Upcoming Vet Visit with 2 High Stress Cats

[yoshiyama]

Its that time of year again for my 2 6 year old female cats to have to go in to the vet's for their annual check-up and booster. Shiva who is the younger of the 2 by 6 months is the better of the 2 but still is fearful and gets stressed out with the visit. Elsbett, the oldest of the two on the other hand turns in to devil cat. She has in her file and I quote "She does not like it here" lol. She refuses to come out of her carrier so they also know how much it weighs and just weigh her in it. I bought one that unzips completely flat so they don't have to dump her out of it & they use feliway on themselves before they enter the room but last year, she left the vet bloody & didn't get a full exam done. This year we are going to try some medication prior to bringing them in. They have given me Gabapentin 100mg for each of the girls. Im supposed to sprinkle the contents of the capsule in a tablespoon of wet food about 2-3 hours prior to the visit. They are thinking it will definatly help with Shiva but not so sure with Elsbett. My question is has anyone used this for this purpose & how did it work. Trying to see what to expect. Im also wondering if the taste is bitter or how easy it is going to be to get them to eat it. They can be particular with their food.

 

[margd]

I can't answer your question about gabapentin for this purpose because I've never used it, but it does strike me as an odd choice of medication.  Gabapentin is usually prescribed for seizures and/or pain.  Do you know why the vet didn't go with one of the usual anti-anxiety medications like valium, ativan or xanax?  I'm not a vet, but it would seem to me that using one of these benzodiazepines would also be more likely to work on both cats than using a medication that isn't typically used for reducing anxiety.  Your vet probably has a good reason, but it wouldn't hurt to ask about the benzodiazepines. 

Another possible option, since this is just for a check-up and injection, is to call a mobile vet.  I was very pleased the one time I used one and it made a big difference in my cat's stress levels.

 

[hellomisskitty]

I agree that it seems like an odd choice to me as well. I take gabapentin for nerve pain and while its action on nerves is to calm them down (thus soothing nerve pain) it's uptake, in humans at least, is slow so the effects are not felt like 5 or 6 hours later and results aren't achieved until a few weeks after a certian level is built up in the blood. Maybe it's effects are different in animals? I too would think a quicker acting agent like a benzo would be the way to go...but I'm not a vet!
Like your fur babies, my girl really has a hard time at the vet. They have to keep her in the bottom half of her crate and only do the minimum of an exam in order to keep her a calm as possible. I really love my vet but have been considering switching to a mobile vet as Margd has mentioned...thankfully, there are a number of options in my area for that . I figured Miss K. is going to be happier AND I will be less stressed too...win-win!

Good luck with the vet visit...I hope it goes smoothly!

 

[yoshiyama]

I did some research last night on the medication and saw where it was used to help lower the anxiety & stress for cats prior to procdure's in vet visits.  I had mentioned Valium over the phone when i made the appointment & this is what they decided to try.  We had talked about trying something at last year's visit & she seemed as if she had done her research & was keeping up to date with the studies & newest things out there.  Im not sure if we have any mobile vet's in my area as we are not that big of a city per say.  We are about 2 hours outside of Washington DC.  The Vet i use is actually only about 5 minutes from my house.  Its right down the street from my housing development which is great since I don't have to go on any main roads.  Its just as soon as they see the carrier, my one cat now shakes her head "No" and heads for somewhere to hide lol.  The vet thinks it will help Shiva handle the visit much better, but she is not all that hopeful with Elsbett.  It might be her way of trying the least harmful of medications first since to be honest we don't really have that much of a good history on Elsbett since she wont let people touch her for long & she did have an issue last year with blood in her urine which was discovered after they put her under to check her out when I told them she was not acting like herself.  We assume she had a bladder infection & treated it with antibotic's which she seemed to be back to her normal self after she finished taking them so they did not see the need to have me bring her back in but im really hoping they can get a good exam done on her this time around.  I guess worst case they will put her under in order to examine her if need be.

 

[hellomisskitty]

I was thinking last night that the use of gabapentin in this manner must be new and better for the animals as opposed to Valium etc. I hope it goes well!
One thing that I do in order to keep my girl from freaking out about the pre-vet appearance of the carrier is that I keep it out all the time. I've made it into a cozy space where she actually naps in regularly and willingly goes right in! It is a safe place to her.
It's funny, my cat previously was fine with vet visits and then a year and a half ago had a bladder issue due to crystals and ever since then, like Elsbett, going to the vet is a nightmare for her!

 

[yoshiyama]

Well, this visit went much better than last time.  Shiva our younger girl did very well on the medication.  It made a really big difference with her.  I was able to actually trim her nails before the visit by myself with no help which would never happen.  She was very easy to handle during the visit with no hissing at all.  She did poop a bit but other than that, she was very calm.  The vet was very happy with the dosage for her & we will be sticking with that from now on. Elsbett did not do as well.  She was somewhat calmer than last year, but still a handful.  They were able to do a full exam on her but she was hissing and growling and tried to jump away from them twice.  No blood this time though.  The vet went with a lower dose on her this 1st time to see how she would react as she is a big cat & somewhat overweight (she is 17 lbs).  She feels that with a higher dose the next visit could be better for her as we both did notice a difference.  The effects of the medication did last into the evening & I noticed both of the girls were more relaxed especially Shiva who tends to be more high strung.  Only downside we saw was the next day when my husband & I got home from work, he said the house smelled like an old fart.  LOL.  When he went to change the littler box the odor coming out of it was horrible.  If that's the only downside to them taking it to make them less stressed, I think we can handle that the few times we have to take them to the vet!  Good news both girls got a clean bill of health other than them wanting Elsbett to loose weight of course but they are happy she did not gain any & she lost .2 lbs.

 

[hellomisskitty]

I'm so glad the medication helped and thanks for sharing the results...I'm going to see if my vet thinks this might help my girl for her next visit to the vet!

 

[margd]

Thank you for telling us about this.  I had never heard of gabapentin being used this way and it's great to learn of another medication that can help calm down nervous cats at the vet. Also,wonderful news that both Shiva and Elsbett are healthy girls.  

 

 

[mommytobuck]

Just following up on this thread. My cat is 18 lbs and last time I gave him 100 mg of gabapentin. Frustratingly it didn't work at all and my cat came home bloodied. My new vet wants me to try 200 mg and does not think the dose was high enough. He suggested me trying a 200 mg dose on a day I am home and see what happens. If my cat doesn't seem to be suffering to much from axieta or balance issues they would like me to try giving him a dose the night before. Then again the day of the appointment.