Hey friends!
Yet again I apologize for being the person who posts and runs, only to squiggle back a few months later with another question. I deeply appreciate everyone's kindness, patience and advice. <3
My situation this go-around is this: Friend's been diagnosed about two months ago with hyperesthesia (which explains a lot of his behaviors that I was confused about). My vet and I decided to adopt a conservative treatment and keep an eye on him (in part due to my limited finances); she said if he experiences attacks three days a week or more, we need to start thinking meds.
That time has come. It's honestly been a few weeks, but I kept hoping it was just a fluke, a bad week, a bad day. My vet's said previously that if we go the med route, it would likely be gabapentin. Friend's been on this before (to help with lingering UT issues and because my vet suspected hyperesthesia), and he was absolutely stoned.
So here are my dilemmas:
I've got a call in to my vet to talk about med options; I know that they make gabapentin capsules as well, and I'd presume that those are cheaper than a liquid compound. But . . . has anyone had their cat on gabapentin for a long time? Do they build up a tolerance to it (at least the sedation side-effect), or are they perpetually in Wonderland?
Any thoughts or experiences are welcome! I'm just at a loss trying to juggle what I can afford, helping Friend be well, and also ensuring that he actually has a good quality of life (i.e. not sedated all the time) to where he can still do at least most of the things that make Friend, Friend.
Thanks so much, all. I really appreciate it. <3
Dyl / Friend's Friend.
Yet again I apologize for being the person who posts and runs, only to squiggle back a few months later with another question. I deeply appreciate everyone's kindness, patience and advice. <3
My situation this go-around is this: Friend's been diagnosed about two months ago with hyperesthesia (which explains a lot of his behaviors that I was confused about). My vet and I decided to adopt a conservative treatment and keep an eye on him (in part due to my limited finances); she said if he experiences attacks three days a week or more, we need to start thinking meds.
That time has come. It's honestly been a few weeks, but I kept hoping it was just a fluke, a bad week, a bad day. My vet's said previously that if we go the med route, it would likely be gabapentin. Friend's been on this before (to help with lingering UT issues and because my vet suspected hyperesthesia), and he was absolutely stoned.
So here are my dilemmas:
- A stoned kitty is cute in the short-term, but he has at least a few years of life ahead of him, if not significantly more. I don't want him to spend the rest of it in a haze where he does nothing but sleep and stumble around blearily to his food bowl and litter box. (He sleeps a lot now, of course, but he also talks to me, follows me around, cuddles me, and does a million little things that make me smile. When he's on gabapentin, none of that happens. He's absolutely out of it.)
- Cost! Friend's already on (the cheaper of several) UT foods, which is still significantly more expensive than anything he's been on (with the exception of the few months he spent on all-wet-food, before I found the UT dry food I could afford). So, long and short: the last time my vet prescribed gabapentin, she sent it to the local pet pharmacy, which compounded it into a liquid that lasted me seven days . . . for $50. I can't afford that every week for an indefinite period of time.
- Friend also has a rather delicate mental state. I know some cats are just flighty, and perhaps I'm projecting here, but he has periods of behavior (how he reacts to me) which are reminiscent of PTSD. And I say this because it adds an extra layer of trying to catch him and restrain him to the point where I can either squirt liquid into his mouth or get a pill down his throat. Because I adopted him and he has a history of abuse, I don't know how to go about this in a long-term manner. (It's hard to see him so terrified of me--for "good reason"--when he already has periods where he's afraid of me anyway--for no reason. Does that make sense? I don't want to retraumatize him, especially when he's come so far from the frightened kitty I adopted. But, again, maybe as a human with such a history, I'm being overly sensitive.)
- In addition to that, I'm visually impaired, which makes the task of seeing well enough to administer meds quickly all the more difficult. It takes me a while to even find his mouth, which isn't ideal when I need to get in and get out ASAP.
I've got a call in to my vet to talk about med options; I know that they make gabapentin capsules as well, and I'd presume that those are cheaper than a liquid compound. But . . . has anyone had their cat on gabapentin for a long time? Do they build up a tolerance to it (at least the sedation side-effect), or are they perpetually in Wonderland?
Any thoughts or experiences are welcome! I'm just at a loss trying to juggle what I can afford, helping Friend be well, and also ensuring that he actually has a good quality of life (i.e. not sedated all the time) to where he can still do at least most of the things that make Friend, Friend.
Thanks so much, all. I really appreciate it. <3
Dyl / Friend's Friend.
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