Tresaderm and increased appetite

I have noticed this before in Mazy, and may even have another thread on it a few years ago. Every time Mazy is on Tresaderm ear drops she has increased appetite. I would have thought the steroid in tresaderm would not be enough to cause this type of side effect, especially since it is put in the ear, not ingested, but it seems to, in Mazy.

I did a little research and discovered that the Dexamethasone, which is the steroid used in Tresaderm, is indeed absorbed systemically, so I guess it's possible.

I hope, after her big ear clean out last week, and the 10 day treatment, she will not ever need this again. Now that I am more aware of how the steroid is absorbed I am not so willing to turn to it.

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I guess it's certainly possible with the steroid, even if only subtle. Or, do you think she could be eating more because she's feeling better (no pain or discomfort)?

Sebastian was on Tresaderm for a short amount of time. His ear infection cleared up after only a few days on it. Like everything else it seems, I read about some bad experiences people have had giving their pet Tresaderm, so I didn't want to overdo it if not necessary. Of course, this was all decided with my vet.
 

I can understand your reservations about steroids, but they really are good anti inflammatories. I'm glad Mazy is feeling better!

Mazy has been on a cycle of tresaderm 3 or 4 times a year, for most of her life. She came to me with a raging yeast infection, there's no telling how long she had had it before I adopted her from the shelter, so her problem has been chronic. I had hoped after putting her on raw the flare ups would stop, but they didn't, and now I think I know why. There was just so much accumulated debris in her ears!

I often discussed with my vet the idea of giving Mazy's ears a good clean out under anesthesia, and I always planned she would have it done with her first dental. But Mazy has such great teeth, she hasn't needed a dental. Those stubborn balls of wax that finally prompted the clean out under anesthesia were providential I think.

I am hoping, now that all that sludge is gone (who knows how long it all has been festering in there), maybe this will be the last time she ever has ear problems.

But I have seen the pattern before, the increased appetite (asking for food), and down right gobbling (she is usually a slow eater) when on the tresaderm. It goes away after she's done with the drops.

Well, let's hope that this cleaning under anesthesia will resolve the repeating ear infections!

...but IF there is a problem again in the future, have you considered using colloidal silver as an ear wash instead? Not internally, but just soaking a cotton ball or Q-tip with it and swabbing her ear with it 4x a day? (500ppm). I think it would be worth the try, as it can't hurt her, and may resolve the problem without the steroid part...

you won't ever have to find out if it works or not.

Does she get yeast infections in her ear?  My vet used to clean Callie's ears under anesthesia, then put this goopy gel-like medicine in them that was absorbed into the body over a 2 week period.  We only had to do it twice (over the period of about 2 years) to treat her ear problems then never again.
 

LDG said:

Well, let's hope that this cleaning under anesthesia will resolve the repeating ear infections!

...but IF there is a problem again in the future, have you considered using colloidal silver as an ear wash instead? Not internally, but just soaking a cotton ball or Q-tip with it and swabbing her ear with it 4x a day? (500ppm). I think it would be worth the try, as it can't hurt her, and may resolve the problem without the steroid part...

you won't ever have to find out if it works or not.

Click to expand...

Thanks Laurie, no I never thought of using CS. But if the infection is down IN the ear, how would swabbing the external ear help? (serious question)

stephanietx said:

Does she get yeast infections in her ear?  My vet used to clean Callie's ears under anesthesia, then put this goopy gel-like medicine in them that was absorbed into the body over a 2 week period.  We only had to do it twice (over the period of about 2 years) to treat her ear problems then never again.

 

Click to expand...

Yes sometimes there is yeast, and all this trouble is caused by the original yeast infection. During the clean out a lot of things were found, but surprisingly, yeast wasn't one of them. Mostly wax, hair and cocci bacteria. A lot of all three.

What is the medicine your vet uses called?

Incidentally Mazy still has that almost frantic appetite. I'll be glad when she's done with the tresaderm. So will she!

Keep your mouth closed when giving ear drops to a cat. You can guess why. Bletch. :lol3:

otto, looking up how to use CS as an eye wash, I found this: http://angelakaelin.hubpages.com/hu...enting-and-Treating-Diseases-in-Cats-and-Dogs

Apparently it can also be used as drops. I've found a number of forums where people used CS to treat ear infections in babies in this fashion. The strength of the CS, not mentioned in the article, would be 10ppm - 30ppm, not the 500ppm stuff we use for other topical treatments.