Starting a Prednisone Trial..

Well anyone who ever paid even a tiny bit of attention to any posts about Genever will know that she pukes kind of a lot. And we don't know why. Tried many things, different foods, elevated dishes, ping pong balls in the dish, but she'd puke sometimes even after only about 10 pieces or 1 forkfull of food, so I don't think it's scarf-n-barf. We tried Pepcid AC, Reglan, Sucralfate, a shot of Cerenia, an x-ray, nothing changed anything or showed any problems. She has lost some weight since about a year ago around when she started to puke a lot. She was 11.5 lbs, and has hovered between 10-11 since then. Otherwise she seems perfectly normal and healthy.

I (and the vet, too, it seems) refuse to just accept that some cats just puke a lot, a lot being sometimes every day for a few days, then not again for 5 days, then maybe in 2 days and twice the next day, then a week before the the next puke, etc. Frequent but inconsistent.

So the latest attempt to stop this is now we're going to try Prednisone to see if it could be inflammation related to IBS. (or is it IBD? Sorry, my brain isn't working. Something about inflammation and bowel.) I'm picking up the pills and instructions this afternoon, the vet said we'll try a tapered dose over at least 4 weeks to see if there's any change. I really hope this does the trick, because even though I hate prednisone (i take it myself), I know a small maintenance dose can do wonders (again, I take it myself).

Those of you with cats on prednisone, anything you can add that I should look out for or hope to expect?

Thanks, and please wish us luck with this and hope that we don't have to go the next route - $300 ultrasound, which may or may not turn up anything.

Thanks for all that. We tried NB Duck & Green Pea ONLY for about 2 months, with no change. So then I added back some Wellness cans, because she likes them better and kind of stopped eating duck & pea cans. She still eats Duck & Pea dry though and loves it. As I said, G-cat throws up, well, it's hard to say how much or how often. As of today, Tuesday, she hasn't puked since Friday night. Before that she puked Friday morning. There is just no pattern to it, other than it's usually shortly after she eats. I keep a journal, and I see no connections with food or change/stress or anything. She's been to the vet quite a few times over the past year because of it. It's frustrating. I want her to be well!

Thanks, we have been through a lot, but I'm probably paranoid too so maybe I make it out to be more than it is, whatever is wrong with her at the time.. I just know that when I throw up, it's not pleasant, so I'm sure Genever doesn't enjoy it either. My poor Little Miss Pukey!

Thanks KyleW. Actually when I went to pick up the pills, I saw it actually is Prednisolone, 5mg. I gave her the first pill this morningin a pill pocket. I am to give Genever 1 pill everyday for 2 weeks, then a half pill everyday for 1 week, then a half pill every other day for the next week and a half or so and call the vet to discuss. I hope this works!!

G-cat loves pill pockets. So it makes all our lives so much easier. The one thing she really seriously fights us on is getting pills shoved down her throat, which is understandable, but she gets this strength from nowhere! When she had giardia, those pills were so bitter I guess that she wouldn't even take them with a pill pocket after 1 day, so we had to do it the hard way. It was not fun. Everything else has gone in a pill pocket though, I even got the Duck & Pea allergy formula back when we were doing only the duck & pea food and giving her Pepcid.

Nice to know also that if this will help, it will help quickly. She still hasn't puked since Friday night, but she has gone a week or so between pukes sometimes in the past, so if I get past the weekend and still no puke, then that will be a very good sign. Since it's so inconsistent, the vet told me instead of counting the times per week, to instead count the times per month during this trial and compare with past months. I have a year or so of records in my little notebooks..

Thanks for your concern and insight. I will keep you posted.

For a few weeks or so, way back when, I didn't feed Genever any dry food at all, thinking that was the problem. The result- puke puddles instead of piles. One thing I did notice during different food trial periods is when she was strictly on NB Duck & Pea, her coat got a bit dull and felt not as soft. When I added Wellness cans back in with the Duck & Pea dry, she got soft again.

She has had 2-3 itchy skin issues since we got her, but it doesn't last long, I give her 1/2 a chlor-trimeton allergy pill (approved by the vet) for a few days and it clears it up.

By the way, after we adopted Genever in Jan 2009, she had giardia but we didn't realise it for a few months, we just thought she was just a really stinky cat when she pooped. (bad cat owners!! I'm so sorry g-cat! I'm a hypochondriac for you now!) And since that got taken care of, her poops are all normal. It's just the upper part of her digestive tract (maybe) that is the problem here.

Why can't there be one right formula that works for all cats on the planet??

That's interesting that you noticed better results with giving the pred. in the evening. I just thought I'd do it in the morning because I know when I started taking prednisone about a year ago, I had taken it at night ar first and then I was up all night, I really had trouble sleeping. So I now take it in the morning instead. So from that, I thought if Genever has hers in the morning, then maybe she'll be more active in the day and not so much at night? I don't know. The past 2 days she's pretty much the same as usual, behavior-wise. Active in the morning, sleeping in the afternoon, active in the evenings and at night (running laps and chasing ping pong balls all over the place).

I have noticed today that there were more pee clumps in the litterbox. Haven't seen any difference in eating really. She eats a good amount usually I think, though she doesn't eat 'meals', she picks all day long. And that will be another topic for another thread very soon about what happens when we adopt another cat (probably in the very near future)- what if it does clean its plate at meal time? Will it clean Genever's too? Or will she learn to eat better? sigh...

Still no pukes since Friday night- almost a whole week! Hope it keeps up!

I feed Genever on a schedule, it just takes her a long time to finish her meals, so it turns out to be more like free-feeding/grazing. She eats a few bites, walks away, an hour or 2 comes back for a little more, etc. So if Miss New Cat eats a meal, then.... hopefully she won't eat Genever's meal too, or maybe Genever will learn to eat properly if she wants to have any food left!

We very well may find this out by next week actually, I was so tempted to come home with one this past Saturday..

Also... STILL NO PUKE! It's been 10 days now!

OK, well since I have been giving the pill to Genever in mid-morning, how can I switch it to the evening? Would it work just gradually over a week or so, giving it an hour or 2 later each day until I'm giving it to her at night?

OK then I will give her a pill tonight and continue to give them at night, and hopefully it will be better for her. Thanks for the info!!

I really hope she continues to not puke when I start to taper the dose... It will be so wonderful for both of us for her insides to be better!!