Cat on steroids is very letargic

[Larisa02]

Hello everyone!

I'm hoping to get your opinion and experience with your cats on steroid treatmant as I'm really concerned weather I should continue with the treatment for my 4 year tomcat Felix or not.

He was diagnosed with stomatitis and after trying several treatments that only worked short term, we decided to follow the advice of the vet and go for partial mouth extraction. After the surgery he was put on Prednisolone treatment and has been on the dose (5 mg) for 1 month and a half. Before the treatment he was a very active cat who loved to play as much as he loved to eat. Even when the stomatitis in his mouth was at its worst, preventing him to eat he was still very playfull. Now his mouth is almost fully cured, he eats a lot more than he should (also due to the steroids) but the worst part is that he is very lethargic...he is sleeping all day and night and sighting a lot. We bought him new toys, but nothing excites him. The vet says we should lower the dose in the next 10 days...and continue with half a dose for a month. But, to be honest, seing him in such a state makes me wonder if this steriod isnt't beginign to affect his health or state of mind in another way.

What is you experience with steroids? Did your cats returned to their old selves after you have stopped the treatment?

 

[MikeJ523]

Same exact thing happened to my cat. We had tried it for her pillow foot. She is a very energetic and playful young cat, but when on prednisolone she just wanted to lay down, sleep and seemed lethargic. Not a single interest in playing, which is completely out of character. It also made me feel like something was wrong. She was on 5mg once a day. We started at 2x 5mg a day and that was way worse. Maybe your cat will do better on a lower dose? We ended up lowering and coming off the medication and she was her energetic crazy self about a day or 2 later. Just make sure to follow the vets tapering schedule because from what I have heard it is not good to suddenly stop taking that medication without slowly weaning off, especially if they have been on it for awhile.

 

[arr]

My cat was on prednisolone for quite a while due to asthma. At the full dose, he too was more lethargic, more hungry, and had giant pees. With the help of our vet, we eventually got him on a half dose every day, then the half dose every other day (which controlled his symptoms wonderfully) and eventually got him off. His side effects reduced as the dosage reduced and he became energetic and playful again. Your cat will get back to his old self too, the changes aren’t permanent. Follow your vets advice on how to taper the dose, it isn’t good to just stop abruptly.

 

[Larisa02]

Thank you so much for sharing you experiences! I feel more at ease knowing that these side effects are not uncommon and he should be regaining his energy after the dose will be tapered. I will for sure follow the vet's advice and continue with the treatment as prescribed as I want to make sure the stomatitis is fully cured.