Bronchopneumonia in calves: does adding meloxicam to antimicrobial therapy improve cure and weight gain? — POSSIBLE

In calves and fattening cattle with bovine respiratory disease (bronchopneumonia), does adding meloxicam to antimicrobial therapy vs antimicrobial therapy alone (or with another NSAID) improve clinical cure and weight gain?

Shelf #876 · gate-verified and displayed under the developer's blinded-trial rule

POSSIBLE: Adding a single dose of meloxicam to antimicrobial therapy improved longer-term performance outcomes in one blinded randomised field trial, while short-term clinical scores did not separate meloxicam from another NSAID adjunct. In Friton 2005 (blind, controlled, randomised; 200 fattening cattle with bovine respiratory disease, all given oxytetracycline 20 mg/kg), cattle also given meloxicam 0.5 mg/kg had significantly higher mean bodyweight from day 70 until slaughter, significantly higher average daily weight gain until slaughter and carcase weight, and significantly less lung tissue affected among animals with lung lesions (the abstract reports significance without the numerical weights, so no kilogram figures are stated). In Friton 2004 (randomised, blind, positive-controlled; 201 feedlot cattle with bronchopneumonia, all given oxytetracycline), clinical sum scores improved equally with meloxicam or flunixin adjuncts (day 7 scores 10.55 vs 10.88 from baselines of 16.18 and 16.41), with a lower mean rectal temperature on day 2 in the meloxicam group (P ≤ 0.01). In an experimental Mannheimia haemolytica challenge study (Achard 2018), a florfenicol–meloxicam combination cured 100% of calves versus 29.6% on saline, but that comparison does not isolate meloxicam's contribution. Design class (a): randomisation and blinding are both established by carded records — Friton 2005 states 'blind, controlled, randomised' in its own wording with MeSH Double-Blind Method, and Friton 2004 states 'randomised blind'. No carded record carries a mortality-primary benefit claim, so this pack is not Tier C. The honest limits: the weight-gain trial is a single manufacturer's-programme field study whose abstract gives no absolute weights, the meloxicam-versus-no-NSAID contrast rests on that one trial, and the challenge study cannot separate the NSAID from the antimicrobial. Drafted Nov 10, 2026 (VetMed build, topic #876); all figures from abstracts fetched and verified at drafting.

Friton 2005: fattening cattle given meloxicam plus oxytetracycline for respiratory disease weighed significantly more from day 70 to slaughter and had less lung tissue affected than cattle given oxytetracycline plus saline

Blind, controlled, randomised trial (record's own wording: 'blind, controlled, randomised study'; MeSH includes Double-Blind Method; publication type: Randomized Controlled Trial)

Who: Cattle: 200 fattening cattle with clinical signs of bovine respiratory disease. All received a single subcutaneous injection of oxytetracycline 20 mg/kg; 100 also received a subcutaneous injection of meloxicam 0.5 mg/kg and 100 received isotonic saline. Animals were weighed before treatment and at 7, 35, 70 and 105 days, and finally before slaughter.

Result: The mean bodyweight of the meloxicam-treated animals was significantly higher from day 70 until slaughter, and mean average daily weight gain until slaughter and mean carcase weight were significantly higher in the meloxicam group. In animals with lung lesions, significantly less lung tissue was affected in those treated with meloxicam. The abstract reports these differences as significant without giving the numerical weights or gains, so no kilogram figures can be stated from this record.

Watch out: This is the manufacturer's development programme and a single field trial; the absence of absolute weights in the abstract means the size of the production benefit cannot be quantified here. Outcomes are weight, carcase and lung-lesion measures — the record carries no mortality claim.

Friton GM, Cajal C, Ramirez-Romero R. Long-term effects of meloxicam in the treatment of respiratory disease in fattening cattle. Vet Rec. 2005;156(25):809-11. PMID: 15965005. Registry ID: none in the record. MeSH: Animals · Anti-Bacterial Agents/administration & dosage, therapeutic use* · Bronchopneumonia/drug therapy, veterinary* · Cattle · Cattle Diseases/drug therapy*, pathology · Double-Blind Method · Drug Therapy, Combination · Injections, Subcutaneous/veterinary · Isoenzymes/antagonists & inhibitors* · Meloxicam · Oxytetracycline/administration & dosage, therapeutic use* · Thiazines/administration & dosage, therapeutic use* · Thiazoles/administration & dosage, therapeutic use* · Treatment Outcome

Friton 2004: meloxicam and flunixin adjuncts to oxytetracycline improved clinical scores equally in 201 feedlot cattle with bronchopneumonia (day 7 sum scores 10.55 vs 10.88)

Randomised, blind, positive-controlled trial (record's own wording: 'randomised blind, positive controlled study'; publication type: Randomized Controlled Trial)

Who: Cattle: 201 female feedlot cattle (220–250 kg) diagnosed with bronchopneumonia in Mexico, all treated on day 0 with oxytetracycline 20 mg/kg subcutaneously, plus either a single subcutaneous dose of meloxicam 0.5 mg/kg (n = 100) or intravenous flunixin meglumine 2.2 mg/kg (n = 101, repeatable daily for up to 3 days if rectal temperature ≥ 40.0 °C; repeated in 45% of animals). Clinical signs were scored on days 0, 1, 2, 3 and 7 into a clinical sum score (range 7–24).

Result: Clinical parameters and mean clinical sum score showed no significant differences between groups: mean scores fell from 16.18 (day 0) to 10.55 (day 7) with meloxicam and from 16.41 to 10.88 with flunixin. Mean rectal temperature was significantly lower in the meloxicam group on day 2 (P ≤ 0.01). Mean body weights did not differ significantly between groups over 7 days, and no suspected adverse drug events were reported.

Watch out: There is no antimicrobial-only arm, so this trial shows meloxicam performing like another NSAID adjunct — it cannot by itself show that adding any NSAID beats antimicrobial alone. Follow-up was only 7 days, unlike the 105-day horizon of Friton 2005.

Friton GM, Cajal C, Ramirez Romero R, Kleemann R. Clinical efficacy of meloxicam (Metacam) and flunixin (Finadyne) as adjuncts to antibacterial treatment of respiratory disease in fattening cattle. Berl Munch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 2004;117(7-8):304-9. PMID: 15298058. Registry ID: none in the record. MeSH: Animals · Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* · Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/adverse effects, therapeutic use* · Bronchopneumonia/drug therapy, veterinary* · Cattle · Cattle Diseases/drug therapy* · Clonixin/adverse effects, analogs & derivatives*, therapeutic use* · Dose-Response Relationship, Drug · Drug Therapy, Combination · Female · Injections, Intravenous/veterinary · Injections, Subcutaneous/veterinary · Meloxicam · Oxytetracycline/therapeutic use · Thiazines/adverse effects, therapeutic use* · Thiazoles/adverse effects, therapeutic use* · Treatment Outcome

Achard 2018: a single florfenicol–meloxicam injection cured 100% of experimentally challenged calves versus 29.6% on saline — but the design cannot isolate meloxicam's share

Randomised experimental challenge study (record's own wording: calves 'randomly allocated'; MeSH includes Random Allocation; blinding not stated in the record)

Who: Calves: 90 young calves challenged intratracheally with Mannheimia haemolytica; 84 calves meeting illness criteria (rectal temperature above 39.5 °C and combined total clinical score ≥ 3) were randomly allocated to a single administration of a florfenicol–meloxicam combination, a florfenicol–flunixin combination, or saline, and promptly treated.

Result: Rectal temperature and total clinical scores were consistently lower in both combination groups than in the saline group (P < 0.001). Clinical cure at the end of the study was 100% with florfenicol–meloxicam and 96.6% with florfenicol–flunixin versus 29.6% with saline. Calves on florfenicol–meloxicam were cured without relapse more rapidly than calves on florfenicol–flunixin (hazard ratio 1.76, P < 0.05; a relative measure, reported without absolute times in the abstract) and had a lower percentage of clinical relapse due to fever (P = 0.05).

Watch out: The saline comparator received no antimicrobial at all, so the large cure difference is the effect of combination therapy versus no treatment — it does not show what meloxicam adds to florfenicol alone, and there was no florfenicol-only arm. Experimentally induced disease in young calves may not match field bronchopneumonia.

Achard D, Caruso-Vares A, Collin JF, McKelvie J, Reddick D, Ramage C. Treatment of experimentally induced bovine respiratory disease in young calves with a single administration of a combination of florfenicol and meloxicam. Vet Rec. 2018;183(17):535. PMID: 30185471. Registry ID: none in the record. MeSH: Animals · Anti-Bacterial Agents/administration & dosage* · Cattle · Cattle Diseases/drug therapy* · Drug Combinations · Female · Male · Meloxicam/administration & dosage* · Random Allocation · Respiratory Tract Diseases/drug therapy, veterinary* · Thiamphenicol/administration & dosage, analogs & derivatives* · Treatment Outcome

Synthesis: meloxicam added to antimicrobial therapy improves longer-term weight outcomes in bovine respiratory disease, with short-term clinical scores equal to another NSAID adjunct — POSSIBLE

Synthesis

Who: Synthesis of the cards above: Friton 2005 (blind randomised trial, 200 fattening cattle, oxytetracycline with meloxicam vs saline), Friton 2004 (randomised blind trial, 201 feedlot cattle, meloxicam vs flunixin adjuncts to oxytetracycline) and Achard 2018 (randomised Mannheimia haemolytica challenge study, 84 ill calves, combination therapy vs saline).

Result: (1) The only meloxicam-versus-no-NSAID field trial found significantly better weight gain, carcase weight and lung-lesion extent with meloxicam, emerging from day 70. (2) Against an active NSAID comparator, meloxicam's short-term clinical scores were indistinguishable (day 7 sum scores 10.55 vs 10.88). (3) Combination antimicrobial–meloxicam therapy cured experimentally challenged calves at 100% versus 29.6% untreated, without isolating the NSAID contribution. One positive field trial plus supportive comparisons support POSSIBLE, not LIKELY.

Watch out: Both Friton trials are the meloxicam manufacturer's programme; independent replication of the weight-gain finding was not found. No carded record addresses mortality, and none of the carded records tests meloxicam adjunct therapy in young pre-weaned calves with naturally occurring disease. Meloxicam evidence in other species and indications homes on its own shelves (for example Shelves #182 and #196) and is not transported here.

Synthesis of Friton GM et al. PMID: 15965005; Friton GM et al. PMID: 15298058; Achard D et al. PMID: 30185471. Registry IDs as on the individual cards.

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