Different Vet, maybe. At least a second opinion!

 

Did your vet obtain any xrays of the hips, stifles, and spine?

At my work we have quite a few patients on Gabapentin without any issues or adverse side effects. Was there any side effect in particular with Gabapentin that you were particularly concerned about?

As with any medication there's always going to be some sort of side effect listed, typically with every medicine these include allergic reaction, vomiting, diarrhea, and death. Just listen to all those commercials on tv advertising some new miricale drug, from the way they make it sound all those drugs do is fix one problem but give to 10 more new problems that may or may to kill you. That being said most patients typically do well on whatever medication it is. You start to run into problems if you're allergic to the medication, which you won't know until you take it, or if you start giving higher than recommend doses. But with all that bad you also have to outweigh the good, it is worth it to be sick or in severe pain just so you don't risk the unknown of a possible side effect.

 

It is interesting you are nervous about giving your pet Gabapentin, certainly one of the safest drugs used in veterinary medicine with very few side effects other than sedation (and usually that is only for a few days). But you didn't comment on your using prednisone, one of the drugs with the most common as well as the most serious side effects of nearly all drugs we use in veterinary medicine- severe immune suppression (with all the associated problems that can create, such as bladder infections, sepsis, viral diseases, cancers etc.), gastrointestinal irritation, weight gain, damage to bone and cartilage over time, excessive urination, elevated liver enzymes and potential liver damage, high blood pressure, iatrogenic Cushings disease, diabetes, colitis, pancreatitis and the list goes on... of course, most dogs experience few of these symptoms, particularly if on a low, intermittent dose.... but the potential for side effects is greater with this drug than just about any other drug we use in vet medicine... and I would rate Gabapentin probably pretty close to the opposite end of the other end of the spectrum in terms of likely or potential serious side effects.

Saying all that, Gabapentin has not always shown a lot of effectiveness for pain control with musculoskeletal problems, though it seems pretty good at helping with some neurological pain. Adding it to the other drugs commonly prescribed for musculoskeletal pain, such as non-steroidals and Trammadol, does seem to have a positive synergistic effect, however.

Prednisone, on the other hand, is not a painkiller at all. It can sometimes help alleviate pain by reducing inflammation, one of the main positive effects it has, but itself has no painkilling qualities.