Hi everyone.
I'm going to make a much longer, more detailed thread about the saga that has been my cat's health over the past 6 months, but for now I'm really just looking for some feedback specific to one issue. I've used the search function to look at previous threads and posts related to IBD and Prednisolone, but can't find much that speaks specifically to what I'm curious to know.
What I'm really curious about is how long it generally takes to see a positive improvement in IBD symptoms after starting a cat on Prednisolone. I know there isn't a cookie cutter answer. I'd like to hear from people who have had a cat who was prescribed Prednisolone for IBD or presumed IBD and saw a positive change - how long did it take before you saw the change and was it gradual or a more marked, dramatic improvement?
Just a bit of back story regarding my cat and Prednisolone...
3 weeks ago he started Prednisolone at 5 mg in the morning and 2.5 mg in the evening every day. This is still the dose he's on now. Tomorrow will officially mark a full 3 weeks.
He hasn't been officially diagnosed with IBD b/c I cannot afford the endoscopy and biopsy. The vet offered to prescribe the Prednisolone under the assumption that there is a chance this is IBD. He's had constant diarrhea (complete unformed, runny poop multiple times a day), weight loss, and decreased appetite since August 2022. GI panel showed low b-12 which he's now receiving injections for. Other tests don't really show anything else that would obviously be causing these symptoms.
Since starting the prednisolone, I haven't seen a dramatic change but I've definitely seen improvements. Now he has a mixture of solid poops and unformed poops, whereas he wasn't having any formed poops before. The frequency has also decreased - he'd be in the litter box having messy squirts multiple times a day and it's definitely lessened. For example, it's 4:13 pm and he hasn't pooped (solid or liquid) since last night. This is a major change from prior to starting the Prednisolone. I'd say it took about 1.5 weeks after starting the Pred to see those changes. It's hard to say about his appetite since he's never been one to wolf down his food. He eats both wet and dry food but had refused to eat the dry for a few weeks prior to starting on the Pred. About a week and a half after starting the med he began eating the dry food again. I prefer that he eats more wet due to a history of urinary problems, but the dry food has a lot more calories and he needs that right now. I definitely wouldn't say that his appetite has gotten worse, but he's not begging for food or anything like that. So, I can't say it's been a night and day difference, but I feel that it's helping.
Today we had a follow up appointment with the vet (internal medicine specialist who prescribed the prednisolone). The vet said he'd expect to see a more drastic improvement at this point, if it was indeed IBD and the pred was really going to help. This is discouraging to me. He had some blood drawn to check some basic things just to make sure the Prednisolone isn't having any unwanted side effects. As long as those results come back fine, the plan is to keep him on the current dose for the time being since we are seeing some improvement. Recheck in 2 months, unless he either starts to decline or has dramatic improvement before then.
I will go into more detail about the other things I've tried and what I plan to try moving forward in conjunction with the Prednisolone once I have a chance to post a much longer history of everything that's been going on. But right now I'm just really curious to know about other cats' experiences on Prednisolone for IBD
Thank you!
I'm going to make a much longer, more detailed thread about the saga that has been my cat's health over the past 6 months, but for now I'm really just looking for some feedback specific to one issue. I've used the search function to look at previous threads and posts related to IBD and Prednisolone, but can't find much that speaks specifically to what I'm curious to know.
What I'm really curious about is how long it generally takes to see a positive improvement in IBD symptoms after starting a cat on Prednisolone. I know there isn't a cookie cutter answer. I'd like to hear from people who have had a cat who was prescribed Prednisolone for IBD or presumed IBD and saw a positive change - how long did it take before you saw the change and was it gradual or a more marked, dramatic improvement?
Just a bit of back story regarding my cat and Prednisolone...
3 weeks ago he started Prednisolone at 5 mg in the morning and 2.5 mg in the evening every day. This is still the dose he's on now. Tomorrow will officially mark a full 3 weeks.
He hasn't been officially diagnosed with IBD b/c I cannot afford the endoscopy and biopsy. The vet offered to prescribe the Prednisolone under the assumption that there is a chance this is IBD. He's had constant diarrhea (complete unformed, runny poop multiple times a day), weight loss, and decreased appetite since August 2022. GI panel showed low b-12 which he's now receiving injections for. Other tests don't really show anything else that would obviously be causing these symptoms.
Since starting the prednisolone, I haven't seen a dramatic change but I've definitely seen improvements. Now he has a mixture of solid poops and unformed poops, whereas he wasn't having any formed poops before. The frequency has also decreased - he'd be in the litter box having messy squirts multiple times a day and it's definitely lessened. For example, it's 4:13 pm and he hasn't pooped (solid or liquid) since last night. This is a major change from prior to starting the Prednisolone. I'd say it took about 1.5 weeks after starting the Pred to see those changes. It's hard to say about his appetite since he's never been one to wolf down his food. He eats both wet and dry food but had refused to eat the dry for a few weeks prior to starting on the Pred. About a week and a half after starting the med he began eating the dry food again. I prefer that he eats more wet due to a history of urinary problems, but the dry food has a lot more calories and he needs that right now. I definitely wouldn't say that his appetite has gotten worse, but he's not begging for food or anything like that. So, I can't say it's been a night and day difference, but I feel that it's helping.
Today we had a follow up appointment with the vet (internal medicine specialist who prescribed the prednisolone). The vet said he'd expect to see a more drastic improvement at this point, if it was indeed IBD and the pred was really going to help. This is discouraging to me. He had some blood drawn to check some basic things just to make sure the Prednisolone isn't having any unwanted side effects. As long as those results come back fine, the plan is to keep him on the current dose for the time being since we are seeing some improvement. Recheck in 2 months, unless he either starts to decline or has dramatic improvement before then.
I will go into more detail about the other things I've tried and what I plan to try moving forward in conjunction with the Prednisolone once I have a chance to post a much longer history of everything that's been going on. But right now I'm just really curious to know about other cats' experiences on Prednisolone for IBD
Thank you!