Is gabapentin safe for my cat's eye pain, and what's the right dose?

Unfortunately it is illegal for us to give dose information for prescription drugs without seeing your cat in person first. You need to check with Purrrcy's vet to see if this is an appropriate dose. Gabapentin in cats, however, is typically used for pain not sedation.

It is a human drug and that is the lowest capsule strength available. It is best to ask your vet to have the drug compounded into a liquid or a transdermal gel. You dividing the capsules is not ideal - you are not likely to get a correct dose. Roadrunner Pharmacy can compound it for you. Your vet can call in a prescription and the pharmacy can ship it right to you. ( https://roadrunnerpharmacy.com/product-catalog/ )

Gabapentin will not have any effect on this type of pain, it's a special medication for very specific types of pains, usually chronic neurological pain, it won't have any pain relief effect in this case.

Unfortunately we cannot, by law, recommend that you give any medication to poor Oliver that was not personally prescribed by your own veterinarian. Even with that said, Gabapentin is rarely used in cats because we don't have enough clinical evidence to support using it safely in them for analgesic (pain management) purposes. It sounds like Oliver may have suffered a concussion or even has a musculoskeletal injury around his neck area. You can apply a cold compress on the neck area for 5-10 minutes to help with any suspected swelling for now, and then I recommend getting him seen in the morning by your local vet. Your regular vet may not be open on the weekend; however, there are usually some clinics open (like VCA or Banfield) that can help Oliver get examined, tested for internal injury, and treated appropriately with safe medication specific to his particular injury.

100 mg is a regular dose for sedation for fearful or aggressive cats, so just biting it shouldn't affect him much. I recommend keeping an eye on him for adverse symptoms. He may be off-balance, sleepy, may vomit, or drool, but these were observed by owners after a full dose, so again, you may not see much of an effect. If he does seem too sedate, or if he displays any symptoms that concern you, I recommend getting him seen by your vet or an emergency clinic;; it's better to be safe than sorry.

Gabapentin is designed to be given two or three times so that is perfectly fine. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Yes, 100mg is a normal dosage for an average sized adult cat. You can open the capsule and mix the powder with a small amount of canned food. Only use enough canned food to mask the powder. If you mix it with a large amount of canned food and she doesn't eat it all, she won't get the full dose. Be sure to give it at least 2-3 hours prior to the appointment. I often recommend people give a dose at home on a day that you can be with him as a trial run so you can see how the drug affects him. You may find that it seems like it is doing nothing for him or you may see that he is too sedate or maybe it is just right. But you can take note to see how long it takes to affect him after he ingests it - some cats take 2-3 hours to get sedate and others only need 30 minutes to an hour. This way you can get the timing right for dosing him for his appointment. You don't have to do this but it may be a good idea as "test run". Hope this helps. Best wishes.