Can I still give this medication?

[Ilovedavidmitchell]

In December 2021 my cat had a surgery and they prescribed gabapentin afterwards. It helped soooo much because it has a sedating effect so it kept him calm and stress free as he had to be on cage rest.

My other cat had surgery yesterday but she wasnt prescribed any gabapentin. However she is very worked up with the cone on and also flinging herself all around the room. Ive confined her to the spare room but I'm still worried about her wound an stitches because I've been told to try and keep her calm. It's impossible she's bouncing off the walls. I do have some gabapentin left over from when my other cat had it but I'm afraid to use it because it's from December 2021. Does anyone know if this would still be ok to use? I'm actually going to call my vets and ask them if she can be prescribed some but for now I wonder if I can give her some of this?

Vet here...

It's never a good idea to give medication that was prescribed for another animal without discussing it with your vet. Although the situation may seem identical, there could be a reason why it's not suitable for your car that's had surgery now or the dose may be different. Gabapentin is a human drug used off-licence in animals and it's not without potential side effects so please do check.

Your vet should be happy to discuss and they'll be open soon. Just hold off until you've discussed it. Hopefully they will advise you on how to make the post operative period easier for your cat (and you!), we do know it's not always easy to keep them calm.

Take the cone off. Mine don't tolerate it. And never touched their wound.