Cats after ovariohysterectomy: does gabapentin reduce postoperative pain scores and rescue opioid need versus placebo? — POSSIBLE (the treatment made no difference)

POSSIBLE (the treatment made no difference): In the one randomised, masked, placebo-controlled trial of exactly this question, a single preoperative gabapentin dose did not reduce postoperative pain or rescue need after ovariohysterectomy. In Harris 2026 (34 healthy female shelter cats randomized to liquid gabapentin 20 mg/kg or placebo orally, 2 to 4 hours before anaesthesia and surgery, with all scoring by 2 masked individuals), there was no evidence of a difference between treatment groups, or of a treatment-by-time interaction, for any outcome measure: Feline Grimace Scale pain scores rose after recovery in both groups (gabapentin at 30 to 90 minutes; placebo at 30 and 60 minutes), and no cat in either group required rescue analgesia at any time point. Design class (a): randomisation and blinding are established by the pivotal record's own wording — cats were 'randomized' and scored by 'masked' assessors — and the trial answers this shelf's own comparison (gabapentin versus placebo) in this shelf's own population (cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy). The cross-pointed second trial points the same way on its primary scale: in Steagall 2018 (52 cats, all receiving buprenorphine; gabapentin 50 mg capsules at 12 hours and 1 hour before surgery versus placebo capsules), pain and sedation scores were not different among treatments and rescue prevalence on the primary multidimensional composite pain scale was not significantly different (gabapentin-buprenorphine 5 of 19 [26%] versus buprenorphine with placebo capsules 9 of 18 [50%], overall P = 0.08) — that record is already carded as a claim-carrier in Shelf #197 and is cross-pointed here, not re-carded. Limits stated plainly: the pivotal trial is small (34 cats), follows pain only to 180 minutes after recovery, uses one single 20 mg/kg liquid dose, and its zero rescue need in both groups means the trial cannot show an opioid-sparing effect even in principle — there was no rescue use to spare; whether repeated or higher dosing, or gabapentin added to an opioid, changes later pain is a different question (Steagall's second scoring system, the revised Glasgow scale, would have separated the groups, which is why this stamp is POSSIBLE, not a stronger null). Drafted Nov 10, 2026 (VetMed build, topic #745); all figures from the abstract fetched and verified at drafting.