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Is my dog stumbling and hallucinating from pain meds after surgery?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Male | neutered | 8 years and 4 months old | 85 lbs

My dog had abdominal surgery 4 days ago (they removed foreign objects from his stomach and intestines). He is on gabapentin for pain and omeprazole for anti-acid (along with and antibiotic of course). Today he had an episode that really scared me- he was stumbling and falling over and trying to dig up the driveway! It seemed like some sort of hallucination. I think its from the pain meds but I'm not sure. Should I lower the dose? I'm very worried.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Davis

Veterinarian

Published on July 10th, 2018

Yes this can be a side effect of the gabapentin, or tramadol if your dog is on that for pain. I would lower the dose by half and speak with your veterinarian about it to see if they want you to stay on the lower dose, stop the medication, or switch to another pain medication. As the healing progresses you shouldn’t need as much medication and hopefully you can discontinue it soon as these are unwanted side effects. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Bode.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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