Depo Medrol reaction, or pancreatitis?

Hi,

I took my cat, "Mr. Mackee," to the vet yesterday for his annual vaccinations (rabies and distemper). While he was there, the vet also gave him a shot of Depo Medrol, which is a type of prednisone, to help with some itchy/scaly spots on Mr. Mackee's face.

When I woke up this morning, I found several spots of vomit around the house. Thin and runny... looked like it was mostly just stomach acid. I went to the kitchen and it looked like he hadn't touched his food at all. And instead of his normal morning routine, which consists of winding around my legs, biting my feet, and meowing persistently until I give him affection and feed him, he just stayed in his cat bed and looked at me. And that's unusual in itself, because he almost never sleeps in his cat bed.

So I took him back to the vet. The doctor did a quick exam and an x-ray. He said he didn't see anything unusual on the x-ray, but also that he couldn't rule out possible pancreatitis. OR, it might just be an adverse reaction to the Depo Medrol.

Either way, I'm completely freaked out. If Mr. Mackee isn't better by tomorrow I'll take him back to the vet, and they'll have to do blood tests and all that stuff... but in the meantime, I'm wondering if anybody else has had a similar experience with Depo Medrol, and if so, does it go away?

Thanks for reading,
-Adrian

Please don't tell me it is the Depo Medrol!! Twitch has gotten 3 steroid(or prednisone) shots in the past month & a half for mouth ulcers. That is the shot she got!

Twitch ate like crazy, drank like crazy, pee'd like crazy, raced around the house, mauled kittens, killed several antiques, etc. She was nothing like Mr. Mackee. I really hope your little gentlemen gets better. Twitch & I had good luck with the Depo. I was worried about her becoming diabetic(that's a worst case side effect). I will Google Depo Medrol for you to see what I can find out.

Here's the websites I found on the Depo Medrol.

http://www.pfizerah.com/product_over...=EN&species=FL
http://www.agri-med.com/site/255063/product/DEOMED-20
Third one down
http://www.vetinfo.com/ceffect.html
http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=1422

Thank you for the information.

He's been asleep all day and hasn't moved from the cat bed, which is very unusual for him. He briefly woke up and allowed me to pet him, and seemed to like that, but went back to sleep. Still isn't eating or drinking. I hope and pray that he'll be feeling better and acting more normal tomorrow. It breaks my heart to see him like this, and I know the trips to the vet are traumatizing for him, and will be even moreso if he has to stay there for treatment. Ugh.

He seems to be doing better today. His personality is a bit more normal, and he's been eating a kibble or two here and there. I'm guessing that the concentration of Depo Medrol isn't as high in his system now. And presumably if it was pancreatitis, he'd be getting worse rather than better. So... hopefully he'll be ok! Thank you all for your advice.

Depo should NOT be given at the same time as a vaccine! That vet is a moron!!! Vaccines=stimulating the immune system. Steroids=supressing the immune system.
If we give a steroid at work, we hold off on doing vaccines for at least a month!

Hi Adrian

I am sorry to hear about your poor cat.

My lovely lady had a 40mg shot of depo medrone 8 days ago and now she is no longer with us. She had a blood test at another vet 5 days ago and all was well except thyroid..so a course of tablets was started.

After the depo medrone which I think was rather a strong dose..she was very lethargic and didn't want to get out of her bed....she acted as if she had a very bad hang over and hardly ate but did drink quite a lot but her voice went after that injection.

I tried to temp her on many different foods and she was very weak but she still had spirit and wanted to go sit in sun in garden for half an hour or so as it was cold..She was the most amazing long haired tortoishell cat ever. she was about 18yrs old as I got her from a rescue place 12 yrs ago. She spoke to me always and answered me .

I came home yesterday to find her in great pain and moaning and writhing in her bed..vet was called at8.30 pm and by 9.30  she had passed away. I am so so sad, and the pain she was in was so bad.

Rest in peace my darling' Lady'

jane1