Thank goodness for Pregabalin.

Dylan went on Pregabalin 2 weeks ago. We witnessed an overnight transformation from little old man to playful, happy dog. We continue to have lovely playful days and walks without Dylan being quite poorly for an hour or two after. He looks prettier which I hate to admit but he had not been looking his best for a long time. I thought he was just getting older. All that stress has been erased from his sweet little face. In retrospect, Gabapentin wasn't good for him at that high dose which didn't work in the end anyway.

The reason for my posting though is to say that his coat is improving. I can't believe it. The cotton coat had grown all up his back. Now, apart from the bit that was shaved for his spinal tap 2 years ago, which has gone curly, his soft coat is coming back. Ok, it all sticks up and out like a husky but it's really soft. Can this be possible in 2 weeks? I also put him on a diet and he has got to a good weight in only two weeks so I'm very pleased.

So glad I took him to see Clare Rusbridge.

Pauline
So pleased to hear that Dylan is doing so well on Pregabalin. :jmp2: Sounds like its made him so much more comfortable, and the improvement to his coat must be an added bonus. Maybe his weight reductionn is also being helped because he's off of gabapentin as weight gain is one of its side effects.

I don't think we will ever know how much pain our little ones do actually bear, we can only guess and make judgements from their day to day activity levels and demeanour.

The jury is still out at the moment with Minnie and gabapentin, she is still showing some signs of discomfort even though she has been on it for nearly two weeks now. I know people say it takes a while for it to build up.

How's Poppy doing?

Hi Sandra. Poppy is still scratching. I am kicking myself I forgot to say Poppy bites her back sometimes because her report said she didn't appear to have any trigger points (or some similar wording). A few days after going to see Clare, I scratched the often wet spot where Poppy nibbles her back and it caused her to air scratch. I should really be emailing this to Clare before posting it here, but the plan was to wait 2 weeks to see if the pills work so I'll email tomorrow. The pills may have made some improvement but nothing significant. The weather at the moment doesn't help.

I got Poppy and Dylan's very detailed reports through the post from Clare, very impressive compared to the paragraph I got from the RVC. Finally I have a proper explanation of Dylan's status.

I'd email Clare about Minnie. You should have seen quite a difference in 2 weeks, we did.

Questions on Gabapentin

Pauline,

Glad to see your baby is doing much better on the new medication. I do have a question about Gabapentin Isabelle takes 50 mg one tablet every 12 hours and it seems to be doing great for her. She is active and playful I can hug on her and she seems fine. Her weight is good because I wanted to make sure so it would not cause her any pain. So is there something wrong with the medication? My Neurologist and Vet believe she is doing great. So any information would be helpful. I really love and trust my doctor and Dr. Berry comes highly recommended. I want Isabelle to be safe and I want to use wisdom in making decisions in the best interest for her and her health. Hope all is well.

Blessings,
Pamela:thnku:

Hi Pamela. The problem was, Dylan was on 150mg Gabapentin every 8 hours and this drug has a sedative effect. Some dogs it will affect more than others. Karen's dog Ruby was drunk on it, she'd fall over, now on Pregabalin she does agility. The thing is, it's best to start with Gabapentin so you have something to move onto if/when that doesn't work anymore. If your dog is fine on it, that's great, Dylan was when he was on 50mg.