Can I give my kitten my adult cat's gabapentin for car rides?

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about your cat. I can't find any interactions between them, but I would give one or the other, not both at the same time. You don't want to over-sedate your cat. I'd use the gabapentin for the road trip. I hope this helps!

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.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Boo. The dose for cats can be up to 1mg/kg. 1mg/kg equals 0.001mg/l, or 1mg/ml. Based on this, he could have up to 4.8ml, so this is within the dose. I hope this helps!

Gabapentin can cause sedation in some cats but not all. You can try a dose that your vet prescribed to see if it helps with a short car trip around the block. If it doesn't work, I would talk to your vet about a different medication, possibly alprazolam and also use Cerenia, which prevents nausea often associated with motion sickness in these kitties.

It is safe to give these medications together and they are often prescribed for sedation. The sedation typically lasts 12-24 hours. You could ask your vet about trying the medications before you travel to make sure the level of sedation seems appropriate; that way you could discuss a dose adjustment with your vet if needed.

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.

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.