Gabapentin for Dogs

Another drug re-purposed to veterinary medicine to make more $$$.

I am posting an article I wrote for Dogs Naturally Magazine regarding the use of GABAPENTIN in veterinary medicine.

This is a drug that is still being prescribed and recommended even though there as not been a single study proving it does anything for pain. And in terms of “neuropathic pain”? That is terminology developed by sales marketers to sell the drug.

It was another one of those instances when the pharma reps sold a drug to veterinarians for a newly created condition - neuropathic pain - and told them there were no side effects.

This all took place the same year Pfizer settled a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that included gabapentin and the rage syndrome it was causing in humans. They had to continue to make money from the drug somewhere, and dogs and cats can’t complain about how a drug makes them feel.

It turns out that there is not a single study proving gabapentin has any pain-relieving properties. Last year I heard a board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist say as much in front of a lecture hall full of veterinarians.

The drug is now on the controlled substance list of at least five states due to its addiction potential. It gets you high but does nothing for the pain.

When combined with opioids, it can potentiate respiratory depression, i.e. shut down breathing, to the point of requiring artificial ventilation until it wears off.

No, it does not have anything to do with the neurotransmitter GABA or GABA receptors. Its physiological effect is on calcium channels.

Here is the full article where I follow the money and the research.

Gabapentin For Dogs: Evaluating The Risks

Next time your veterinarian recommends gabapentin, ask them to give you something that relieves pain.