Gabapentin cessation in cats

[daftcat75]

I will for sure consult with my vet on Mon or Tuesday (whenever one of them will call me back.)

Betty has been taking gabapentin twice daily for about 10 months. She was on a relatively low dose of 35 mg twice a day for most of that time. In the last month or so, I tried her on a higher 50 mg dose.

She’s been taking it for suspected dental pain and suspected arthritis pain. The trouble is, I don’t have evidence it is helping with either.

In the last couple of weeks, she’s been getting more and more fussy about taking her capsules. Last night she bit one open and wasn’t going to touch her “cake frosting” (what I call Hills A/D) anymore. This morning she was also not interested in taking her capsules or even a mound of meds-less A/D. I gave her a meds holiday last night and she’s extending it today.

I’m not seeing any clues either way of whether she needs it or does not.

Question: she was never taking it for seizures. How dangerous is it to abruptly stop if she won’t let me taper her off it?

I know there’s a lot printed on the web about the dangers of people stopping abruptly or those animals who were taking it to control seizures. But the info on cessation in cats seems limited to extrapolation from human withdrawal experience.

I’m definitely going to talk to one of her vets whenever they return my call. But I am looking for any experiences, anecdotes, additional information I may have missed while I wait for that callback (and try to get her next dose in her tonight.)

 

[silent meowlook]

I would taper off the dose if possible. It can cause withdrawal symptoms if abruptly stopped. You would want to reduce the dose by 25% over 2 weeks. But for sure talk to your vet about this.

 

[lisahe]

I have no idea whatsoever, daftcat75 , but hope you're able to get an answer soon from the vet.

I was going to suggest the same thing as S silent meowlook -- tapering -- but they beat me to it. I tend to taper pretty much anything and everything. Edit: I say that despite realizing that you'd prefer not to taper, since Betty might now allow it. (We had something similar with Edwina when she took gabapentin last summer after her surgery: she spat it out every time so I suspect she didn't get much into her, particularly toward the end of the course, when she had more strength to fight it.)

Good luck.

 

[fionasmom]

I would try to taper, just out of an abundance of caution. I share your observation that it may not do much for arthritis. In dogs, its most successful use is neuropathetic pain and it is usually combined with an NSAID. When I used it for arthritis in my last GSD, I did not see much benefit.

 

[sophie1]

Tapering a medication that isn't helpful makes sense (but yeah please do talk to your vet).

Why not try a totally novel food that will tempt her? Like, a tuna based canned food, or Inaba Churu which some cats go crazy for. You might also put the gabapentin pill into an empty gelatin capsule, as it is bad tasting to cats (judging from my cats' reaction to it) and she might simply have just decided she doesn't like the taste. She may now have an aversion to the Hills A/D food, so use something that you won't mind never being able to feed again.

 

[FeralHearts]

I'm 5thing this I guess on the tapering, after talking to the vet of course, as I'm sure you know gabapentin has a cumulative effect . (As my own vet just reminded me.)

If the Doctor says she still needs it - the way I get any of mine to take it is to mix it in a ball of wet food; about the size of a pea, and then smoosh it into the side of their mouths. Seems to work.

 

[daftcat75]

Tapering a medication that isn't helpful makes sense (but yeah please do talk to your vet).

Why not try a totally novel food that will tempt her? Like, a tuna based canned food, or Inaba Churu which some cats go crazy for. You might also put the gabapentin pill into an empty gelatin capsule, as it is bad tasting to cats (judging from my cats' reaction to it) and she might simply have just decided she doesn't like the taste. She may now have an aversion to the Hills A/D food, so use something that you won't mind never being able to feed again.

I do pack her meds into capsules. I coat them in A/D and then drop them on the carpet for her. She scoops and swallows them. She only gets A/D at meds time. A little to coat the capsules and a little starter strip on her food to get her to eat something before the meds kick in. But now she has developed an aversion to A/D and I don't know how to medicate her anymore. I mean, yes, we can resort to wrestling matches. But I'm afraid that's going to hurt our relationship if we have to wrestle each other twice a day. I was also able to count on a few bites of food with meds because she would eat the A/D with the capsules and the little starter strips. Our meds routine used to be so easy. If I could either get her back on A/D or find a substitute that she likes as much, I would not mind either continuing her meds as they are or tapering her off of them. But right now meds time has become so depressing. She won't take her meds. She won't eat her food. She won't touch the starter strips. She's all noise and no eating.

I'll be calling the vet for a written Rx for ondansetron. I have two tablets of the old Rx left or 8 doses. I also have some liquid gabapentin. But boy did she hate that this morning!

 

[daftcat75]

Found a substitute for her A/D. At least for the last couple of medicine meals, she is now taking her capsules herself again with Royal Canin GI Kitten. She wouldn't even taste the Recovery and I don't blame her. It looked and smelled pretty gross. The GI Kitten recipe is kind of a garbage recipe. But it looks alright and she likes it.

I finally got to speak with a doc after being snubbed two days in a row. The vet said both drugs should be tapered. However, now that she's taking her meds again, it's less of an issue. With the vet's blessing, I'm lowering her gabapentin dose but not removing it just yet.

On top of all this, she went in for a long awaited dental appointment and will be coming home with three less teeth. Hopefully the painful ones that have reduced her eating and meds-taking.