and ask the admin staff to double check the dosage

[chrismahon]

I seem to remember the correct dosage for a cat is the same as a chicken and the dog dosage is twice as strong. So you should be drawing the dosage for a 3 Kg dog. As said, check with the surgery because I can't imagine a 20x dose will do her any good.


The alternative for pain relief is half a 300mg Asprin per day- vet prescribed it for us and it works very well indeed. Usually only need it once or twice.

[doganjo]

OMG that's far too much for a hen,  Hope you haven't done it

[Eeyore]

No, I haven't given her that strength - I'm waiting on the vet phoning me back.

[doganjo]

No, I haven't given her that strength - I'm waiting on the vet phoning me back.

And ten hours later she's still in pain?

[Possum]

You might need to think about another vet for your chickens!

[doganjo]

Is she still in pain? #eeyore

[fsmnutter]

You say the vet got  her book out to check the correct dosage, and you are questioning it now on a forum rather than at the time with the vet?
As a vet myself, we don't prescribe medication for chickens as often as we do cats and dogs, and the medications are licensed for dogs and cats so the dosage on the bottle is for dogs and cats. We will usually have to look up the dosage for chickens to make sure it is correct and the most up to date evidence for that dose.
As chickens have a faster metabolism than dogs and cats, the dose is higher for chickens. The dose for dogs is 0.1mg/kg per day, so that is how the dog syringe is calibrated, so when chickens require a higher dose, it is usually a dose that is considerably more than their actual weight. 1mg/kg once a day is a very commonly used dose in chickens,  so as this is 10 times the dog dose, your vet is absolutely correct to say to give 30kg dose for your 3kg chicken. 
I hope your chicken feels better soon and you feel more confident to ask about the dose before leaving the practice if you are unsure about any medications in future.

[doganjo]

Thanks for that FSN - I was mistaken, my apologies.  Even at 75 (almost) I am learning every day.

I hope the hen is much better

[Eeyore]

Thanks everyone, yes my vet clarified the dosage was correct and hen is doing ok.