OTJ - Safe sedative for vet visit?

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David - coco

Member Since 2022
So long story short, my cats been otj since March and I brought her to the vet for a check up and full blood work and urinalysis. While she’s been doing great, she has been losing some weight/muscle, a little over 2lbs since December. Right now she’s at a good weight for her size but worry she might have a thyroid issue or something.

But for the first time, she apparently was a handful and they weren’t able to get blood or urine from here and they didn’t want to stress her out anymore then they already did. She’s only had this done 3 other times in the last year haha. So they told me to come back and recommended and sedative to calm her down. I’m a little worried as I know some medication can cause issues with blood sugar (mostly steroids?) so I wanted to check here. Are there any safe meds for this that won’t bump her out of remission or affect her BG? I’d just assume not dope her up but I’d also like to just get it done and not have to go back a 3rd time. I’d prefer something not in pill form as well. Thanks
 
Unless you are getting a medication compounded and it's in a sugar based solution, it should be fine. You can always ask the pharmacist (gabapentin is a human drug) if there's any form of sugar or a sugar substitute (cat's shouldn't be given sorbitol) in the product, it should be fine.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Unless you are getting a medication compounded and it's in a sugar based solution, it should be fine. You can always ask the pharmacist (gabapentin is a human drug) if there's any form of sugar or a sugar substitute (cat's shouldn't be given sorbitol) in the product, it should be fine.
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Well I was preferring to have it compounded since giving her a pill is not easy. So I probably shouldn’t get it compounded? I guess I can ask the vet for something with no sugar or anything. I just sometimes don’t trust the vet to know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to diabetic cats.
 
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I'd just like to mention here, that Gabapentin can (and in our case did) affect serum glucose of diabetic patients. Although only in "rare cases" of 1 in 1,000, it is explicitly stated on the medication's leaflet. There are no specifics as of whether the effect manifests in either hyper- or hypoglycaemia, as it is supposedly patient dependant. (In our case it was always hyper.)

Uncommon (which may affect more than 1 person in a 1000):
• Allergic reactions such as hives
• Decreased movement
• Racing heartbeat
• Swelling that may involve the face, trunk and limbs
• Abnormal blood test results suggesting problems with the liver
• Mental impairment
• Fall
• Difficulty with thinking
• High blood sugar (most often observed in patients with diabetes)
• Agitation (a state of chronic restlessness and unintentional and purposeless motions)
• Difficulty swallowing.

Rare (which may affect less than 1 person in 1000):
• Low blood sugar (most often observed in patients with diabetes)
• Loss of consciousness
• Trouble breathing, shallow breaths (respiratory depression)
 
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I don't know about BG with Gabapentin but can say i have had good experiences with using it for my cat for a long drive. We actually tested it a few days beforehand to see how the effect would be for her. She only needed 50mg, administered inside a capsule, it does take at least an hour to have an effect. But it is definitely a chill pill!
 
I tried with gabapentin and calmivet. Calmivet was by far the worst. He was very frightened.
You have to test with gabapentin. With diferents brands I have different results, with one effect is visible about hour after dose and other needs more than two hours and half. Your dose must be 100mg.
About high glucose levels, your cat have spikes of glucose due stress?
 
Drashiel said:
Your dose must be 100mg.
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Absolutely not.

The dose should be determined by the vet, as Gabapentin dosage differ based on the desired effect (emotional or physical stress) and the cat's weight.
Gabapentin is a human anticonvulsant and although well tolerated by most cats, in rare cases it has adverse side effects, see above.

Whereas correct, you likely receive it in a 100mg capsule, its content must be divided, usually in quarter (25mg) or in half (50mg).

Example:
Cat #1 (just under 4kg) was prescribed 25mg BID for anxiety. Very well tolerated.
Cat #2 (4.5kg) was prescribed 50mg for dental nerve pain BID, and I had to rush him to the emergency with an overdose after his very first administration, as he fell unconscious with full body tremors.
Lowered the dose to 25mg with better results regarding pain, but his BG skyrocketed even on the low dose, regardless.
Cat #3 (5kg) is taking 33mg QD for hyperesthesia. Well tolerated.
 
.:. in.active .:. said:
Absolutely not.

The dose should be determined by the vet, as Gabapentin dosage differ based on the desired effect (emotional or physical stress) and the cat's weight.
Gabapentin is a human anticonvulsant and although well tolerated by most cats, in rare cases it has adverse side effects, see above.

Whereas correct, you likely receive it in a 100mg capsule, its content must be divided, usually in quarter (25mg) or in half (50mg).

Example:
Cat #1 (just under 4kg) was prescribed 25mg BID for anxiety. Very well tolerated.
Cat #2 (4.5kg) was prescribed 50mg for dental nerve pain BID, and I had to rush him to the emergency with an overdose after his very first administration, as he fell unconscious with full body tremors.
Lowered the dose to 25mg with better results regarding pain, but his BG skyrocketed even on the low dose, regardless.
Cat #3 (5kg) is taking 33mg QD for hyperesthesia. Well tolerated.
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OP asks for a sedative dosage for vet visits, not for other diseases that dosage must be determined by the vet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8360309/
Should be 100mg per cat:
Decrease stress at transport Cats: 100 mg/cat; 13.0 to 29.4 mg/kg BW, 90 min before

Regards.
 
Gabapentin reduces the electrical activity in the brain. Sure, a substantial amount can sedate, but there's a fine line between sedation and unconsciousness.

13.0 to 29.4 mg/kg where your emphasis should have been, not straight off advising OP to administer his pet 100mg. Cats differ from one another, just like humans do. What works for yours, may overdose another.
Certainly my diabetic cat is incredibly sensitive to Gabapentin, whereas the others are not.
I highlighted the different uses of it to emphasise that higher dosage (50mg in our case) is used for serious nerve pain, and lower dosages are used more for mental distress (33mg for hyperesthesia and 25mg for anxiety). OP's cat has mental distress, not physical.
 
@Drashiel - @.:. in.active .:. is correct. Dosing of any medication can vary. I would be very suspicious if a vet prescribed the same amount of a medication for a young adult cat vs a geriatric cat. Much as with humans, as we age, liver and kidneys are less efficient at clearing medications out of our system.

I'd also point out that gabapentin does not only have an indication as an anticonvulsant. It is widely used for and has an indication for the treatment of nerve pain.
 
Gosh, yes, definitely dose is dependent on cat's weight and its own other factors. I am pretty sure 100mg would have made my cat go unconscious too.
 
Thanks for the responses. However, my main concern is her BG. I know medications like steroids can bump cats out of remission. Can a medication like this do the same? It’s likely to be just one dose for one day just the the visit.
 
I doubt it'd be an issue if it was a one off. Even if her BG went up slightly higher than her normal, her pancreas is now pumping insulin to counteract it, so perhaps her system would be thinking it's only a "food spike". This is just a logical guess* though, so take it with a pinch of salt.

*The basis of my logic, although might be flawed: some problematic medications (e.g. steroids) need to be taken for a prolonged time, thus consequently they may substantially elevate the BG for a prolonged time too, giving reason for a relapse. Therefore, I cannot see an issue with a one off administration of a medication that may or may not raise BG.
 
i Have given gabapentin to several of my cats for vet visits. zI give it to Nala who is n remission. She weight about 10 lbs and 100 mg really sedates her. Last monday I gave 50 mg 3 ½ hrs before visit and and another 50 mg 1 hour before visit. She was l4ss sedated but still did not try to bite and scratch the vet and also allowed me to trim her claws. I also give it to my Snuffles, 17 lbs and has acromegaly. He get a total of 150 mg in two doses \and is still hard to handle by the vet. It does not seem to effect BG. Last time blood panel BG was 90 as expected. Last year I gave 100 mg to my Boots before vet visit to try to prevent urinating in carrier so that vet could get a urine sample. About 5 hours after administration Boots was wobbly and would not eat. THus, 100 mg is too high a dose. The documentation I have read says to try a dose before the visit to see how the cats reacts. Gabapentin comes in 100 and larger capsules. It is not that hard to separate the capsule halves and one can eyeball 50 and 75 mg doses.
 
Tried to upload a photo but it won’t let me. Just trying to make sure I understand the dose of the gabapentin I got, it’s compounded. It says I need to give her 2mL as the dose. The bottle also says “50mg/mL/mL oralS”. Does this mean this is a 50mg dose? Just trying to compare as you all talk about mg doses.
@Sienne and Gabby (GA) @Larry and Kitties
 
For some cats 100mg would be too high but not dangerous. Since you have the liquid you can try 50 mg (1ml) and 75mg (1.5ml) before vet visit as dry run and see what dose is best.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
For some cats 100mg would be too high but not dangerous. Since you have the liquid you can try 50 mg (1ml) and 75mg (1.5ml) before vet visit as dry run and see what dose is best.
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Thanks for the info. I ended up doing a test 100mg dose and it seemed to relax her enough so I gave it to her again yesterday morning and got her blood and urine samples so we’re good there. Now just hope everything come back ok, although I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t have a thyroid issue.

Of course, if it ain’t one thing, it’s another. Last night I noticed she suddenly keeps scratching on the left side of her face/neck area (with her back leg). This morning same thing but now she also has this head trembling occasionally. Almost like a bobble head. No idea why. She doesn’t scratch her ear, it’s the side of her face or neck so I wouldn’t think it’s her ear? But the bobble head motion makes me think ear? It’s not all the time but quite a bit to notice. She didn’t do this whatsoever until after the gabapentin and vet visit. Don’t know what to think other than keep an eye on her for a day or so. @Sienne and Gabby (GA)
 
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