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Hi - I've checked the forums and found one other thread on gabapentin for cystitis, but there wasn't much of a discussion or too much information. Desperately looking for some answers or feedback on longterm gabapentin and whether it's been successful for anyone's cat with urinary problems, as well as some neuro issues my cat has been having:
My cat is absolutely confounding the vet. Since I got him (age 1) about a year ago, he has had on and off bladder issues with constant crystal production and episodes of retention that require pain medications to allow him to urinate, as well as a strange shaking tremor that only occurs when he's falling asleep (very different from sleep twitching / jerking - this is something the vet has observed and confirmed that it may possibly be a type of mild seizure activity that occurs when relaxed and when his brain is transitioning into a sleep state, when the seizure threshold is lowered; if I say his name and he lifts his head up and is more awake, the tremors stop, and then they begin again as he starts dozing off; once he's asleep, they are completely gone and he'll just have occasional normal dream twitches). He has been on Royal Canin SO food to manage his bladder flareups since the first episode, but despite being on the food for a year, he is still producing constant crystals and every two or three months has a scary urinary retention episode where he won't pee for 36 hours or more, at which point I rush him to the vet for a catheter and pain medication. (Obviously, since the first episode, I bring him in at the 24 hour mark!)
Since he's never had an actual block, the theory is that urinating becomes so painful for him during cystitis flareups (no clear cause for any of the episodes, unfortunately) that he just keeps holding it until it becomes an emergency.
He just had a retention episode again this weekend and required an ER visit, and both the ER and my regular vet have suggested that the best course of action might be longterm gabapentin since this happens with an upsetting frequency, as there aren't any NSAIDs that are labeled safe for longterm cat use. She thinks that the gabapentin might be a one-two punch to help manage his urinary pain to keep him peeing / prevent another episode like this, as well as possibly a moonshot to help with the funky tremor episodes he's got, since gabapentin helps manage neurological issues like seizures and neuro pain.
Other notes: the tremors don't seem to be related to urinary pain, as they only ever occur as he's falling asleep and not in an alert state; the vet confirmed that if they were largely pain related, we'd see them in an alert state as well. We thought they were potentially from a toxoplasmosis infection, but he just was officially tested for toxo to zero in on a cause, and that came back negative. So we're back to just idiopathic tremors, and the vet is hopeful that gabapentin might help regulate this and ultimately prevent a seizure if that was on the horizon.
Sorry for the long story! Mostly, I'm just really hoping that the gabapentin can relieve him of his urinary pain, and as it can also help with the tremors, the vet is pretty set on this being the best option for him. She sounded like there just unfortunately weren't many other pain options for his constant cystitis pain. So has anyone had success with gabapentin for longterm pain management in a young cat? It's so upsetting thinking of him constantly riding this stressful wave of cystitis episodes and emergency vet visits every couple months, and it would be helpful to hear any success stories or recommendations!
My cat is absolutely confounding the vet. Since I got him (age 1) about a year ago, he has had on and off bladder issues with constant crystal production and episodes of retention that require pain medications to allow him to urinate, as well as a strange shaking tremor that only occurs when he's falling asleep (very different from sleep twitching / jerking - this is something the vet has observed and confirmed that it may possibly be a type of mild seizure activity that occurs when relaxed and when his brain is transitioning into a sleep state, when the seizure threshold is lowered; if I say his name and he lifts his head up and is more awake, the tremors stop, and then they begin again as he starts dozing off; once he's asleep, they are completely gone and he'll just have occasional normal dream twitches). He has been on Royal Canin SO food to manage his bladder flareups since the first episode, but despite being on the food for a year, he is still producing constant crystals and every two or three months has a scary urinary retention episode where he won't pee for 36 hours or more, at which point I rush him to the vet for a catheter and pain medication. (Obviously, since the first episode, I bring him in at the 24 hour mark!)
Since he's never had an actual block, the theory is that urinating becomes so painful for him during cystitis flareups (no clear cause for any of the episodes, unfortunately) that he just keeps holding it until it becomes an emergency.
He just had a retention episode again this weekend and required an ER visit, and both the ER and my regular vet have suggested that the best course of action might be longterm gabapentin since this happens with an upsetting frequency, as there aren't any NSAIDs that are labeled safe for longterm cat use. She thinks that the gabapentin might be a one-two punch to help manage his urinary pain to keep him peeing / prevent another episode like this, as well as possibly a moonshot to help with the funky tremor episodes he's got, since gabapentin helps manage neurological issues like seizures and neuro pain.
Other notes: the tremors don't seem to be related to urinary pain, as they only ever occur as he's falling asleep and not in an alert state; the vet confirmed that if they were largely pain related, we'd see them in an alert state as well. We thought they were potentially from a toxoplasmosis infection, but he just was officially tested for toxo to zero in on a cause, and that came back negative. So we're back to just idiopathic tremors, and the vet is hopeful that gabapentin might help regulate this and ultimately prevent a seizure if that was on the horizon.
Sorry for the long story! Mostly, I'm just really hoping that the gabapentin can relieve him of his urinary pain, and as it can also help with the tremors, the vet is pretty set on this being the best option for him. She sounded like there just unfortunately weren't many other pain options for his constant cystitis pain. So has anyone had success with gabapentin for longterm pain management in a young cat? It's so upsetting thinking of him constantly riding this stressful wave of cystitis episodes and emergency vet visits every couple months, and it would be helpful to hear any success stories or recommendations!
. Here is a good article about them that may help you out: 
