How Long Does It Take Asthma Steroids To Work?

[weezercat]

Hello everyone!

Long time no see! My Calvin was recently diagnosed with asthma and put on 7 days of .125 mg of prednisone and then every other day for 3 days.

It has been 3 doses so far, and although he seems a lot happier and more playful, he does still occasionally cough. He did go from coughing EVERY time he purred to only a few times though!

It is getting better, but I’m just worried the drugs aren’t doing enough!

I’ve never had any experience with prednisone so I’d love to hear if it took a longer time for you cat to feel 100% again

 

[basschick]

did the vet give you an idea of what to expect?

my son uses prednisone in an inhaler; our cat uses prednisolone as a transdermal. you don't mention how the pred is being administered.

the pred inhaler my son uses for his asthma isn't a 100% fix. he's to use it regularly to keep lung inflammation under control, but he also has a rescue inhaler for times when he's really active or breathing stuff that triggers his asthma. my husband (who's not related to my son) uses a different steroid called symbecort for his breathing issues. it also isn't 100% fix, but it's helpful.

when we started giving HK pred as a liquid for IBS, it took more than a week to really help, can't remember how long exactly, and like with my husband and son, it helped but isn't a 100% fix.

large parts of my family including my son are asthmatic - although they're not cats - and to the best of my knowledge, there is no 100% fix for it. no doctor, clinic or hospital has offered any of one. i'm sure that my relatives and the insurance companies would be thrilled if there was a 100% fix.

that being said, if you can make things 50% to 80% better for your guy, that's pretty good!

 

[weezercat]

Thank you so much for this!!

It’s being administered just orally. We have to give him a little syringe full of it every day!

The vet didn’t tell us how long until it works, but that we should be in contact with them by the end of the week dose to see how he is!!

Poor baby!

 

[LTS3]

Medicine doesn't work like magic so have patience The steroids will work, just give it time. 3 doses may not be enough.

Did the vet prescribe pednisone or prednisolone? Both can be used for cats and it seems like prednisolone works better.

Prednisolone worked pretty quickly to control my cat's asthma but he was also taking it for IBD. We had stopped the prednisolone for the IBD but that caused the asthma to be noticable (he probably had asthma for awhile) so it was back onto prednisolone for about a month before that was slowly stopped.

Are you giving the liquid steroid?

 

[stephanietx]

I have 2 kitties with mild to moderate asthma, depending on the season and time of the year. My husband is also an asthma sufferer. Both of my kitties get a prednisolone shot to control their asthma. It is effective in about 24 hours and almost symptom free in a couple of days. When my husband takes prednisone orally, it works in a few hours. I would encourage you to discuss your concerns with your vet.

 

[jen]

My ex smoked in the house, burned candles and incense without ever opening any windows (like ever!) and overfed his cat and as a result she became diabetic and suffered from asthma. She went into diabetic remission but bc of that she could never be on steroids. So we got her an inhaler. She kept having flair ups and would get really bad and end up with pneumonia. The inhaler helped. Maybe that is something you could ask your vet about. If you do, I can tell you the cheaper place to order it from online, bc if you go through your local pharmacy its like $250... Also if you haven't already, don't burn candles in your home, or use any heavily scented cleaners or perfumes without opening windows or turning on fans.