Approximately 10% of heifers and most bull-calves are transported to specialized calf-rearing facilities within the first 2 d of birth on US dairy farms. Transport-related stress at this vulnerable age could alter nitrogen (N) metabolism and severely compromise calf health, growth and productivity, which could possibly be ameliorated by administering a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) before transport. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the effects of pre-transport meloxicam (NSAID) administration on the various measures of N metabolism and growth performance over the first 4 d post-transport in Jersey calves. A total of 21 calves (age ± SD; 2 ± 1 d) were randomly administered either a placebo (control; n = 10) or meloxicam (n = 11) orally (1 mg/kg) right before a 7-h road trip. In addition to plasma sampling, calves were also weighed and temperature recorded before departure, on arrival and 4 d post-arrival. Milk replacer intake was also recorded during the first 4 d post-arrival. All data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. The model included the fixed effect of treatment (control or meloxicam) and the random effect of calf within treatment.There was no treatment effect (P > 0.05) on both pre- and post-transport plasma cortisol concentration and body temperature. Plasma urea-N and 3-methylhistidine (3-MH) concentration on d 4 post-arrival also did not differ (P < 0.05) across treatments. However, plasma concentrations of Asp, Asn, Glu, Lys, Met, Ser and Trp were higher (P ≤ 0.037) and plasma Arg, Gly, Pro and Thr concentrations tended to be higher (0.05 < P < 0.10) on d 4 post-arrival in meloxicam than control calves. Milk replacer intake (5.5 vs. 4.5 kg/d) and average daily gain (ADG; 1.8 vs. 1.3 kg/d) were also higher (P ≤ 0.016) in calves administered meloxicam compared with the placebo. In summary, although pre-transport meloxicam administration had no effect on plasma cortisol, urea-N and 3-MH concentrations, it altered the plasma AA profile and prevented a decrease in milk replacer intake and ADG in Jersey calves.