I made a big mistake.... well..my vet did

Hello everyone:

I'm sorry to keep bothering you all with Lucas' health problems, but I wanted to ask something to see if somebody can help or has been though the same with their kitties.

Lucas was doing so much better, but then the vet asked me to lower his prednisolone dose from 10mg to 7.5 and I did for three days. he started getting all red and sick again and his belly started getting red again and he started pulling his hair and scratching. So, I started giving him the 10 mg again. But the problem is that now he doesn't get better, not even with the 10mg of prednisolone.

THis is crazy, I just don't get it, I called the vet and he told me to keep him on 10mg for now so we can wait and see.

he has been eating grain free food for a month and a half now and he was doing well. I admit he ate purina one food for two days,( 7 and 8 of July) I gave it to him trying to see if he was allergic to grains or not, but after eating it for two days he looked well and I got scared and stopped giving it to him. But he ate that two weeks ago, he can't be having a reaction now? or could he? I don't know....

AHHH! wish i had follow my own instincts and kept him on the 10mg of pred, he was doing so well

Anyway, here are two pictures of my poor boy,
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...8/P7202337.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...8/P7202338.jpg

Oh poor little Lucas! He certainly looks itchy, doesn't he? Don't beat yourself up. You are trying to do the best you can for him. Give it a few days and see if his reaction calms down on the larger dose of prednizone. I will say prayers for him and you both. And if it makes you feel any better (or at least get a chuckle), my Gramma's cat went nearly totally bald, but eventually for no apparent reason his hair grew back. I called him my little "naked kitty" he was so bald, but we couldn't take him to the vet because he almost scratched my eyes out trying to get him in the carrier. Either it was prayer, time, or a combination of both, but things turned around.

Hang in there!

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear Lucas is itching again. How long have you been giving him the 10mg again? Usually steroids are fast acting, but maybe it could take a few days to show improvement.

Don't blame yourself. Autoimmune diseases are just so complicated. They're so hard to figure out, and then when you have it figure out, a new symptom will pop up, or a med will stop working all of a sudden. You're doing the best you can, I know you are. I wish you and Lucas all the strength in the world to get him feeling well!!

Awwww... I am so sorry to hear about Lucas' relapse. I understand dealing with dermatological conditions can be a very difficult and drawn out process.

But, I hope you understand that the ultimate goal of Prednisolone is not be on it long term. It's merely a quick-fix to eleviate some of the symptoms, but ultimately, what your vet wants to do is control Lucas' condition and slowly wean him of the prednisolone. As I'm sure you're aware, there are a lot of side effects associated with the long-term administration of Prednisolone. Your vet was merely following standard protocol to taper his dose down and see how Lucas' reacts with the lower dose. But you definitely want to maintain his exclusion diet so that the vet can confidently rule out any type of food allergy in Lucas.

I hope you're not discouraged by this, I really hope that they can figure out what Lucas' has and treat it.

Thank you all.

Yes, i know, we have been trying to wean KLucas off pred for alsmot 2 years without success. But we were happy because we were able to get him on only 2.5mg every 24 hours, but now he just doesn't seem to be able to respond.

This morning he is looking a little bit better. But I never know how things are going to go. It is so emotionally exhausting