Depo medrol

Hello,everyone. I took my 8 month old cat that I rescued to the vet 3 days ago for scratching his ear. I was thinking ear mites or ear infection. The vet I used is the same one I went to that neutered Henry when I first rescuded him and pretty much has the best reputation in my city. He said it was allergies and gave him a shot of depo medrol. Henry usually has somewhat high energy and walks back and forth through the house and loves playing. Well on the day of the shot and the day after he wouldn't eat his wet food at all. He's never , ever not eaten. He did eat a few treats here and there and he drank water with no problems. He used his litter boxes and no vomiting or diarrhea, but he's been really lazy. On day 2 he begin to eat maybe 50% of his food but still not himself. He will play if I start the game of chase the string or hide and go seek. But not his normal full energy self. Today day 3 I stayed home from work to monitor him and he's still lazy but that appetite is back lol. He's now eating 100% of his food when I put it down. He's using the litter boxes and he will play if I start the game again. But he's been still just lying around mostly napping. His energy seems a little better than yesterday though. My first cat so the stuff I've read about this shot online has scared me senseless. I couldn't sleep all night and prayed that God take care of him for my mistake of getting him this shot. I didn't know and was only trying to help him. I feel bad that he's not feeling good now. If anyone has any info they can share ID be much obliged. Thank you all and have a wonderful day.

Personally I have had several cats on depo-medrol for one thing or another and have had no bad side effects.  I love the stuff!  One cat of mine has odd seasonal allergies, and he gets scabby and scratches all over like  he had mites or fleas but he doesn't.  One shot of depo-medrol usually does him for the year.  (His allergies are in the fall.)  I  have had two others on it to control stomatitis and it worked very well.  One of them is now 17 years old and her lab work at her last check up was perfect.

If he is scratching because of allergies, he may have FOOD allergies.  We had two cats who were brothers who had destroyed their ears in the 8 years they had a home.  They were given to us when the couple got divorced and neither one wanted custody of the cats!  Their ears were terrible.  Knowing that food allergies in cats often manifest in the ears, and the things they are most likely to be allergic to are corn, wheat and soy, I put them on a grain-free diet, both their wet food and their dry food.  Within a week the allergies started to clear up.  The people who adopted them continue the grain-free diet and the ears have not been a problem since then.  Eight years, and all they needed was a diet change. I don't know what you feed your cat, but you might try switching to grain free food and see if that helps.  The depo-medrol will probably suppress the allergy, but if you could get rid of what he is allergic to, perhaps he won't get itchy ears again.

Thank you so much for your reply. Today he seems to be coming back around, odd thing is today is the first day he's starting back scratching the ear. He has no fleas and no ear mites. I feed him friskies wet.can you suggest a brand and I'll definitely put him on it. Thanks so much as all has been trial and error with me. We just happen to be put in each other's life when I saw him 4 months ago at work. I've been feeding him wet as the vet told me dry is not good. Of you can kindly suggest a brand I'm buying some tomorrow. Thank you so much again.

Depo medrol is a long a term acting steroid to reduce inflammation, and as I understand many vets now a day are getting away from it. I would not use it long term on my animals (in fact I try and stay away from it altogether especially with cats. I know some clients who have allergy cats/dogs keep coming back for the injection instead of figuring out what the animal is allergic/reacting to, or don't try and eliminate the allergen because the depo shot is "convenient" which is not ideal for the long term health of the animal). Depo has been known to cause diabetes especially in cats, and long term like any steriod can shorten the lifespan. Off the top of my head it can cause Cushings disease, can't remember if that's for cats as well but it's been a while since I worked at a day practice and we usually only used it on dogs after a couple of cats did in fact get diabetes from it (temporarily, but still).
I can understand using it for immediate relief though.

Feralhound said:

Depo medrol is a long a term acting steroid to reduce inflammation, and as I understand many vets now a day are getting away from it. I would not use it long term on my animals (in fact I try and stay away from it altogether especially with cats. I know some clients who have allergy cats/dogs keep coming back for the injection instead of figuring out what the animal is allergic/reacting to, or don't try and eliminate the allergen because the depo shot is "convenient" which is not ideal for the long term health of the animal). Depo has been known to cause diabetes especially in cats, and long term like any steriod can shorten the lifespan. Off the top of my head it can cause Cushings disease, can't remember if that's for cats as well but it's been a while since I worked at a day practice and we usually only used it on dogs after a couple of cats did in fact get diabetes from it (temporarily, but still).
I can understand using it for immediate relief though.

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I am not really that crazy about it either except for auto-immune anemia.  For some reason it works for that where the other steroids don't work.  I have a kitty that has been on a steroid for a little over five years so I am not averse to them in general but I don't like the idea of medications that stay in the system for an extended period of time.

One of my kitties had this as a first symptom of a chicken allergy.  He had developed a yeast infection in his ears.  She gave him an ear drop that was both a steroid and an anti fungal.

Have you been feeding one specific protein for an extended period of time?  That is what I had been doing because he also has IBD and chicken didn't cause issues with that.  A kitty can over time develop an allergy to a specific protein.

As far as grocery store brands go the Fancy Feast classic pates are decent as are Sheba pates.

Thank you both. @feralhound he seems to be back to his old playful ways thank God. I will never give that shot again if I can help it. @Denice since I saw him at my job in 4 months ago ,I was just buy different flavors of friskies and special kitty food to help him survive. I knew nothing of cats at that point as I've never had one. I was ignorant to the fact that some foods would not be that good for him. So I guess you can say I have fed him one protein a lot. I went and got some wellness grain free today. He loved it when I fed him an hour ago.

Man, does this bring back memories of my childhood?  My dad worked in sales for Upjohn who made Depo-Medrol.  We used to hear about this drug, and Solu-Cortef, Depo-Provera as well as other Upjohn products at the dinner table ALL THE TIME!!!

I should know a lot about this drug but I was just a kid and I tuned out at the dinner table unless the conversation was interesting.  I do know it's a high-powered steroid and should be used cautiously.  My vet mentioned this option for my Gracie, after she had already had 4 dexamethasone shots.  It's expensive and could lead to diabetes with repeated injections.  My vet did not recommend it.  

I think all medications have their place.  We have had a few kitties here with the auto-immune related anemia and the depo is what worked for them.  Other steroids would help for a bit then the blood count would go down again.  For some reason with the Depo they often will in time go into remission.  The reason I don't care for it is how long it stays in the system.  If there is a bad reaction to it there is nothing to do but wait it out.  With other steroids it's just a matter of quit giving it and it works out of the system quickly.

Wellness is an excellent food, it's actually one of the premium foods.