My dog has had problems with stumbling and falling . it seems to have been related to "phantom pain" in his missing leg as he had some bone spurs removed last week and has been much better.

He needs permanent pain medication as he also has elbow displacia and a slipping patella.

As he has had some phantom pain would gabapentin treat the nerve pain and the joint pain ?

  What are the pro's and cons of gabapentin versus rymadil , metacam etc.

He has been on trocoxil , But I worry that it stays in their system for a month so if there was some emergency he couldnt have other medications

For our experience with Bo, the Gabapentin really messed with his mood. He's been on Tramadol for over all pain since his surgery (about a month ago). He's 90 lbs. and would take 1, 50mg pill in the morning and 1, 50mg pill in the evening (about 3 weeks post-op) Now, he's gone several days where we haven't given it to him at all because he didn't seem to be in pain. We are just going to use it as needed.

I've noticed most people here report that the Tramadol really messed with their pups mood/appetite/behavior. Once we stopped the Gabapention and knocked the Tramadol dosage down, he perked up again. We can't use Rymadil because his liver enzymes were high, so that isn't an option for us, but it may be for you.

Good luck to you and your pup!

jeanette said:

I dont know if we have those here, I'm in the north east of england

the vets do work a bit different over here but they should still be able to discuss levels of pain meds and which may or may not suit your dog. dizzy had tramadol and it did knock her out a bit but that was the worst side effect she had

The vets here are very reluctant to give gabapentin as its a human drug. When my dog had Sm most vets refused, I dont think they'd even heard of it which is why i'm asking here about pro's cons , side effects etc before I go.

I had a bit of a fight to get him on any medication , they wouldnt believe he had elbow displacia because he doesnt shuffle about when he's sitting.

Thanks I will go through those links and look into a pain management vet.

 To be honest i'm not too keen on my current vet ,  He always reccomends trocoxil and  the fact everything in their surgery , mouse mats , mugs etc has trocoxil on it makes me suspicious.

Ive only been with him a few months.

His stitches from his recent surgery are bothering me , they look odd , they are thin blue material and placed on the edge of the wound and over to one side instead of  equally either side, is there a reason for stitching that way?

They have cut in a lot. the edges of the wound are overlaping too and it is slow to heal. 

They even have the table leg propped up with trocoxil coasters ,lol

I took a couple of adult rescues in yesterday for vaccinations , he half heartedly tried to get me to do the full puppy course of vaccines . but he's learning not to argue.

I've had bad experiences with the other vets in the area, I've tried most vets within a 40 minute drive, I may have to move house ,lol