Meloxicam is a therapeutic substance to which a “Screening Limit” is applied.
The “Screening Limit” means the concentration of the therapeutic substance or its specified metabolite present in a sample during a screening test or analysis as specified in AR 257, above which the therapeutic substance will be notified as a prohibited substance. The screening limit for meloxicam is 10ng/ml in urine and 1ng/ml in plasma.
The published Detection Time for orally administered meloxicam (Metacam® Boehringer Ingelheim, 0.6mg/kg for 14 days, once daily) is 72 hours for this dosage regimen and pharmaceutical.
It must be noted that ‘Detection Times’ are not equivalent to safe ‘Recommended Withdrawal Periods’.
There are numerous factors that may affect the clearance of a drug from a horses system. In making any decision regarding the administration of a prohibited substance to a horse that is entered to race, industry participants are responsible for undertaking the appropriate level of due diligence and risk analysis in researching the available information on detection periods, including the seeking of veterinary advice and adding an adequate safety margin.
Participants are advised to take a conservative approach when calculating withdrawal times for therapeutic substances where information on detection times is available.