Max is 16 - Arthritis/Gabapentin/Solensia
What about it?
This is Max. Our handsome man is 16 now and has had a limp in his left leg for a few months. Last month we took him in and they did x-rays, and diagnosed him with arthritis. They said he has it in both elbows and actually the one that’s worse on imaging isn’t the one he’s limping on. They said they don’t see any signs of any sort of tumor or infection in the imaging.
We tried a Solensia shot last month and saw no improvement, and it’s even gotten a bit worse. On Thursday he went back for a checkup (he’s also hyperthyroid, so we were running his routine blood work). After consulting with the vet, we decided to give Solensia another try for month 2 to see if it helps. Additionally, we are trialing Gabapentin for pain.
The vet is also sending his x-rays out to a radiologist to be read to see if they see something they didn’t. We don’t have the report back yet.
It’s only been about 24 hours since the first dose of Gabapentin and the Solensia shot, but there’s been no change other than the Gabapentin knocking him out. Lol. (We are lowering his dose at his vet’s direction to help with that).
Has anyone had luck with Solensia and/or Gabapentin for pain? And how long did it take to see results?
He’s not showing outward signs of pain (holding up the leg, crying) but you can tell he’s not wanting to put a ton of weight on it. He’s jumping up on the counters and couch still even though we’ve tried to stop that, but old habits die hard.
We’ve raised his food dishes up off the floor to a more manageable height for him and also have gotten an orthopedic bed for him which he seems to enjoy.
Any insight or experiences would be helpful.
