Thank you for all these resources!

He does not cry or jump up suddenly as others have had reports of.  He doesn't have the twitches when he sleeps that I can tell.  Mostly I can tell he is sitting differently (I guess to keep his wrists? from too much movement).  With gabapentin I have noticed the twitches are reduced but I can sort tell he doesn't like being petted as much as he used to.  And possibly cleaning himself a little more but hard to tell.  But really he is a happy boy and loves to play, even at his age!

So Prescott Animal Hospital, Dr Skinner did the amputation but I've tried to get a hold of him but only his technicians call me back and have no answers to my questions and no return call from him.  But I will call them and see if I can get a hold of a therapist as you mentioned.  He is a TERRIBLE patient and actually was traumatized with all the vet appts surrounding his amputation that he actually started to run away from me every time I grabbed my purse (poor boy!).  So Cottonwood might be a little harder on him as it is about an hour away.  But I will call PAH and review all the material you provided - thank you sooo much for all f this!!

Is it harmful to give more than 100mg of gabapentin to a cat?

Thank you for your reply and new hope to help my sweet boy!

Well I looked at their website and it says canine physical therapy, but I still called and have to wait for a call back - sigh..  

I did vacillate between regular 'nerve pain' vs 'phantom pain ' and it is hard for me to discern and don't want to traumatize him to take him to the vet again unless I absolutely have to.  I went with phantom pain after picking him up and feeling the little shock wave of nerves he has been having.  I pray you are right and it's normal after-surgery type pain.  I just thought it strange it is developing now almost 5 months to the date after his surgery. But I'm in new territory here and have no clue!  I wouldn't say he's overgrooming per se, just seems like a little more than he used to is all.  But I did forget to mention that he has been chewing on a couple of particular nipples but he's been doing that since before his fur started to grow back.  It's been lessened since I've been licking my hand and petting him in that area. Sounds strange but hoped the scent of mommy saliva or grooming would deter him.  Who knows if it was me or the drugs... 

Strangely enough, my regular vet called and got to actually talk out a pain management schedule.  So we're going to try 50mg gabapentin in the am & pm, and then sneak in 1/2 a tablet of Onsior for lunch/snack every other day.  I can keep you (all) posted on how this works for me in hopes it might help another kitty with similar issues.

This site has been a blessing!  Thank you all for the information.

No word back from PAH, but from your site I was able to obtain a virtual physical therapy appt from a place in Ohio! They said they hadn't tried it before but were willing to give it a try.

I did decide to buy & try the Farabloc .  Hopefully, that will help a little bit... crossing fingers!

Well, it seems like it has been a long time since my last post but it was just about a week ago.  

I have scoured all sorts of sites and information out there on all sorts of stuff from messages for pain, physical therapy, etc.  I ended up finding a facility in Ohio that was willing to do a virtual appt for physical therapy.  Ginger at Care Center Cincinnati Rehab was absolutely wonderful!!  She gave me all sorts of information on how to do messages and tips to help his stability.  Also, she confirmed that raised cat bowls are definitely good for tripaws - so I made more of them (also available on Amazon).  So HUGE shout-out to Ginger and the Rehab center!!

I did get an appt with the surgeon at PAH and was very disappointed.  The surgeon basically provided me no information on physical therapy and pretty much said it is too hard for cats like mine that are scaredy cats.  I mentioned that the Gabapentin was really making CC loopy and lethargic and a neighbor suggested Tramadol.  He agreed Tramadol might work better and would have less of sedition effects.   My question out there for those out there.. have you used Tramadol for your cat?  I did not know it was an opioid and was concerned about the side effects.

Oh, forgot to mention the Fababloc came in and I put it on his bed... he didn't like that.  Then I put it under the cover of his bed and shortly after he was sleeping on the floor and doesn't want to go back to his bed.  So I don't think it's going to work for me.  Is anyone interested in trying a bearly used Fababloc at a reduced price?? LOL

Update on CC:

So with a bit of 'brushing' therapy 3 x a day and a little bit of gabapentin, his hyperesthesia had been reduced but not cured.  But he doesn't flinch when I go to pet him.  That was the good news.

Dec 2022, he stopped eating, and took him to my vet. They gave him an IV for 3 days and overall determined he had a stomach bug (???).  While trying to research what was ailing him, they took a chest x-ray and found a cancer nodule.  January they did another x-ray and found it was about the same size.  Yesterday I drove him 2 hours to an oncologist who stated since we don't know 100% if the cancer is osteosarcoma and cannot do a biopsy on his current nodule as it is in the middle of his chest, we will have to assume it is.  Because of proximity to the clinic, I am not able to do IV chemo on him, so the only option left is Pallia chemo pills every other day for 2 months and see if it keeps the cancer at bay.  The oncologist was realistic and let me know he may only have a few months left to live.

I have heard some natural herbs can help reduce the spread of some cancers but so far turmeric for cats is either really expensive or hard to find and I'm unsure if herbs will interfere with the chemo.

Does anyone have any success with natural herbs for cancer???

Thank you!