metacam long term?

[UpwardDog]

Rosie was given metacam (in addition to two kinds of eye drops) for uveitis/retinitis a week ago. She seems happier on it and the e-vet suggested it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep her on it. I agree that she's more comfortable and energetic on it, though perhaps she has been feeling really crappy with this eye issue.
So, my question is, how do I protect her stomach from the common GI side effects? Daily slippery elm?

[MaisyPancakes]

I do daily slippery elm, usually a bit before her dinner that has Metacam in it—like 15 min or so. I used to give it all together, but started staggering it a bit when we were doing the Minocycline for tick stuff so that it's full-on absorbable. I kind of doubt 15 minutes of delay does anything in the end, but it made me feel better at the time. I also do Milk Thistle and SAMe and stuff like that, too. I'm glad she's feeling better after getting her eye fixed up!

[UpwardDog]

Oh yeah, I could do milk thistle too. I have a ton of it left from Sam. Good thinking!

[LisaT_II]

You can also use Liver Support Factors, I think you might have used that before....

[UpwardDog]

I did use liver support factors for Sam, but it seemed to change. The caplets looked different and he stopped tolerating them.

[LisaT_II]

Oh drat. I haven't used it in awhile...

If there is an intolerance to the slippery elm, marshmallow is also worth trying. I don't know if l-glutamine will protect against nsaids without further googling. Just throwing out stuff.

Of course with uveities I always worry about tick disease. Haven't been following though.