Gabapentin

[GranolaLouise]

My cat is experiencing pain but she will not eat the wet food with gabapentin mixed in it.
She spits pills back out so pills are not an option.
Question....does gabapentin come in a transdermal form?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Gabapentin has a pretty nasty taste to it. so, I guess I understand why your cat does not want to eat it in food. It can be compounded into a transdermal form - ask your vet about doing so. You can also check out Wedgewood Pharmacy about various forms of it, just as a way to educate yourself on the options. Gabapentin for Dogs and Cats: Uses, Dosage, and Side Effects (wedgewoodpharmacy.com)

 

[GranolaLouise]

Thank you. Having a rough couple of days.

 

[IndyJones]

I think it also comes in an injectable form. This would probably work better than the gel. Injectables work much faster. However if you are squeemish around needles this may not work for you.

 

[daftcat75]

It comes in a liquid form which also tastes nasty. But I can at least squirt that into Betty when she's being fussy about her capsules. It also comes in 100 mg capsules from the vet which is usually packed much looser than the capsule size. The capsule size is a size 3. The contents can be repacked almost entirely into a smaller size four capsule. (Larger size number is a smaller capsule.) Betty takes between 25 and 50 mg currently. With the vet's blessing, she lets me split up the 100's and re-pack them as I need to. So having repacked the capsules into a smaller size, I coat the capsule in a "frosting" that Betty can't resist. And because she has become fussier lately, I also coat that frosted capsule in "sprinkles." Her current "frosting" is Hills A/D. And her current "sprinkles" are powdered Greenies treats. Some days she prefers one frosting over another. For those days, I can use either Royal Canin GI Kitten or Royal Canin PR. I'm not sure where we go if she starts refusing the Greenies powder. I don't think I have anything more appealing than that. When I can't figure her out and we've tried all the frostings and the sprinkles, then I shoot a liquid dose into her and hope she feels less fussy the next shift.


We may eventually have to go the compounding route. The trouble with transdermal, besides the lower absorption, is that you have to alternate ears and wash the off-day ear so you aren't layering doses and further reducing the absorption. You may find the wet willy a lot easier than cleaning the off-day ear. The Medi-Melts look interesting if I can find a flavor Betty likes.

 

[silent meowlook]

I have never had a problem mixing the contents of the capsule into the food. I have also tasted the capsule contents and it has no flavor. The liquid is disgusting and I salivated the entire night after tasting it.

Are you supposed to give the entire capsule? Can you try giving as a pill. If you are unable to pill your cat, call your vet in the morning because there are other pain relief options they can offer that may be better like a topical or a long acting injection they give.

 

[three4rd]

The liquid is disgusting

Huh...sounds like maybe the pill form is best - in a pill pocket. Aren't there are pain medications besides this one?

 

[daftcat75]

Huh...sounds like maybe the pill form is best - in a pill pocket. Aren't there are pain medications besides this one?

Different stokes for different folks. I am not able to pill Betty. I have seen vets struggle to pop her mouth open for an exam. So I don’t feel bad there. Last time I tried to pill her, I got my finger sliced on her teeth pretty good. Not her fault. She doesn’t like pill dough or pill pockets either. She used to take capsules on her own with what I’m calling the frosting and carpet method (frost the capsule in her favorite frosting, Hills A/D for a little over a year, and drop it on the carpet so she has to scoop it up rather than lick it up.) So where does that leave us? As foul as the liquid is, I’ve worked it out where I pull the dose with a 1 mL syringe. Crush up her only other med now, ondansetron, in a spoon. Squirt out the dose into same spoon and pull up both medicines into a 3 mL syringe that pops that dose into her just as quickly as she opens her mouth when I touch the tip of the syringe to her lips and she gets that first taste. So yeah. The liquid is disgusting. I’m counting on it. That’s what opens her mouth—not me and not pressure on the sides of her jaws that works with other cats. But I’m so relieved that the liquid is an option. Because it’s the only one working for us right now.

I’m trying to get it compounded into other formulations of flavors she might like. But so far, she hasn’t liked the unmedicated double chicken flavored oil or the unmedicated chicken chew treat. The unmedicated chicken oral dissolving tablets are lost somewhere in the mail. So we need to try new flavors and new formulations. And in the meantime, it’s been a month or so since we tried the frosting and carpet method. Maybe after a month of the liquid, she may be ready to return to that method. I’ll be making up some combined capsules this weekend and we’ll try that again next week.