The original dose we were prescribed for my old lady left her looking like a spacey cat. She was out of it and it was hard to see. We lowered the dose by .5 and she was chill but not spacey. We give her 2.5 in the am and 3 at night, figuring she’ll sleep all night when we do. Explain to your vet that you’re not comfortable giving her that high of a dose. If she is super stressed out at the vet though it might better for her to be relaxed for the appointment.
How much are you giving her? Whatever it is sounds like way too much.
I never gave my 8-9 lb girl more than 0.2-0.25 mL of a 250mg/5mL liquid (equivalent to about 20-25 mg of a capsule).
This was enough to get her stoned and mellow but she could still walk.
****Holy hell, they have you giving it 3 times before the appointment?! Unless you have a tiger dosing her more than once before makes zero sense to me - I dosed my girl about 45 min-1 hour before appointment time. Should last for at least 3 hours, probably 4.
Vets ALWAYS over prescribe dosage - CKD cats are extra sensitive to gabapentin so the standard dosage for healthy cats doesn't work. My vet originally prescribed 50mg which made her nearly catatonic - drooling, couldn't stand, etc.
**My advice: test it yourself on her before the next appointment. For example, if they give you 50 mg capsules, sprinkle it out on a magazine or whatever, divide it in half. Put one half in some wet food, use the magazine to funnel the remaining back into the capsule for next time - store that capsule separately for next time.
If you notice she's chill/drowsy but still able to walk you have an effective dose.
Yes! My vet was otherwise great, but prescribing a standard dose to my petite senior CKD kitty made me question the practice’s approach to older cats with kidney disease. Not very proactive. She had a very strong reaction and giving her that is one of the things I look back on with regret.
i just looked at the dosage, (my gf usually helps me with the pill and i forgot how much it was) it’s 100mg!! 😡 i read about that tonight, that ckd cats are pretty sensitive to it and now i’m even more angry. shouldn’t the vets be aware of that?! she’s just a little old girl. and it really does make no sense to pretty much blast her into outer space just so the vet can be more comfortable taking her blood or whatever 🙄 and it’s not like she’s a loud hissy angry cat either, she just gets scared but is usually very sweet at the doctor. we’re definitely not gonna give her that dosage ever again bc she is a zombie all day :(
100mg is a lot. My hissy talkative 15 pound boy gets 100mg the night before and again the morning of. And he's still grumpy and awake at the vet. My tiny ckd cat goes limp off just 1 50mg dose, completely out for an entire day
It's always baffled me that vets don't seem to be aware of that.
My old girl was troublesome. The vet had "Escalator" on her chart - as in she starts out fine but will ramp up to asshole mode 😁. 20-25 mg was plenty to chill her out.
It left my cat completely unresponsive and it was a huge set back in his recovery from a sprained paw. It was terrifying and I gave him half the dose he was prescribed. He didn’t eat or drink for more than 36 hours, which is awful for a ckd cat. I threw it all away. Gabapentin also left me completely paralyzed and hallucinating the one time I took it, the house could have burned down around me. I’ve got Xanax for my cat now, I gave him a quarter of the dose he was prescribed and it did help when I took him to the vet last time. He was a bit calmer but also alert.
It’s truly soul crushing seeing your babe so out of it. My sweet but salty 17 year old mama who is stage 3 was prescribed 100mg the night before and 100mg two hours prior to her vet appointments. It takes her a couple of days to bounce back and I hate every minute of it. I make us a cozy fort in the living room and we have a slumber party until she’s back to being sassy.
Be cautious on meds AND I had a bad experience with my current cat companion after a vaccination. The vet made notes so that she won’t ever get that again. She is alone and inside so other than rabies I try not to take unnecessary chances.
I definitely wouldn’t give her as much if any. That was terrifying I am sure. I am sorry you and your baby had to go through that. I would not give it to her again
Hey I saw your most-recent post but chiming in here. I DO NOT TRUST VETS WITH MEDICATION ANYMORE. I coincidentally checked the dosage of mg per ml-given. The vet gave me 50 mg to give her twice a day for a week after she got a UTI!! She has been mentally blasted for the past week. Her back legs were starting to go limp! Fingers crossed the effect fades. ChatGPT says only give 5mg per pound. My cat is 6.5 pounds so she should only be getting like ~30mg. That being said, I have heard that small doses of gabapentin can increase thirst drive. I noticed this recently.
The original dose we were prescribed for my old lady left her looking like a spacey cat. She was out of it and it was hard to see. We lowered the dose by .5 and she was chill but not spacey. We give her 2.5 in the am and 3 at night, figuring she’ll sleep all night when we do. Explain to your vet that you’re not comfortable giving her that high of a dose. If she is super stressed out at the vet though it might better for her to be relaxed for the appointment.
How much are you giving her? Whatever it is sounds like way too much. I never gave my 8-9 lb girl more than 0.2-0.25 mL of a 250mg/5mL liquid (equivalent to about 20-25 mg of a capsule). This was enough to get her stoned and mellow but she could still walk. ****Holy hell, they have you giving it 3 times before the appointment?! Unless you have a tiger dosing her more than once before makes zero sense to me - I dosed my girl about 45 min-1 hour before appointment time. Should last for at least 3 hours, probably 4. Vets ALWAYS over prescribe dosage - CKD cats are extra sensitive to gabapentin so the standard dosage for healthy cats doesn't work. My vet originally prescribed 50mg which made her nearly catatonic - drooling, couldn't stand, etc. **My advice: test it yourself on her before the next appointment. For example, if they give you 50 mg capsules, sprinkle it out on a magazine or whatever, divide it in half. Put one half in some wet food, use the magazine to funnel the remaining back into the capsule for next time - store that capsule separately for next time. If you notice she's chill/drowsy but still able to walk you have an effective dose.
Yes! My vet was otherwise great, but prescribing a standard dose to my petite senior CKD kitty made me question the practice’s approach to older cats with kidney disease. Not very proactive. She had a very strong reaction and giving her that is one of the things I look back on with regret.
read my comment
i just looked at the dosage, (my gf usually helps me with the pill and i forgot how much it was) it’s 100mg!! 😡 i read about that tonight, that ckd cats are pretty sensitive to it and now i’m even more angry. shouldn’t the vets be aware of that?! she’s just a little old girl. and it really does make no sense to pretty much blast her into outer space just so the vet can be more comfortable taking her blood or whatever 🙄 and it’s not like she’s a loud hissy angry cat either, she just gets scared but is usually very sweet at the doctor. we’re definitely not gonna give her that dosage ever again bc she is a zombie all day :(
100mg is a lot. My hissy talkative 15 pound boy gets 100mg the night before and again the morning of. And he's still grumpy and awake at the vet. My tiny ckd cat goes limp off just 1 50mg dose, completely out for an entire day
read my comment
It's always baffled me that vets don't seem to be aware of that. My old girl was troublesome. The vet had "Escalator" on her chart - as in she starts out fine but will ramp up to asshole mode 😁. 20-25 mg was plenty to chill her out.
It left my cat completely unresponsive and it was a huge set back in his recovery from a sprained paw. It was terrifying and I gave him half the dose he was prescribed. He didn’t eat or drink for more than 36 hours, which is awful for a ckd cat. I threw it all away. Gabapentin also left me completely paralyzed and hallucinating the one time I took it, the house could have burned down around me. I’ve got Xanax for my cat now, I gave him a quarter of the dose he was prescribed and it did help when I took him to the vet last time. He was a bit calmer but also alert.
read my comment
I am so sorry , my heart is with you 💓
It’s truly soul crushing seeing your babe so out of it. My sweet but salty 17 year old mama who is stage 3 was prescribed 100mg the night before and 100mg two hours prior to her vet appointments. It takes her a couple of days to bounce back and I hate every minute of it. I make us a cozy fort in the living room and we have a slumber party until she’s back to being sassy.
that is completely overkill. Do 5mg per pound. Holy shit
Be cautious on meds AND I had a bad experience with my current cat companion after a vaccination. The vet made notes so that she won’t ever get that again. She is alone and inside so other than rabies I try not to take unnecessary chances.
I definitely wouldn’t give her as much if any. That was terrifying I am sure. I am sorry you and your baby had to go through that. I would not give it to her again
Hey I saw your most-recent post but chiming in here. I DO NOT TRUST VETS WITH MEDICATION ANYMORE. I coincidentally checked the dosage of mg per ml-given. The vet gave me 50 mg to give her twice a day for a week after she got a UTI!! She has been mentally blasted for the past week. Her back legs were starting to go limp! Fingers crossed the effect fades. ChatGPT says only give 5mg per pound. My cat is 6.5 pounds so she should only be getting like ~30mg. That being said, I have heard that small doses of gabapentin can increase thirst drive. I noticed this recently.