Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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we are at two weeks after amputation now with our 3 year old boxer. He started getting phantom pain 2 days after surgery and was prescribed gabapentin 400mg daily. How long should gabapentin be taken and when they are coming off it how soon before should you start weaning them off? Or should they be weaned off?Â
Is it helping for the phantom pain ?Sometimes it takes a few days to build up. It is excellent that your vet was willing to prescribe it and work with you on the phantom pain issue and kudos for advocating for better pain management ! As far as the gabapentin, others will chip in about specifics. It is an " off-label" usage for phantom pain so the parameters may be a bit different, but, in general, dogs tolerate it very well with few side effects, it has a wide safety margin, and pretty much you can stay on it long term ( my dog has been on it since Thanksgiving). Since it was originally prescribed for seizures, there has been some confusion about weaning off. From what I have been told, for seizures you would wean off, but for other uses it is not necessary; however, since we can't " ask" our dogs, why not wean off? Usually that means reducing dosages by a 1/4, then a 1/2, etc. over a week or so. ( Opioids like tramadol, on the other hand, do take weaning off of.) But, again, many others will chip in with more specifics! Best wishes , hugs, and PyrPaws all around!
It helped tremendously! He was having severe muscle spasms and yelping with it 2 days after surgery I didn't even know about gabapentin until I came on tripawds and found out dogs can get phantom pain . So I called the vet and said I wanted a prescription for it. After a few days taking Gabapentin it decreased and now he's back to his normal self! He's also on tramadol but our vet didn't say he needed to be weaned off though thanks for letting me know. How long do dogs normally take gabapentin after amputation?
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That's wonderful to knw that the Gaba helped him with pain!!
As DaBear mentioned, some dogs stay on Gaba for many months at a time, or even longer.
Speak with your Vet about reducing the doses or taking him off completely. Yiur Vet will most likely tell you that, since he hasn't been on it but for a couple of weeks, little or no weaning is neccesary. Obviously we aren't Vets, so check with him. If you need ronojt him back on it, that's certainly an option IF the phantom pain comes back.
HAPPY TWO WEEK AMPUVERSARY!!! 🙂 🙂
Hugs to that cutie pie!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I think it is more commonly recommended to step down the dosage and it is what we did after 2 full weeks post amp at full dosage - we weaned down over the next 2 weeks. Â Consult with your vet to make up a plan and watch carefully for signs the pain is still there. Â I would not necessarily conclude there is no pain any more, but rather that it is currently managed and proceed cautiously, yet purposefully with a plan to reduce and end the use of it. Â
So good he is feeling better with the Gabapentin and recovering well in general.
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. Â His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
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