Prednisolone doesn't increase eating? Advice wanted

I think it would be good to give it to her in the evening, with what you say is her "main meal".

You could start that tonight, but keep to the same schedule for giving it. (My own cat is on Pred for asthma/allergies, and we are slowly weaning her off of it and integrating in the Aerokat inhaler with Flovent in the hopes that she won't need the Pred. One thing our vet wanted to convey to us is to make sure we give the medicines at about the same time every day.)

P.S.- If you gave her 5 mg Pred this morning, and will give her another dose tonight, that's fine. But just note that it will make her blood sugar go a bit higher than usual for about a day or so... so you will likely see her hungrier in the morning.

I seem to have overlooked the "cold-turkey" part, I'm ever so sorry.  Withdrawal side effects include, amongst many and varied other nasties:  nausea, stomach pain, diarrhoea, and loss of appetite.  It's been at least three days now since she stopped taking it, and you've just start again every day (2x a day, even), you're likely to be seriously messing with her system and immunity.  Not intentionally, of course, it's your vet who is messing with her.  I doubt that she can be treated as a normal 'wean off' patient now, but because you have given her at least one dose at the time of writing, with possibly another dose also the same day.  I would have thought you should go straight into weaning and the next dose should be 2.5mg.  Phone your vet office again, and if there is one, ask to be handed over to a different vet.  If there is no other vet, then I would abandon ship, if it were me, and register at another vet entirely.  Vets and doctors aren't gods, people treat them as automatically knowing their medicine and treatment methods.  The majority are very professional, thorough in their examinations, know their medicines, and the timescale of the progress of illness.  But some quite simply do not.  You need advice on how to proceed with weaning her from now on, from someone who actually knows their medicine.  I'm sorry to be outright critical and rude but your current vet would appear to be a buffoon.  

The majority of medicines must be taken with food.  Food excites vital stomach acids to flow, which are needed for medicine to be broken down and absorbed into the system.  On an empty stomach only a tiny amount of acid will flow, given the small quantity of a non-food type substance, and so much of the medicine bypasses the system and is excreted in wee, poo, or sweat.   Your vet should have told you whether the prednisolone needs to be taken with food or without it.  

I'm sorry, but it seems that I've not been paying as much attention as you and Mephi deserve.    

You must be so confused and worried right now.  We are all here with you but we are no substitute for a competent vet.  

Brian007 said:

 
I seem to have overlooked the "cold-turkey" part, I'm ever so sorry.  Withdrawal side effects include, amongst many and varied other nasties:  nausea, stomach pain, diarrhoea, and loss of appetite.  It's been at least three days now since she stopped taking it, and you've just start again every day (2x a day, even), you're likely to be seriously messing with her system and immunity.  Not intentionally, of course, it's your vet who is messing with her.  I doubt that she can be treated as a normal 'wean off' patient now, but because you have given her at least one dose at the time of writing, with possibly another dose also the same day.  I would have thought you should go straight into weaning and the next dose should be 2.5mg.  Phone your vet office again, and if there is one, ask to be handed over to a different vet.  If there is no other vet, then I would abandon ship, if it were me, and register at another vet entirely.  Vets and doctors aren't gods, people treat them as automatically knowing their medicine and treatment methods.  The majority are very professional, thorough in their examinations, know their medicines, and the timescale of the progress of illness.  But some quite simply do not.  You need advice on how to proceed with weaning her from now on, from someone who actually knows their medicine.  I'm sorry to be outright critical and rude but your current vet would appear to be a buffoon.  

The majority of medicines must be taken with food.  Food excites vital stomach acids to flow, which are needed for medicine to be broken down and absorbed into the system.  On an empty stomach only a tiny amount of acid will flow, given the small quantity of a non-food type substance, and so much of the medicine bypasses the system and is excreted in wee, poo, or sweat.   Your vet should have told you whether the prednisolone needs to be taken with food or without it.  

I'm sorry, but it seems that I've not been paying as much attention as you and Mephi deserve.  

 

You must be so confused and worried right now.  We are all here with you but we are no substitute for a competent vet.  

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Don't worry about it @Brian007   !! Your words and support really mean a lot to me, as do all the others who have posted.  Buffoon! LMAO, that gave me a good laugh. Yes, I'm also starting to believe he may not be the one for me. But to clarify, I haven't stopped the prednisolone. I was worried I'd have to, but I didn't. She's been taking her  5mg pred/daily in the evenings now. Your words are correct though, even I act dumb around doctors because after all, they've gone to med school (or vet school, which is hard due to the several different species they have learn about). But right now, the vet in Jan (let's call 'em Dr. H) was more attentive, and was treating the symptoms being presented. It just happened that the symptoms presented weren't indicative of the real problem. What's the real problem? Don't know. But I do know that 5wks under Dr. H definitely yielded no improvement and 4wks under Dr. S has her mood 90% normal, and she's eating daily and having bowel movements. She's still not 100%, but I'd say 75-80 at least.

I'm going to try and think in the present for the next 2 weeks. Thank you and everyone for your support. I know all of you are not vets, just wonderful caring people!!!

Mephi update.

It took her a while to get a BM out yesterday and when it did come out it was quite hard She went to the litter box 6 times yesterday (a new record!) and left puddles each time but no BM until overnight. She was licking her bum a lot and I did see two little brown goo drops at the entrance (anal gland secretions?) but she wasn't smelly, dragging her bum, walking with her bum low to the ground, or otherwise uncomfortable (thankfully!) Just wanted to note it for future reference. Hopefully it's nothing.

Haha I did tell her, "Ok missy, you know the drill, if you don't go by tomorrow night it's enema time" I think 'enema' is the magic word 

Time for a Meph update!

She's maintaining her weight around 3.63kg, which means in the past 2 weeks she has neither lost nor gained weight. But she hasn't lost weight- YAY!! 

I don't have the exact average for caloric intake but it's still around 140kcal/day (might be a tad less actually, like 135). According to the 20kcal per pound per day, it's still insufficient, but it must be working for her as she's not losing weight. She's starting to become a little more active again, so I'll be interested to see if the numbers increase.

Her attitude/emotional health is excellent!! I've reported that she's no longer hiding, but now she wants to spend most of her time in the living room with Mo & I, and was skittering up and down the cat tree on Saturday. She and Momo are playing again, she's walking around with her tail and spirits uplifted. She's even talking to me again (how I missed that whispery, breathy miao!)

Litter box habits are good too. She leaves a present almost daily, and they are for the most part good consistency. Since I'm offering different brands/types of food, I'm sure that's the reason why sometimes the presents are a little too firm or a little too soft. I'd like to try and normalize that with a certain type (or brand) but she's still being fussy with it (and with Fussie Cat too, she's apparently 'over it,' what a diva!)

In fact on Sat I caught her eating some of Mo's Sheba turkey, and I started to freak out before my boyfriend said to just let her be. Chicken was one of the ingredients so I watched that day and Sunday for any discomfort or anything. Nope. Nothing noticeable. I'm still on the lookout but maybe it was the wheat all along causing her strife. Meph must be tired of eating only seafood and duck (what a life!) Momo didn't want any of it so last I cautiously offered it to Meph and she ate all 35g (~1.2oz) of it preferentially! The only thing I've noticed (thus far) is larger BMs (n=2) which had very good shape and squish-ability.

I feel like she's improving. I hope she is. I'm really hyper aware now of what she eats, how much she weighs, everything that lands in the litter box, random things like her anal gland secretions (which I think is normal for her, she's always groomed her butt more often than Momo), etc, etc. I'm going to email the vet next Monday with a graph or two and get his opinion; maybe we can continue as it and start weaning off the pred then (fingers crossed). In fact, I will also post the graphs here. 

Oh that's a good update!

GO MEPH!!! [emoji]10084[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]

Great update...So good to hear Meph is feeling a bit better.. The spoon was a great idea!! Glad you thought of it...

will be waiting to see your flow chart. I am horrible at making one. I just keep a log in written words.. I do have a flow chart for Artie's meds..

nevroth said:

 
Her attitude/emotional health is excellent!! I've reported that she's no longer hiding, but now she wants to spend most of her time in the living room with Mo & I, and was skittering up and down the cat tree on Saturday. 

I'm going to email the vet next Monday with a graph or two and get his opinion....

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Skittering is a very descriptive adverb    I use the word skittish  but I don't think I've considered skittering before.  I shall definitely find an excuse to use it now, though.     

I'm pleased that Meph is improving.  I find it funny to think of your vet and you, discussing matters over a detailed graph or two!      

I'm so sorry you guys are going through this ordeal. I am going through a very similar situation. Seeing my cat, Nené not eating is very distressing and I can relate so much to everything you're going through.

If I can add a little tip that I haven't yet seen on your posts and I have been recommended is adding a probiotic. I just bought one and it should be arriving tomorrow, it's called Nexabiotic. If you do a search on this site, you'll find the amazing reviews it has and how it's helped so many kitties with IBS.

I'll be following your thread and sharing anythinf that might help us.

Hang on there. guys! Love and strength to both of you. We can do this!

@nevroth  how's Meph?  

How did the ballet go, or is it still going?  

Goodness thank you for checking up on me!! It's been a super crazy last two weeks.

@gatinos   I hope Nené is doing better now. I actually have Nexabiotic but haven't tried adding it to her food yet. I want to try and substitute it for the pumpkin but my boyfriend and my conscious think we should stick with what's working at the moment. I think the probiotic is probably better in the long run. Is it working for Nené?

Meph is doing AMAZING!!!

Since my last update two weeks ago she has maintained her super perky, kitty attitude. She's still fussy with food, but I know she's eating. I had to stop recording her litter box presents and caloric intake because it was just too much with the impending show and I was exhausted. It felt like I had one full time and two part time jobs. I still measure out her food and do quick calculation but I don't record it. She seems to be doing well anyways.

As far as her weight, well... see graphs below lol


Ok so when I took her to the vet back on 12/30/16 she weighed  ~4kg (8.83lb) . She continued losing weight until 2/26/16, then she stayed pretty steady until just last week!! I had emailed the vet, Dr. S, on 3/20/17 and he was still really concerned that she wasn't gaining weight and requested I bring her in for a check up. This was before I noticed her weight change and I'm bringing her in this Thurs to the same clinic but a different vet (since an appt with Dr. S would have been in April!) and will be bringing in these charts and actual numbers. Dr. S had a valid thought that maybe my scale is inaccurate (well I did get it at Goodwill) and I think if I bring her in (oooooh she's going to HATE me....) at least the the other vet can tell Dr. S, 'yea she's looking good! Let's wean her off the pred!!' That's my hope at least.

She started the pred on 2/6/16, and still lost weight although she was taking it, but at that time I was still trying to figure what to feed her, and also there was that blasted rain storm that also aggravated things. Actually, I started her on the pumpkin on 2/27/16, and that's when I noticed she stopped losing weight. So maybe that was the trick. Now that we're at a 'new normal,' my hope is that she continues to be her flirty little self. 

Same data looked at differently,


Losing almost 10% in a month is pretty intense and I'm so glad I made the decision to switch vets back in early Feb. The only thing that keeps me going is that at both clinics, two different vets told me Meph was a little overweight. So I'm really hoping that, although she lost weight, she's actually now at a healthy weight and not overweight. I'll find out on Thurs!

In other news, THE BALLET RECITAL WAS A SUCCESS!! Holy moly, it was so crazy- in the theatre since noon, show at 6:45pm. There were a few mishaps of course, but I danced really well and I got so much positive feedback- it was really the best ballet show of my life so far. I cannot wait for future shows. Dancing en pointe is every ballerinas dream and I'm finally THERE where I can do it well enough to look like I'm having fun hahahah. I helped embellish 30 tutus (many, many long nights with 2 lovely ladies. We wore our tiaras and had glitter everywhere and sometimes drank wine. I'd do it again and again). Here is Meph investigating my fairy costume


I really, really, need a new phone... But it's done! I'll have an opportunity to dance that piece and another in June so I'm looking forward to that

I'll be sure to update at the end of the week after the vet visit!

XOXOXOXOXOXO                       

Vet update!

I'm so happy that Meph weighed the same 3.81kg yesterday as she did back on Feb 6!! The vet was also pleased that she hadn't lost weigh, or if so according to me, then is putting the weight back on. This vet, Dr. C, works with Dr. S but seemed a little less intimidating. Overall she said that Meph could use a little more weight and to email her or Dr. S with any big changes, especially if she's losing weight again.

Meph does seem to be a little more hungry but she's still being a diva concerning wet food. At least she likes dry (currently feeding Taste of the Wild Trout & Smoke Salmon). She definitely prefers wet food but gives me a look, like "this isn't what I asked for!" and will follow me into the kitchen every time I go in there, lol. Maybe the pred is finally "working" lol.

We're going to continue the prednisolone 5mg/daily and I'm to bring her in for a followup June 1st! Dr. C said it's a-ok to continue the 1/2 tbsp pumpkin if it's working for her.

If everything works out *crosses fingers* then we can start weaning her Meph of the pred in June. At that time we can try a few tactics that some of you had mentioned, halving the dose daily or administering every other day, and Dr. C even mentioned a different, milder steroid (which I've forgotten the name of) if possible since it carries lower long term risk than pred.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. Rereading this thread I was so panicked and having your support, having someone to talk to, really helped. I'll be updating intermittently as I definitely want this journey to have some kind of ending. It was very useful for me to read other's threads and know that whatever sudden illness happened, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully Meph will have a happy ending, but she is basically back to normal so the pain I went through was worth it.

That is awesome news!! Happy Dance!!        

So happy for you and Meph!!!

now you can relax a bit.... 

That's great news, nevroth!

Yayyyy!!!!

nevroth said:

 
Goodness thank you for checking up on me!! It's been a super crazy last two weeks.

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I hear you! For us too. I actually was struggling quite a bit myself. Just feeling really overwhelmed. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.

Nene is doing better now, thank you @nevroth. I agree that if they're doing well, leaving them be is a great way to go. Us humans, we tend to think we can always make things better, so kudos to you for trusting nature and your kitty's strength. I hope everything continues improving every day. 

I really can't tell what is working for Nene. He doesn't have vomiting or diarrhea since he's on steroids and antibiotics, so probably that's what's doing the trick. I have him taking a lot of supplements too, in order to start preparing him to reduce the prednisolone dosage. The reason I am giving him the probiotic is also because I'm giving him an antibiotic, and it's important to replace the gut flora the antibiotic gets rid off with a probiotic. Also, if there's anything EVERYONE recommends for IBS/IBD kitties, it is a probiotic. 

Here's a link you might want to read: http://www.ibdkitties.net/probiotics/

Congrats for your ballet recital!

I'm glad Meph is doing amazing, it really is a joy to hear such great news. Congratulations to you both, a strong cat momma and a strong kitty! Way to go guys! 

nevroth said:

 
Vet update!

I'm so happy that Meph weighed the same 3.81kg yesterday as she did back on Feb 6!! The vet was also pleased that she hadn't lost weigh, or if so according to me, then is putting the weight back on. This vet, Dr. C, works with Dr. S but seemed a little less intimidating. Overall she said that Meph could use a little more weight and to email her or Dr. S with any big changes, especially if she's losing weight again.

Meph does seem to be a little more hungry but she's still being a diva concerning wet food. At least she likes dry (currently feeding Taste of the Wild Trout & Smoke Salmon). She definitely prefers wet food but gives me a look, like "this isn't what I asked for!" and will follow me into the kitchen every time I go in there, lol. Maybe the pred is finally "working" lol.

We're going to continue the prednisolone 5mg/daily and I'm to bring her in for a followup June 1st! Dr. C said it's a-ok to continue the 1/2 tbsp pumpkin if it's working for her.

If everything works out *crosses fingers* then we can start weaning her Meph of the pred in June. At that time we can try a few tactics that some of you had mentioned, halving the dose daily or administering every other day, and Dr. C even mentioned a different, milder steroid (which I've forgotten the name of) if possible since it carries lower long term risk than pred.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. Rereading this thread I was so panicked and having your support, having someone to talk to, really helped. I'll be updating intermittently as I definitely want this journey to have some kind of ending. It was very useful for me to read other's threads and know that whatever sudden illness happened, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully Meph will have a happy ending, but she is basically back to normal so the pain I went through was worth it.

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Congrats, congrats, congrats!!! This is WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! 

The fact that she's steady on her weight is such a great sign and such a success. I just bought myself a baby scale to weigh Nene at home and that way quit worrying about wether the weight I was taking with him and me on the scale was accurate or not.

More hunger is also a fabulous sign! Yay Meph! Nene is also following me to the kitchen every time I walk into it. I am now feeding him small meals every 3 hours. Thankfully I can afford doing this because I'm not working full time at the moment.

I've also read that, apparently, IBS is as the name indicates, an irritation, or swelling. The more swelling, the less nutrients kitties are able to absorb during digestion. So, sometimes, hunger not only comes from the meds but also from their lack of proper absorption of nutrients. So basically, what steroids do is reduce swelling to assist with the digestion process. 

Here is a link to a really good supplement, Spirulina: http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...giving-spirulina-and-astaxanthin-to-pets.aspx

It is known to be very high in nutrients and very well absorbed by kitties. In case you might be interested. If you go for it, know that it is important to purchase the best quality you can find, as it can otherwise have high levels of toxicity. 

Also, another supplement Nene is starting to take in order to reduce swelling naturally is Turmeric. If you type turmeric or curcumin in this site, you'll find a lot of info about it. We're now using this product: https://petcurcumin.com I'm hoping it will become a natural substitute for steroids, once we start reducing them. Which by the way, we started going last weekend!

I also panicked a lot, and sometimes panic is a great tool to have, to get us going and give us the kick we need to relentlessly look for a way to help our loved ones. I completely understand how you feel and a lot of us here do too. This site has also been a wonderful resource for us and I couldn't be more thankful for it. 

Love, Silvia & Nene.