The Palatability and Comparative Efficacy of Meloxicam Oral Suspension for the Treatment of Chronic Musculoskeletal Disease in Horses

The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and ease of treatment of an oral meloxicam suspension for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal lameness in horses. A crossover palatability study consisting of 30 healthy horses and ponies was conducted to compare the time to consume a 400-gram meal of oats alone to a 400-gram meal of oats top dressed with meloxicam oral suspension (MOS) (0.6 mg/kg body weight [BW]). The mean time to consume a 400-gram meal of oats only was 301.0 ± 145 seconds and was 286.3 ± 125.6 seconds for MOS. There was no difference between the consumption duration times of oats with or without MOS. Horses (77) were enrolled into a blinded, active-controlled, randomized clinical study. Treatment 1 consisted of animals receiving MOS (0.6 mg/kg BW q24 hours for 5 days), and treatment 2 consisted of animals receiving phenylbutazone paste (1 g/454 kg BW, q12 hours for 5 days). Animals were treated on day 0 and evaluated for lameness associated with of musculoskeletal disease on day 5. For both treatments 1 and 2, the day 5 lameness scores were significantly less than the day 0 lameness scores. At a walk and trot, there were no differences in efficacy between phenylbutazone and MOS (based on absolute score values, differences in scores between day 0 and day 5, and proportion of horses responding to treatment). It was concluded that MOS was palatable and effective for the treatment of musculoskeletal disease.