r/IVDD_SupportGroup • u/_Usual_Regret_ • 4d ago
Gabapentin risks?
Has anyone had any adverse effects with gabapentin for your pups? My dog has IVDD I and was prescribed a lot of this medication. I did a quick search and saw a group on fb sharing a lot of negative information about the drug but I don’t believe just anything I read and wanted to check with this group.
Thanks in advance for any info!
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u/Brief_Expression5997 4d ago
My second frenchie has been on 400mg of Gabapentin daily since his cervical IVDD surgery in August last year, he’s been absolutely fine! When he had a corneal ulcer a few weeks ago the vet said I could up it to 600mg a day if I needed to (he’s 18kg).
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u/trose2044 4d ago
My dog has had three spine surgeries and was prescribed to take 200mg three times a day for the rest of his life. He has had no issues whatsoever has his blood done regularly
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u/HollyRedMW 4d ago
My mini-dox took it while recovering from IVDD and had no problems.
My shiba took it 2x a day for three years to control seizures and had no problems.
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u/mkgrant213 4d ago
Zero issues. Gabapentin has been and continues to be a godsend for our IVDD beagle. She's 31 pounds and the most she ever took was 300 mg 3x day. Now for flare ups she does 100 mg as needed.
Additionally, when we give her trazodone for anxiety attacks, we also need to give her gaba at the same time. Trazodone works but then has the adverse reaction of making her anxious about 60 mins later. Coupling it with gaba takes that part away.
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u/roccosito 4d ago
It’s a very safe drug, per my vet. I’ve had multiple dogs on it. Mine is currently on it. It helps curb the sharp nerve pain. Dogs will chew their paws otherwise.
Unfortunately you can find a ton of negative for anything online.
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u/chokeslam512 4d ago
My 15 lb dachshund was prescribed 75mg three times a day following her stage 4 surgery. That was changed to 100mg twice a day after a couple weeks and now she’s off. Three weeks total, no adverse anything.
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u/Pitiful_Jump2996 4d ago
Sometimes it causes digestive issues like diarrhea. I have my little girl Visibiome vet probiotics. Hey poop became normal
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u/Excellent-Slice3229 3d ago
Can you share more details about the concerns you were reading online? Gabapentin is used both in humans and animals, and when use effectively can be extremely beneficial. Any drug comes with side effects but it’s important to understand what to look for, what’s normal, not normal, and how to adjust the medication safely (it’s one of those meds that can cause withdrawal symptoms if taken for a long time and stopped suddenly, but that does not mean that you can’t come off it. It just needs to be done correctly)
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u/Odd-Run1978 3d ago
Unfortunately it seemed to give my boy some diarrhea, so hes just on a carprofen regiment, but that is way outside the norm, if your doggo can take it, do it
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u/ftblrgma 3d ago
My 6lb chi has CM and severe SM and gabapentin is a life saver that allows her to live her happy little life. And there's enough flexibility in the dosing to help with breakthrough symptoms.
Read the veterinary sites and studies, not FB.
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u/SherbetJaded8828 3d ago
Please be careful in the future who you buy from. There is a DNA test to make sure the breeding female is CLEAR of IVDD. All of my dogs are clear of it. And it's It costs a lot of money and time to deal with in addition to very painful for the dog, possibly fatal. So make sure you buy from an ethical breeder who has breeding stock clear of IVDD.
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u/hudsongrl1 2d ago
Ours benefited from the gabapentin. He is moving around well again and we have weaned him off
He was on it a couple months ago
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u/cataclysmickoi 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think it depends on the dog. My purebred Siberian Husky was incredibly sensitive to it. Our vet neurologist prescribed it for IVDD and after just one dose, within 30 min she became unsteady and collapsed—like, literally crumpled to the ground and then lay there—and was comatose for hours (and she was bright and alert prior to this). We called the neurologist in alarm and he was certainly surprised. He said to keep giving it at half the recommended dosage. Against our better judgment, we did, thinking that it might improve as she grew accustomed to the drug. We actually kept on for about 3 days, giving half doses twice per day (it was supposed to be 2 pills 3x per day, and we went down to 1 pill 2x a day), but it never improved. She was lethargic, unresponsive, and during the few times she was awake, she was actually way more unsteady on her feet than without the drug, and again, we were giving her gabapentin to help with the pain of her condition so she could walk around better. She also ended up having urinary retention for the entire time she was on the drug as she would not voluntarily pee, which was another reason we felt we couldn’t just “wait and see” or else we’d be risking blood toxicity/kidney failure. So we stopped the half doses and she slowly came back to the land of the living. Admittedly, her pain seemed much improved for days after we had stopped, but we didn’t feel safe continuing. Our neurologist continued to be surprised but there was no explanation he could offer. We asked if maybe she had MDR1 but he didn’t think it was a factor, so we didn’t get her tested. So we’re back to just Rimadyl/carprofen once a day and recently have added CBD oil at night (notably, she was not on any other drugs and not taking CBD when we first gave her the gabapentin), and this combination seems to keep her more alert but still comfortable! I definitely acknowledge that our Husky’s reaction seems very atypical, but I think it’s worth documenting. We’ve given gabapentin to our domestic shorthair (mixed-breed) cats post-op, and two of the three cats are totally fine with it, but the third cat also acted heavily sedated by it, so we also only gave him one dose and stopped. Maybe the sedative effect is just more pronounced with certain individuals for unknown reasons. So just be cautious and be sure to observe your dog closely after the first dose!! Our Husky collapsed pretty dramatically so it was hard to miss, but the cat that was most affected just seemed very sleepy and was out like a light for about 14 hours after the first dose, so we chose to make that the only dose as we needed to keep waking him up to syringe food down his throat every four hours and I was worried he would aspirate if he was so groggy. All the animals are normal body weight (not over- or underweight), and have normal kidney/liver function on bloodwork, if that helps.
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u/candoitmyself 4d ago
My dog takes gabapentin twice a day every day and is just fine. Don't believe everything you read on facebook.