Gabapentin For Cystitis/bladder Spasms?

[kmoulus]

Quick summary from my previous thread: Speedy has been to see the vet twice in the last two months for UTI. Last week's urinalysis was terrible with lots of blood and the ultrasound showed thickened bladder wall, indicating irritation. But the culture came back negative, there is no infection.

So my vet suggested this is bladder spasms or sterile cystitis. I am not really sure where to go from here, the vet has suggested a very small daily dose of gabapentin (10 mg). It's not her first choice drug, she would prefer other drugs to ease the possible spasms but Speedy can't take them due to her advanced heart problems.

Has anyone tried this? I'm very nervous, Speedy takes gaba before she visits the vet and the older she gets, the harder it is. Last week I shorted her dose, she probably had about 50 mg and it knocked her for a loop for over 48 hours.

BTW, we discussed and dismissed a urinary tract diet, the vet said it can't hurt but is low on the list of Speedy's nutritional concerns. We also dismissed stress as a cause, Speedy has no indications of stress and has never peed outside her litter box, she continues to use it consistently. With that said, I am not against trying solliquin if it is indicated, or anything else for that matter. I just don't want Speedy to be uncomfortable.

ETA: hydration is not a problem. Speedy is on lasix so she drinks a lot and urinates a lot, and the vet says her urine is very dilute. She also eats mostly wet food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I am sorry Speedy is going through all of this (and you). If Gabapentin is 'knocking her off her a--', Solliquin might not be a bad idea to try. As I understand, Gaba is primarily used for pain management and/or seizures. Solliquin is more of a calming type drug for stress. Cystitis is hard to really diagnose, usually determined by ruling everything else out. But, at that point, it is thought to be stress related. Perhaps the stress is the result of her other medical conditions?

 

[kmoulus]

It's hard to say what's stressing a cat, right? Speedy has advanced HCM/CHF but has been stable for a few years. At 17 yo, she sleeps quite a lot and is very friendly to everyone except veterinary people. I do think my vet is looking to manage the bladder pain with gaba.

 

[badw0lf]

Gabapentin didn't do crap for Roman (took the full 7 day recc) , it only made him drool and still strain in his box. Clavamox is actually working and he's not going to the litterbox every 10 minutes.

Edit: typo, my bad

 

[FeebysOwner]

Clavamox is an antibiotic, so I am not sure a vet would necessarily want to prescribe it if there is no infection. And, if Speedy's issue is sterile cystitis, an antibiotic would not likely accomplish anything. The key cause of cystitis is defaulted to stress, primarily because they cannot definitively determine an actual medical cause (same with human beings). Gabapentin is likely being recommended by the vet because cystitis causes bladder spasms and therefore pain.

Assuming you've already tried 10 mg dose of Gaba, and it is still making Speedy a little groggy, I would either ask the vet if there is a way to reduce the dosage of Gaba, or offer some other Gaba-type alternatives. Surely, there have to be others to try that would be OK with Speedy's other issues.

I have also heard of vets requesting a compounding pharmacy to make up the prescription in a specific dosage, and in a form that's more practical to administer than capsules. See if that is an option with your vet as well.