Prednisolone and appetite question

My 13 yr old cat is on prednisolone. It is a flavored liquid so I put it in  her food and she loves it!She is also on a new diet of Hill's Prescription Z/D which I buy online or at the emergency place.She also gets b12 injections their regularly.Her appetite has greatly incresed.Her normal weight is 11 pds.Now it is 8 pds.She keeps wanting me to give her more.more-I feel up her bowl twice.At what point do you stop feeding her so much even though she asks for it?It has been a month and she is starting to have diarrhea again.She has not had an endoscopy,just gi pannel,thyroid which were negative..Her kidneys are fine so the internal medicine doctor is treating as if she has ibd.

Laura

Hi @maggie101 and welcome to TCS, i wish under better circumstances.

How long has she been on treatment?  And what is the dose of Pred that she is getting?

If the pred is working, she should be gaining weight within 1-2 weeks of starting treatment.  If you don't have a baby scale, i would urge you to invest in one asap.  It will be much easier for you to weigh her at home, and its important to know if she's gaining. Amazon sells them at good prices.

Z/D is a hydrolyzed protein and while it might be better than novel protein diets like rabbit or venison, it also has a reputation of causing diarrhea, the exact thing you don't want.  My IBD cat simon went on ZD and very quickly developed a much worse case of diarrhea than before.  2 weeks and 3 antibiotics, along with W/D food (high fiber absorbs water) and we finally got the diarrhea under control.  Then we started a slow shift to a novel protein.

So its possible the return of diarrhea is the food itself, but this is something you need to discuss with your vet.

As for the weight gain, beside the baby scale, its possible his Pred dose will need to be adjusted if he isn't gaining.  In some cases, cats don't respond to the pred and the Vet may suggest a different medicine like Leukeran.  As far as appetite goes, if he's hungry I'd give him what he wants right now.  It sounds like he isn't on a wet food, is that true?

I have always fed her canned food since I got her at 1yr old.Her food was Wellness Core Canned.She,Josie,has gone from 7.14 pds to 8.4.Her next b12 is this week so I will have them(internal med doc) weigh her and check her stool.I have 2 other cats that had a bacterial infection but I was told it's not contagious.In the very beginning her first symptons, was,to be specific,loose stool,gas,and very stinky,and later could not defecate.Today those symptons have reappeared which is why I don't think it's a bacterial infection.I will know at my visit..She has been on Z/D for a month and prednisolone for a week.I will mention the W/D food.I have a digital scale but a baby scale will prob be even more accurate.

Thankx!

Laura

Ok so she has gained weight then?  That's great if she's gained.  Regardless of when food she may switch to, whether is W/D or something else, make sure you discuss Z/D and its ability to cause diarrhea.  I've had 2 vets tell me this including an internal medicine specialist at a major NYC hospital.

It's easy to give B12 shots, you can ask your Vet how to do them if you want.

My cat is going through the exact same thing right now. We started on Prednisolone 2xa day 5mg each pill for a week and then now down to 1x a day. B12 shots also once a week. My initial vet put her on z/d wet and then I switched vets....long story. She had loose bowel movements when on zd which I thought was due to clavamox she was also on. When I switched vets she suggested a novel protein so I switched to Natures Variety Instinct Rabbit which she loved for a couple of weeks! We came off the clavamox at that time and things went back to normal but that's when we started the other meds that are helping too.

I'm confused if the food is causing issues or the lower dose of pred or both. She is about the same weight as before but feels chunkier. Do steroids do that?

What other wet meats out there should I try?

Thanks
Melanie

What food do you use for your cat?I have read so many bad reviews about Hills but not all bad.

Laura

PatchesinVA said:

My cat is going through the exact same thing right now. We started on Prednisolone 2xa day 5mg each pill for a week and then now down to 1x a day. B12 shots also once a week. My initial vet put her on z/d wet and then I switched vets....long story. She had loose bowel movements when on zd which I thought was due to clavamox she was also on. When I switched vets she suggested a novel protein so I switched to Natures Variety Instinct Rabbit which she loved for a couple of weeks! We came off the clavamox at that time and things went back to normal but that's when we started the other meds that are helping too.

I'm confused if the food is causing issues or the lower dose of pred or both. She is about the same weight as before but feels chunkier. Do steroids do that?

What other wet meats out there should I try?

Thanks
Melanie

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Steroids do cause weight gain.  As far as food goes it's really a trial and error thing, what works for one cat doesn't work for another.  I take it your kitty is having loose stools again?  When multiple things are done at the same time it's hard to say if it's reducing the steroid or the food.  I would continue with what you are doing and see if things work out before trying something else.  The optimum thing is to get off the steroids if possible or at least be on the lowest possible dose.  

Especially since she is finished with the antibiotic I would try a probiotic.  Many people have had very good luck with adding a probiotic.  There are other people here that know a lot more about probiotics that could suggest a good one.  LDG knows a lot about probiotics.  

My dear Angelina had a severe flea allergy.  No matter what I did around the house, in the house , and in the yard, there were going to be fleas. Period. 

We ('Hub and I ) would try to treat her with flea remedy, and I would have to take her to the Vet on a fairly regular basis.  There were only a few times that the vets gave her the steroid.  They said that as a ten year old cat the steroid would likely do more harm than good.  So they would give us antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds.

About this time we found out about Comfortis, and had Angelina on it every three weeks for several months.  She started to play and frisk about as she had when young.  (She came to us as a young adult.)  Angelina was frisking about and playing--ten years old, mind you.

Then she was killed by a pit-bull dog.

We used to feed her wellness chicken grain free, or natural balance grain free Catatouille.  She eventually gets bored of them and won't eat them. I've also read recent reports of these two foods not being good!   We switched to the z/d as the vet stated it would help.  We then switched to Natures Variety Instinct Rabbit but now she won't eat that!  

My cat had no issues before I took her to the vet for bloodwork other than some weight loss which was a gradual thing and fussy eating habits as above.  Her stools were normal.  An Ultrasound confirmed Pancreatitis and probably IBD (which could also be Lymphoma). We will not do surgery to know for sure so we are treating IBD and pancreatitis at this point.  She's also taking Denamarin for liver.

Since we started all the meds and changes in food she started with the loose bowels.  We had a week or so that was normal when she was on the steroid twice daily and eating the rabbit.

I think I will try Natures Variety Instinct with a different flavor and see where we go with that.

My vet is suggesting I take her off the z/d and see how we go with another food.  Otherwise she wants her back on 2 pills a day.  I do give her probiotics (but I forgot a few days recently) and I think I need to get the ones others are advising to use instead.

Thanks,

Melanie 

She gets checked tomorrow at the vet's.Tonight she cried trying to use the litter box. If she can they're only dime sized.I am afraid she might need an endoscopy but I cannot afford it.I hope my parents will reconsider helping me out.

Laura

@maggie101

Hi Did you see y prior posts discussing how Z/D can cause diarrhea?  When oyu say dime sized are you talking about stool?  The last time you posted she was having diarrhea, not constipation.  Has she gained weight?  Can you give us a more detailed update on her condition?

Hi! Josie has a bacterial infection and was kept at the vets over night for a larger sample and sent to a lab because the vet finds it odd that all 3 of my cats have/h

ad a bacterial infection because it should not be contagious and her stool does not look like normal diarrhea.I wonder if the prednisolone has anything to do with it.I will know the results in 1 day-2 weeks. She has lost weight.

Laura

Prednisilone like any steroid can lower one's immune system and make a cat more susceptible to illnesses.  Did you see my prior post that Z/D can cause diarrhea?

Sorry to hear kitty is back at the vet. I also want to urge you re the z/d food. I took Patches off this food and things are back to normal in the litter box!

I have tried a variety of Natures Variety Instinct and Venison is the new flavor she likes. I've also just tried her on Addictions Buffalo which she also enjoyed.

I hope your vet can give you some conclusive answers so you know how to treat but starting on another food and giving a good probiotic will help for sure.

Hang in there!
Melanie

My cat  stopped going di after a few days.It slowly got back to normal.I guess it was an IBD episode.She will be on antibiotics from my primary vet since she does have an infection.My internal med doc(IMD)said it is normal for cats with IBD to occasionally have an infection so visit him in a few weeks and  she will be on a long term antibiotic-low dose. 

Laura

maggie101 said:

 
My cat  stopped going di after a few days.It slowly got back to normal.I guess it was an IBD episode.She will be on antibiotics from my primary vet since she does have an infection.My internal med doc(IMD)said it is normal for cats with IBD to occasionally have an infection so visit him in a few weeks and  she will be on a long term antibiotic-low dose. 

Laura

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Sorry your cat stopped going what? :-)