Effects of a 28 day oral meloxicam or carprofen treatment in dogs.

摘要

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used in veterinary medicine for treatment of chronic and acute pain but its indiscriminate use has been linked to Gastric Erosive-ulcerative Disease. The effect of oral carprofen and meloxicam given for 28 consecutive days on clinical, gastroscopical and histopathogical findings in dogs is reported. Groups of 6 dogs each were given oral 4.4 mg carprofen/kg or meloxicam 0.1 mg/kg. A group of 4 controls were not treated. All groups underwent the same protocol. Liver function, urinalysis and complete blood count did not change between groups or before and after treatments and remained within normal limits. However, dogs given carprofen had isolated episodes of vomiting and diarrhea during treatment and those treated with meloxicam suffered diarrhea, melena and hematochezia after the 14th day of treatment. All dogs showed mild to moderate macroscopic and microscopic gastric mucosal variations without any significant difference between groups. The findings suggest it is possible to orally administer carprofen to dog for 28 consecutive days without undue effects. Treatments with meloxicam may have induced clinical signs of gastropathy after the 10th day of treatment.