Constipation from gabapentin?

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Gracie85

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Lamborghini, now 18 years old, gets Solensia monthly for his arthritis, and now is on gabapentin for additional pain as well. He's basically on hospice at this point, we're keeping him comfortable as he reaches his natural end. He's arthritic, toothless (FORL), hypothyroid (on meds, after treatment for hyperthyroid tumor), diet-controlled blood sugars (luckily we caught it just before he would have needed insulin, and very strict very low carb diet saved him from that), has had bladder sludge in past, is showing signs of kidney issues...he's very old at this point, sleeps, eats, poops, sleeps in his sunny window some more. Eats only FF classic pate turkey & giblets, diluted and liquefied with up to 50% water, so it's a creamy soup he can just lap up; 4-6 meals (2-3 cans) a day, tho he is still very slowly losing weight. Vet agrees we are doing all that we reasonably can for him, and best to just keep him comfy. Recently added the gabapentin because he was looking more uncomfortable, despite the improvements the solensia gives him.
But now he seems to be getting constipated, found two balls of poop about the size and shape of a walnut on the floor in front of the litterbox tonight. Ouch! (Going to add another step to help him get in and out, as the box is a huge homemade one, as we have 5 cats, three of them large and fluffy so regular boxes just didn't work for them).
Suspect it is the gabapentin causing the constipation, so what can we give him, remembering that he's toothless and old, that might help his poop but won't trigger his blood sugar or any other of his problems?
 
I don’t think gabapentin causes constipation except in large doses.
Is he drinking enough.? Maybe put a teaspoon warm water in each lot of food.
You could also try a teaspoon of cooked pumpkin in the food twice a day to soften the stool. You can boil the pumpkin in water with nothing added, drain and mash. Or you can buy cooked pumpkin in the US…just make sure it is plain pumpkin and not cooking pumpkin that has sugar in it.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I don’t think gabapentin causes constipation except in large doses.
Is he drinking enough.? Maybe put a teaspoon warm water in each lot of food.
You could also try a teaspoon of cooked pumpkin in the food twice a day to soften the stool. You can boil the pumpkin in water with nothing added, drain and mash. Or you can buy cooked pumpkin in the US…just make sure it is plain pumpkin and not cooking pumpkin that has sugar in it.
Click to expand...

We add enough water to his food to make it liquid, so 1/2 can of food per meal with 1/4-1/2 can of water, then mushed up until smooth. He has basically no teeth left, last we looked it was the top right fang and the bottom left fang and two of the tiny front incisors. And then he gets fed 4 times a day guaranteed, and 1-3 extra meals in between when he asks nicely (and he has such good manners). So he's getting plenty of water. And he gets fed alone, behind a closed door, so no one else hassles him or steals his food.
Pumpkin won't affect blood sugar? We've kept him safe by sticking strictly to a very very low carb food. Both he and we are too old to start dealing with testing and insulin. Desperately hoping he just goes to final sleep in his sunny window bed one day, all on his own. Don't want him, or us, to face him being so bad that we have to make the choice.
 
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