Does anyone have a cat with IBD on Prednisolone long term?

Hi there,  

Does anyone have or had in the past a cat has IBD who was on Prednisolone long term? Could you share how much dosage and how often do you give Prednisolone to your cat? 

My 8 year old female cat, Tabby was diagnosed with IBD about three weeks ago. Her weight is 7.3 pounds.

The specialist vet told me that Tabby’s biopsies were interpreted as "moderate”, and she needs to take 0.25ml liquid Prednisolone twice daily until June to control her IBD. So tabby take 0.50ml a day liquid Prednisolone. (It’s the same amount 13mg Prednisolone tablet, according to my regular vet.)

When I visited our regular vet last week, the vet told me that I should cut down the dosages. Now I only give my cats 0.25ml liquid Prednisolone once daily. (6.5mg tablet)  I’m wondering if I give my cat higher dose...?

Any thoughts on this much appreciated.

Well, its a steroid of sorts and steroids should not be given to cats for more than a short period of time. Maybe you can ask and see if they can give her anything else? What type of food are you feeding her now? 

Tippy has been on 0.10 ml pred daily since October but this is for a combination.  IBD and optic sarcoma.  It's definitely helped the IBd.  I missed one dose and it got ugly again immediately.

My IBD kitty has been on a steroid for a little over four years.  When he was very sick he was on 10 mg which was then cut down to 5 mgs daily, he now takes 2,5 mgs daily.  He has so far been find on the pred,  There was a nationwide shortage, actually vets were unable to get prednisolone at all for a long time.  He was switched to dexamethasone which he took for about a year.  His blood sugar came up high on what has become routine blood work..  The vet switched him back to the pred and his blood sugar came back down so there is a difference between the steroid medications.

Diabetes which resolves when kitty is taken off the steroid is the most common side effect of long term steroid use  To a lesser degree Cushing's disease can be a side effect of long term use.  Most kitties tolerate steroids well which has been the case with my  kitty,  Of course as with anything medical you can't say all, some kitties have not tolerated steroids well especially long term use.

It's quite common to start off on a higher dose and then reduce within a couple months. Do you have any concerns with your dosage? My kitty was on 5 mg daily and I was told that's not a lot when I asked about side effects like diabetes. (In other words, at 5 mg they doubted she would get diabetes, although it was possible.)

MommyTabby said:

 
Hi there,

Does anyone have or had in the past a cat has IBD who was on Prednisolone long term? Could you share how much dosage and how often do you give Prednisolone to your cat?

My 8 year old female cat, Tabby was diagnosed with IBD about three weeks ago. Her weight is 7.3 pounds.

The specialist vet told me that Tabby’s biopsies were interpreted as "moderate”, and she needs to take 0.25ml liquid Prednisolone twice daily until June to control her IBD. So tabby take 0.50ml a day liquid Prednisolone. (It’s the same amount 13mg Prednisolone tablet, according to my regular vet.)

When I visited our regular vet last week, the vet told me that I should cut down the dosages. Now I only give my cats 0.25ml liquid Prednisolone once daily. (6.5mg tablet)  I’m wondering if I give my cat higher dose...?

Any thoughts on this much appreciated.

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My IBD cat was on 5mg of Prednisilone daily, a slightly conservative dose due to a heart condition etc, but it worked very well for him for quite some time, about a 1.5 years.  And while being on Pred long term should only be done if needed, when its needed then it's needed because there is nothing better out there and once IBD has reached the point where it isn't controlled by diet etc, then the IBD is worse than the Pred use. Yes pred can exacerbate some conditions and can make a cat more prone to infection, but it's a reasonable risk for a cat who needs it and much ebtter than the alternative.

A cat who has bad IBD, ie, weight loss possbily in conjunction with bad vomiting/diarrhea and that doesn't respond to other therapies needs Pred.  You're doing the right thing.  Only adjust the dose with a vets approval.  Keep us updated.

My cat is on the lowest dose possible because of a heart condition. He takes 1/4 pill daily. Yes it's a steroid but with ibd your cat can be on it for the rest of its life. It just has to be monitored. Also he was on the pill twice a day but the vet lowered it because he was doing better. What are you feeding him? That also might have to be changed.

Are the tablets the same size dose as ml liquid dose? It does seem expensive but maybe they can last at least a couple of months. 

Yes, my regular vet told me that they are both the same strength. 
(0.25 ml of prednisolone liquid is 6.5 mg prednisolone tablet.)

My kitty had chronic constipation which got worse on prednisolone. Prednisolone affects every organ, so the side effects can be diverse. Are you feeding dry or wet? Keeping kitty hydrated is key to constipational problems.

When I got prednisolone it was cheap. Like $5/mo. I got lucky and filled up all the refills at once and wound up with a 4-month supply for $20. That was a couple years ago. During the shortage I heard prices got really high.

MommyTabby said:

 

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Both versions you got comes out to well under $1 a dose which is a fairly normal although you can get it cheaper in bulk.  Drs Foster and SMith sells it in bulk at about $0.17 per 5mg pill.  The problem with your pills is the expiration.  Maybe you can return them?

Thank you for sharing the info, Raintyger! I’m feeding wet and also add lukewarm water into it. Hopefully it’ll be better. 

Thank you the input, StephenQ!
It’s good to know that the price was a fairly normal. Well, I need to save money for it though… I wish I could return it, but the pharmacy made specially for Tabby. It’s 6.5 MG each tab. It was totally my fault that I didn’t ask the price and the expiration date before purchasing it. However, I feel better to keep the backup tablets just in case something happened to the liquid bottle. I have butter fingers. 
 
As always thanks for all the good ideas. 

OK, I think I get it now. It sounds like your prednisolone was made by a compounding pharmacy, which is going to cost more because it sounds like they converted it to a liquid form. I used to just crush the tablets and put it in a small amount of food. I served that before dinner, so I could make sure she ate it. Either that or I would use Pill Pockets.

You should ask your vet about Miralax. It's an over the counter that does the same thing that lactulose/Enulose does, that is draw water into the colon. Miralax comes in a powder/granular form and is not sticky. Most people on the Yahoo! feline chronic constipation and megacolon group preferred it and felt it worked better than lactulose.

Thank you for your response and useful information, Raintyger! Yes, I’ll ask my vet about Miralax. 

By the way, Tabby just threw up a large hairball! 

I stopped giving her the Cerenia since April 30th. Because I thought the Prednisolone was working for her. Her vomit used to have a strong smell to it, and also contained some food and water. This time it was only hairballs. I hope these changes are sings of her recovery. 

Has your cat vomit hairballs even she/he is on the Prednisolone?

Patches still occasionally has a hairball even with the steroid.  I know in theory everything works perfectly and therefore no hairballs..  We know that nothing is absolutely perfect..

Thank you for the response, Denice! I feel better to know that its not just Tabby! 

nansiludie said:

Well, its a steroid of sorts and steroids should not be given to cats for more than a short period of time.  

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Not necessarily true. Cats tolerate a long-term low dose of steroidal therapy extremely well and really gives them a safe, good quality of life that they would not have otherwise as it is used for many feline conditions.

MommyTabby said:

Yes, my regular vet told me that they are both the same strength. 

(0.25 ml of prednisolone liquid is 6.5 mg prednisolone tablet.)

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And, that is a fairly common low dose. 5 mg. being the common dosage and eventually you and your vet may be able to lower her to 2.5 mg. daily and still reap benefits.

I have heard great things about the use of Miralax too. My vet is recommending it for Perla as her poops are getting harder and harder these past few months even though she is mostly on a wet food diet with added water. Perla also eats some Nature's Variety canned foods. I notice that their canned diet is very dry, so I always add water. With the Miralax, he will get 1/8 tsp. twice daily to start and I can increase it if I don't see more normal poops. I really hope it helps!

I noticed that since Tabby’has taken Prednisolone, she sleeps less than before. Is it side effect of the Pred?! I’m kind of worried… Any thoughts?

Hi Feralvr, Thank you for your kind comments! 

 And, that is a fairly common low dose. 5 mg. being the common dosage and eventually you and your vet may be able to lower her to 2.5 mg. daily and still reap benefits.

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Thanks for saying that! I really hope I can lower her to 2.5mg or less! Hopefully she will gain enough weight soon, then I can ask my vet about lower the dose! 

I really hope Perla will get better soon! Thank you so much for sharing your story! I haven’t gotten an answer from my vet about Miralax, so I still continue giving her the Eunlose, I see some improvements! Keep me posted! 

Thank you all for reading and commenting! I appreciate your kind attention very much.