Gabapentin Oral Pain Medicine (liquid form)
 

Hi all,
My almost 11 year old Yorkie (Lexi Sue) injured her left back leg (popped knee) approx. 3 years ago. We did not do surgery. It took about 3-4 months for her recuperation. We had her on Rimadyl on an off since then for arthritis flare ups -- mostly when weather changed.

Now she has injured her right back leg (knee again). We had her on Rimadyl daily but it doesn't seem to be helping. Really don't want to leave her on it because of side affects to liver/kidney.

So, vet has prescribed Gabapentin Oral Solution (Neurontin). It's used to treat certain types of nerve pain. I brought her in this morning to get her blood levels checked before I start it and all her levels were great!
I'm suppose to start her first dose in the morning.


Has anyone used Gabapentin before?

I haven't used it on my pets but am familiar w/ it. Keep in mind it can cause some real tiredness, dopiness, lethargy at first - but don't give it up bc of that -- it *will* wear off, you must give it time.

Yes ..... thank you for the response. They warned me that one of the side affects is sedation but that her body would get used to it. I have yet to give her that first dose -- very scared. Mostly because they also warned me that once I start I should continue the twice a day dose and that she would need to be weaned off -- that I couldn't stop meds abruptly. I don't like that! With Rimadyl it was "as needed". I don't remember giving her anything "daily" when she had her 1st injury ..... she healed on her own. I may just give it more time and observe. If she is not showing any real "pain" I may just let nature take it's course and continue the Rimadyl on and off. So hard to make decisions for them :(

I also forgot to mention that it's the Gabapentin liquid that is Xylitol free ..... as Xylitol is toxic to pets.

Rimadyl reduces pain and inflammation. Gabapentin reduces pain, but doesn't help with inflammation. My understanding is that rimadyl has more side effects and that gabapentin is less toxic (it just makes you drowsy). The reason they have you taper the gabapentin off gradually is that if you stop it cold turkey, the pain will come back with a vengeance before it tapers off again. I know this from personal, not canine experience. I knew right away when I missed a dose of gabapentin. I would ask the vet more questions about the use of rimadyl vs. gabapentin for treating your dog--if it's just pain and not inflammation, maybe gabapentin is the way to go. If inflammation is involved, the vet might consider rimadyl or other arthritis medications.

I have several seniors that are experiencing arthritic pain in hips and knees....myself included! One of these has pain that was instigated from jumping off furniture, and the resulting damage jumping from furniture usually causes those little joints. I start mine out on Cosequin, then when that does not seem to help, I move onto Glyco-Flex III chews....this has worked effectively for all my senior dogs with painful mobility issues, without having to go to vet Rx drugs....you may want to try the Glyco-Flex III, to see if it helps. If it does not help, make other choices, but I always like to start with the lowest dosing/meds that are effective. I just do not like Rimadyl......

Thanks so much for all the responses. I don't want to use Rimadyl long term so I am open to all suggestions. For now, I will use meds prescribed by vet.


So...... I gave Lexi her 1st dose of the Gabapentin about 1-1/2 hours ago. As instructed by the vet (he could tell I was nervous) I only gave her half the dose to see how her lil body would react. All is good and she is resting comfortably. Other than her being slightly sleepy I don't notice much of a difference. I'm going to give her 1/2 dose again tonight and if all goes well I may start to give her full dose tomorrow. He said I could do this .... increase slowly.


She hurt her left back leg by jumping off the furniture about 3 years ago. This time it's her right back leg and we honestly do not know how it happened cause she is no longer allowed on the furniture. She had surgery about a month ago on her front right paw to remove a "wart" looking thing (was benign) that she kept licking constantly and biting. We chose to remove it before she got it infected. So she had recovered from that surgery but her front right paw is not quite 100% stable. We think she just may have overcompensated the right back paw which resulted in throwing her knee out. Not sure.

Funny how they managed to get around hoping on just 3 limbs ..... breaks my heart!