Pharmacokinetics and Milk Depletion of Meloxicam and Gabapentin in Lactating Holsteins

Abstract

There is an urgent need for safe and effective treatments to prevent and mitigate pain in food-producing ruminants. Two excellent candidates for this purpose are meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and gabapentin, an analogue of the neurotransmitter GABA that was originally developed as an anti-epileptic. Gabapentin is currently used to control neuropathic pain in humans. Neither of these drugs are approved for use in cattle, and bovine practitioners must comply with the requirements of the Animal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA, 1994) to use them in an extralabel manner in their patients. One of the AMDUCA requirements is the availability of scientific data on which to base an appropriate withdrawal interval to prevent harmful residues from entering the food chain. The purpose of this study was to generate such data for milk following co-administration of meloxicam and gabapentin to lactating Holstein cows.