How Long Does Prednisolone Take to Reduce Inflammation on cats with IBS and Increase Appetite?

[AGDonmez]

My cat possibly has IBS (We cannot afford to do a biopsy and given her symptoms the vet has prescribed prednisolone, 5 mg a day). My question is, how long does the medication (pill) take to work in terms of reducing her inflammation? More importantly, I hear that one side effect is increased appetite and I want to know how long that takes to take effect? She is eating but given her weight loss I want her to gain weight. I have read prednisolone can take a couple of weeks to work and some other places online say a couple of hours so I am confused. I really want her to start gaining weight and wonder if this is enough and i just need to wait or if she may need something like mirtazapine in conjunction.

Also, if cats with IBS have a hard time absorbing things, then how can she absorb the prednisolone pill? Would the liquid be better? Or is prednisolone absorbed in the stomach as opposed to intestine where the inflammation possibly is, so it wouldn't matter.

Hi Shrimp's mom, I just came across this conversation, and wanted to ask if you ended up trying the Transdermal Prednisolone, and if so, whether it was better than the other version of prednisolone? My cat has either IBD or lymphoma per her ultrasound (we did not biopsy yet) and we tried prednisolone as she was having partial soft poop for 2-3 months. Probiotic Visbiome helps and she is on i/d canned food. Prednisolone had a terrible reaction where she had liquid diarrhea from a single dose 5 mg. and vet told us to stop it right away. Her diarrhea didn't resolve for almost a week, during which she was dehydrated and I had vet come into do her subcutaneous fluids twice. Now, our vet prescribed her the transdermal, and I will eventually try but letting her recover a few more days. We don't have her B12 result back yet, her B12 two months ago was very normal so she never got b12 injections. BTW, I also asked my vet about Budnesonide but vet said that if our cat has the issue of steroid (or other drugs too) just going through her GI system, she will likely have diarrhea with Budnesonide too. I hope your cat is doing better!

 

[Margot Lane]

Hey fyi my cat has been on chemo pills for almost 2 years now! I keep asking the vet: “Really? still?” The answer is always yes. You’d be surprised how tolerant cats are of it…very different than a human’s. I had the exact same fears you did at the beginning about it. Just to say, if your vet does recommend it, it is not as scary as you think. I have not seen any fur loss at all, and if anything at all just a bit more napping on those days. I give them to him in the teensiest amount of a pill pocket, and it works like a charm. (But you might try daftcat’s carpet method first).

 

[AGDonmez]

Hey fyi my cat has been on chemo pills for almost 2 years now! I keep asking the vet: “Really? still?” The answer is always yes. You’d be surprised how tolerant cats are of it…very different than a human’s. I had the exact same fears you did at the beginning about it. Just to say, if your vet does recommend it, it is not as scary as you think. I have not seen any fur loss at all, and if anything at all just a bit more napping on those days. I give them to him in the teensiest amount of a pill pocket, and it works like a charm. (But you might try daftcat’s carpet method first).

Did your cat have IBD and Lymphoma, is that why the chemo? Hope your cat is feeling better, and I am sorry he is going through that. No cat deserves to be sick and it's a hard decision to medicate them, especially if they react bad to it. Did your cat ever have diarrhea or vomiting due to any of the treatments/medications such as prednisolone and/or chemo pills? At this stage, I am not sure if my cat will be able to tolerate chemo if needed one day, as she hasn't been even able to tolerate non-chemo drugs.

 

[AGDonmez]

So if a cat with IBS has a hard time absorbing things, then how can the prednisolone pill be absorbed? We have had her on it for 2 days and she has liquid diarrhea again and vomiting. We only switched her to prednisolone because we thought it might help her with her appetite since with budesonide she was on she still occasionally was having loose stools and bile throw up in the middle of the night. But barely. But since she has been on prednisolone for just 2 days, things have gotten worse (also, we just today started her or Mirataz and she ate a lot of food, but then had liquid diarrhea and vomiting). What is going on? I thought prednisolone is this amazing drug that will definitely help her. Seems like she is getting worse with it. Or maybe is it not being absorbed? IS the transdermal version a better option?

Hi, I also have an entire post about my cat, but she has IBD or lymphoma per ultrasound with high level of folate and whatever vet tried gives her liquid diarrhea. We tried novel protein, Visbiome, prednisole liquid compound and last, tried Transdermal Pred, and within 1st dose she gets liquid diarrhea. She is being treated by an experienced IM specialist but even he wasn’t expecting this as he told me diarrhea is rare on prednisolone. I was so hopeful with transdermal as it doesn’t go through the stomach and gets into blood via ear, BUT it caused the same diarrhea as liquid compounded pred. Did you stop prednisolone? I personally feel hopeless.

 

[Shrimp's Mom]

My cat has been on mirataz for about two months now and her appetite went up and she gained weight etc. We tried Prednisolone liquid and it gave her diarrhea and she could no longer take it. She went back to Budesonide which acts differently than Pred so not sure why the vet in one of the responses here said they work the same. My understanding is Budesonide works locally coating the intestines (much like dermal steroids cover the skin area) and reduces inflammation, very little is absorbed systemically via liver, unlike Pred.

Anyway now it seems like the mirataz stopped working? Her appetite isn't as much. I wonder if it is better to do it every other day and if this medication builds tolerance?

My vet wont prescribe chemo without doing biopsy and I really dont want to put her through exploratory bowel surgery. Aside from not having the funds, I don't know if that stress would be good for her. She had surgery on her foot 3 months ago and it stressed her out a lot and she wasnt eating as a result etc. I really dont think bowel surgery is the solution.

She has bouts of diarrhea and then has to go back on Mitronidazole. She still occasionally vomits bile in the early am after not having eaten for a while. She does get vitamin B12 shots.

Is it normal for IBS to flare up? Come and go despite medication? She is acting normal and she is eating, just not like the way she used to when she first got on mirataz (transdermal gel). And yeah I do clean her ears every other day with warm cloth to insure absorption. Right now she has diarrhea again and i have no clue why. Just 3 days ago she had nice, big firm large solid stools and now it is back to diarrhea. She has lost about 12 ounces of weight these past few days so I dont know if that's normal.

Hi Shrimp's mom, I just came across this conversation, and wanted to ask if you ended up trying the Transdermal Prednisolone, and if so, whether it was better than the other version of prednisolone? My cat has either IBD or lymphoma per her ultrasound (we did not biopsy yet) and we tried prednisolone as she was having partial soft poop for 2-3 months. Probiotic Visbiome helps and she is on i/d canned food. Prednisolone had a terrible reaction where she had liquid diarrhea from a single dose 5 mg. and vet told us to stop it right away. Her diarrhea didn't resolve for almost a week, during which she was dehydrated and I had vet come into do her subcutaneous fluids twice. Now, our vet prescribed her the transdermal, and I will eventually try but letting her recover a few more days. We don't have her B12 result back yet, her B12 two months ago was very normal so she never got b12 injections. BTW, I also asked my vet about Budnesonide but vet said that if our cat has the issue of steroid (or other drugs too) just going through her GI system, she will likely have diarrhea with Budnesonide too. I hope your cat is doing better!

 

[FeebysOwner]

I do know, per this web site - Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis - Raw Feeding for IBD Cats - s. boulardii can be very helpful for IBD cats with diarrhea. While this site is titled as relating to raw feeding, most all of the data applies to those who feed commercial cat food as well.

Another site you might find helpful - IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time.

Going to another vet, an IM specialist, and/or an oncologist might reap some benefits regarding the administration of chemo. Many of them are not opposed to trying chemo without a biopsy. I personally went to both types of specialists, and both were amenable to try chemo on Feeby without a biopsy. However, I did have an ultrasound done that included FNA needle aspiration followed up by a PARR Assay on the tissue collected, which indicated lymphoma. (Feeby was determined not likely to have IBD once the tissue testing results indicated lymphoma.)

Hopefully, none of this information is a repeat of what you heard already. I tend to lose track of what I and others share with whom.