Anyone ever have a cat on pred?

rang_27 · Jul 9, 2007

Well I just talked to the vet and all the research recommends using prednisone to lower the blood calcium. I'm a littl freaked out because I know how bad the side affects are. I know that the elevated calcium is also very bad, I just wish there was something else I could give him. I'm so tired of going round and round with this. I just want my Jordan back to normal.

sharky · Jul 9, 2007

PRED in cats and dogs IS FAR safer than for humans...

My dog is on pred for another few months and it is helping...

beandip · Jul 9, 2007

Beandip was on it for over a year, 5mg/day...no negative side effects. Now, I'm happy that we're getting off of it but I don't regret having him on it....does that make sense?

The only thing I noticed was maybe increased thirst and urination but nothing extreme. He didn't gain any weight.

isadora44 · Jul 9, 2007

I had spot on it for a short while once, never had a problem with it. You still have to taper off as you would in a human though.

rang_27 · Jul 9, 2007

Thanks guys, I guess it's because I know someone who's cat was treated with pred for asthma & ended up with diabetes and in full kidney and liver failure. I feel sometimes like I'm fighting a losing battle and I'm just trying to buy him as much time as possible. I guess he's going to be on either 10 mg a day or 10 mg twice a day, I'm not sure exactly which. I'll find out tomorrow when I pick up his pills. I just don't want to do anything that will harm him. The vet said that there is a possibility of negative side effects, but that the damage done by his elevated calcium out weighs the risks of being on pred. This is so hard because I want to do what's best, but I'm also tired of taking him to the vet and paying all kinds of money for nothing. I feel like a bad Mom, but I guess I'm just overwhelmed and just want to do what the vet says so that I can get an emotional break.

jean44 · Jul 9, 2007

Eric has been on pred for asthma since 2001. He currently gets 2Â½ mg per day. Beginning in January of this year he developed high blood glucose, which I've been able to control by diet. The vet thinks it's the result of long term pred use. As sharkey said, however, cats are much less susceptible to the negative side effects of pred than people are.

Don't let your concerns about future negative effects stop you from giving pred to Jordan. You're not a bad Mom, you're a great kitty Mom. You're just doing what is best for Jordan. Hugs and positive thoughts to both of you.

emmylou · Jul 9, 2007

My family had a cat who was given prednisone to help reduce inflammation from a growth... he was expected to die, but kept on thriving. He ended up being on prednisone every day for four years, with no noticeable symptoms or side effects other than a ravenous appetite. He was always hungry.

rang_27 · Jul 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Jean44

Eric has been on pred for asthma since 2001. He currently gets 2Â½ mg per day. Beginning in January of this year he developed high blood glucose, which I've been able to control by diet. The vet thinks it's the result of long term pred use. As sharkey said, however, cats are much less susceptible to the negative side effects of pred than people are.

Don't let your concerns about future negative effects stop you from giving pred to Jordan. You're not a bad Mom, you're a great kitty Mom. You're just doing what is best for Jordan. Hugs and positive thoughts to both of you.

Thankyou, I think I just feel like a bad Mom because I'm tired of taking him to the vet. Part of me feels like I should get a second opinon, but I can't even face calling for yet another vet appointment. I'm feeling better today, I think I just had to come to terms with the fact that even though he's 4 years old he is now a special needs cat.

Originally Posted by emmylou

My family had a cat who was given prednisone to help reduce inflammation from a growth... he was expected to die, but kept on thriving. He ended up being on prednisone every day for four years, with no noticeable symptoms or side effects other than a ravenous appetite. He was always hungry.

Thankyou so much for the encouragement, I'm so afraid I'm going to lose him and this gives me some hope that he may have several years left.

He's actually going on Prednisolone. I was very glad when I picked it up this morning because I had read that this is what cats should be given. Apparently it's more difficult for cats than dogs to convert the Prednisone to Prednisolone. So I'm going to start tomorrow morning he's getting (2) 5mg tablets a day for two weeks. Then we will retest his calcium levels, and reasses from there.

renny · Jul 10, 2007

Sorry...just say this. Rambo is being treated with prednisone to control what we think is an auto-immune disorder. He's on the lowest dose possible which is about 10mg/week. When he has an acute attach he gets a higher dose or an injection, and then he gets weaned back to this maintenance dose.

The dose you are indicating sounds like a higher dose and for a short duration. The side-effects of that are minimal compared to long-term dosing. Do remember that you have to wean cats off of steroids (just like humans), so no stopping cold turkey.

As far as side effects go...well, I made the decision that I was treating Rambo for a good QUALITY of life, and I would have to live with the fact that his QUANTITY of life might be ultimately shorter. Since he was desparately ill before, it wasn't a hard decision.

If you need to talk more about it, feel free to PM me...i've had to become a bit of an expert on pred.

rang_27 · Jul 10, 2007

Jordan is being treated for idopathic hypercalcimia. I guess the elevated blood calcium does a lot of damage and will begin to calcify all the soft tissues in his body. So when I had a chance to sit and think about it, left untreated kidney, liver and heart damage are gaurnteed. The vet did say that pred was the place to start treating, but that there are other meds. I have questions for the vet, but haven't had a chance to ask them yet. I've got to write them down & then call or I forget to ask everything.

rang_27 · Jul 10, 2007

I just have to add I'm getting tired of the judgement in people's voices when they ask how my cat is & I tell them what's going on. I get either the I would never spend that much on an animal judgement, or the I would get a second opinon or a differnt vet judgement. I know that some people are well meaning, but he's my baby & I"m the one who must live with or with out him. I'm just trying to do my best. (OK just had to vent, thanks for listening)

debskats · Jul 10, 2007

I know what you mean about the way people react when they realize what you're doing and how much you're spending on Jordan. But you know what? I don't care. I'm the one who has to live with my decisions and so far they're been the right decisions for me and my cats!

Chloe has been on 5 mg of prednisolone a day with occasional bursts and tapers for 4 or 5 years and so far has had no side effects from it at all. Katy was on 5 mg a day for about 2 years, then was found to have protein in her urine and has had a couple bouts of pancreatitis. The vets felt that the protein in her urine was probably due to the pred usage and it was also possibly contributing to her chronic pancreatitis. So, we've cut her back to 2.5 mg every other day. I really hesitated to put either one of them on pred in the beginning, but for the most part it's done nothing but good.

momofmany · Jul 10, 2007

Just caught this thread. My Stumpy has an auto immune disease and has been on pred for a year now. He gets 5 mg a day for a week a month then we lower it to 5 mg every other day for the rest of the time. Thus far I haven't noticed any adverse effects and we just had another full blood work up done last week.

I too was terrified of putting a cat on pred long term, but then realized that the alternative was to lose him even quicker to a painful death. Sometimes you need to compromise on their quality of life. Stumpy was not himself until we got him leveled out on the pred and then our old boy came back to us.

rang_27 · Jul 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Stumpy was not himself until we got him leveled out on the pred and then our old boy came back to us.

I'm really hoping this will give me back what I like to call "Full-on" Jordan. I don't miss not getting enough sleep, but I can tell he's just not Jordan. He's only knocked the garbage can over once in the last couple of months. He used to knocked it over 3 - 4 times a night. He's letting me sleep instead of waking me a 3, 4 & 5 AM to make sure i don't forget to feed him. He has only jumped into my arms a couple of times in the last couple of months. This is a cat I used to have to put on the floor and run for the door to get out of my house. I miss him, and I hope he gets back to himself.

I am concerned that he is starting out at 10 mg a day, that seems high to me, but I'm hoping the vet is planning on bringing that down.

debskats · Jul 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Rang_27

I am concerned that he is starting out at 10 mg a day, that seems high to me, but I'm hoping the vet is planning on bringing that down.

I don't think it's really that uncommon to start them on 10 mg a day and work their way down. Periodically, Chloe's pred will be increased up to 10 mg for awhile, then down to 7.5 and finally back to 5. In fact, she just finished a course of this.

I hope your "old Jordan" comes back to you soon.

sharky · Jul 10, 2007

Commonly a start dose is 1mg perlb of body wt ... then a taper by 25% every five days ish

momofmany · Jul 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Rang_27

I'm really hoping this will give me back what I like to call "Full-on" Jordan. I don't miss not getting enough sleep, but I can tell he's just not Jordan. He's only knocked the garbage can over once in the last couple of months. He used to knocked it over 3 - 4 times a night. He's letting me sleep instead of waking me a 3, 4 & 5 AM to make sure i don't forget to feed him. He has only jumped into my arms a couple of times in the last couple of months. This is a cat I used to have to put on the floor and run for the door to get out of my house. I miss him, and I hope he gets back to himself.

I too, hope that you'll get your "Full-on" Jordan back!!

It's funny. We complain about their quirky behaviors when they are younger and doing them, then miss them terribly when they become ill. I high-fived my DH the other night when the feral cat that we've been treating (short term dose of pred) scratched me when I gave her a pill. My comment to DH: She's got her spunk back, WOOHOO!!

renny · Jul 10, 2007

Just to add to your comment about missing Jordan's regular behaviour....I didn't notice just how quiet and sickly Rambo was until after the first few days of pred. He was his old self, coming for cuddles, waking me up with his 3 am crazies etc.

Just take it one day at a time, and aim for the best quality of life for you and Jordan.

ps: ignoring those silly people who say "i wouldn't spend that much $$ on a cat". They don't know anything. I would have spent 10 times as much to make Rambo better!!

good luck, and good health Jordan!

jean44 · Jul 10, 2007

Ignore the comments about how much you're spending. Those people don't understand how we feel about our cats.

I expect the vet will want to reduce his dosage after a trial period. That's the usual procedure. The idea is to find the lowest possible dose that will do the job. I hope the pred helps and your "old Jordan" is back soon.

rang_27 · Jul 10, 2007

Thanks guys. Jordan weighed 12.4 lbs the last time they weighed him, so I guess 10 mg is a good starting point. He's going to start tomorrow morning. You know I guess he's been a little less crazy day by day for a while now, but I just thought he was finally growing up (he turned 4 in May). Then one day it dawned on me that he probably wasn't feeling very good. I have to say that I used to get so mad at him sometimes when he would be crazy. Now when he does crazy things I just laugh, give him a hug and tell him how good it is to see he's feeling good. He may still have cancer lurking somewhere that can't be found, but if I can have him back for at least a little while it will be nice.

Anyone ever have a cat on pred?

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