Gabapentin question

[Jimmyyy]

Question: Can I give my prescription for gabapentin to my cat who has been taking it in a liquid form but has almost run out. I've been giving him 1ml liquid twice a day. The prescription I have is 300mg powder capsules that I would have to dose appropriately.

Background: Male tabby 14 years old. He had been having occasional fits where he bites at himself and spins around on the floor (possibly flea related) until one time a few weeks ago he bit himself and opened up a wound in his side. Although I cleaned it and it seemed to be healing it got infected and he ended up needing surgery 3 weeks ago to remove infected tissue and stitch him up. He was sent home with a cone, antibiotics, flea meds and pain medicine, but continued to have the fits/spasms, so the vet prescribed the gabapentin. Since taking gabapentin he hasn't had any fits and I'd like to continue it for a while but since it was costly and I've already spent $1200 on this crisis, I'm wondering if I can dose him with the "human" gabapentin that I got for my shingles but never took. If so, how much? 50mg? I was thinking I would put it in a pill pocket. Thank you.

 

[ReneeH]

Please call your vet before administering any gabapentin. My sister gave one of her cats a small dose of her pain medication and it made her cat very ill. If the gabapentin is really expensive, ask your vet for something less expensive, or is there anything you can get your fur baby that is OTC. I don't know for sure if the gabapentin would hurt your fur baby, but please ask your vet first, just to make sure. Good luck and please keep us posted on how he is doing!

 

[Willowy]

How many mgs per ml is the liquid? It should say on the bottle.

Anyway, if he's easy to pill, you can ask the vet for pills of the proper dosage. They're a lot cheaper, but so many cats are difficult to pill so a lot of vets kind of default to prescribing a liquid.

 

[Jimmyyy]

Please call your vet before administering any gabapentin. My sister gave one of her cats a small dose of her pain medication and it made her cat very ill. If the gabapentin is really expensive, ask your vet for something less expensive, or is there anything you can get your fur baby that is OTC. I don't know for sure if the gabapentin would hurt your fur baby, but please ask your vet first, just to make sure. Good luck and please keep us posted on how he is doing!

He's already taking it. That's why I posted the question.

 

[Jimmyyy]

How many mgs per ml is the liquid? It should say on the bottle.

Anyway, if he's easy to pill, you can ask the vet for pills of the proper dosage. They're a lot cheaper, but so many cats are difficult to pill so a lot of vets kind of default to prescribing a liquid.

The bottle doesn't state the mgs, unfortunately

 

[Willowy]

Hmm, it really should if it's from a pharmacy. If the vet wrote it out themselves, call them and ask.

 

[Jimmyyy]

Yeah, the bottle of gabapentin is from the vet's office/hospital, so maybe that's why. I'll call them tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[amandag1]

The bottle doesn't state the mgs, unfortunately

If your bottle doesnt state the mgs dont try to guess and dont use human meds

try websites like allivet.com ask your vet for a pill prescription
I think gabapentin is less than 25 cents per pill on that site and they ship quickly!

 

[__Dina__]

Yeah, the bottle of gabapentin is from the vet's office/hospital, so maybe that's why. I'll call them tomorrow. Thanks.

i just bought gabapentin for $20 at my vet's! and you should NEVER give human gabapentin because it has a sweetener in it which is TOXIC to cats!!!!!

 

[fionasmom]

It makes me nervous to think of trying to give meds in the right dose and do the conversion when they were not prescribed for that person/animal. My over 100 lb dog takes gabapentin and it is not that big a pill at all; I wonder if a much smaller dose for a cat would be even smaller.

My dog only takes 100 mg at a time, so I would be concerned that the 50 mg that you mentioned in the beginning might be completely wrong for a cat.