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- Dec 27, 2023
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Hello - I am new here and this is my first post. My cat Max and I have been through the wringer these past 5-6 months. Despite a long history of digestive issues, we’ve had a vet who insisted on treating his inappetence as a dental issue. He had a dental procedure, the issue did not resolve. Ended up at the ER. They gave him urgent care wet food, which caused a severe IBD flare up. Ended up back at the ER two nights later and did an overnight hospital stay, where an ultrasound revealed thickening of the small intestine wall. His vet still insisted on treating it as a dental issue and recommended a second dental procedure. He had the second procedure and surprise, the issue did not resolve. She finally after 4 months of me begging and pleading that this was IBD, prescribed Prednisolone (transdermal because he is a terror about medication). We spent months suffering, him physically and me mentally having to see him in discomfort and pain, not to mention between all of the visits, meds, and special foods (none of which he liked), I’d estimate I’ve spent $10-11k.
Now that I’ve gotten the venting off my chest, I will say that he has responded well to Prednisolone and it feels like we finally have some stability back in our lives. It brings me so much joy to see my boy feeling well again. He turns 17 on Monday and if you would’ve asked me a couple months ago if I thought this birthday would come, I was worried he wouldn’t make it.
He has been on 5 mg a day for about 6 weeks. The vet has said I can try tapering to the lowest effective dose now. Last week, I tapered down to 2.5 mg for only three days and then bumped back up to 5 mg because I was afraid I was seeing a negative side effect. He was still eating enough, but a few nights in a row he seemed crabby and I would notice this little abdominal quiver, and it worried me he might be in pain. When I bumped back up to 5 mg, the quiver stopped. I don’t know if I didn’t give 2.5 mg enough of a chance because I am terrified to have him not feel well again or if it is truly possible to notice a negative difference in just a few days. In regard to the 5 mg dose, he has been doing super well on that and I haven’t noticed increase hunger, thirst, or urination, but I have noticed a slight curling of his ear tips, which I find worrisome because I’ve read that can be caused by steroid induced Cushing’s disease.
I’d like to have him on the lowest effective dose because I don’t want any negative side effects. Any advice or your experiences with this?
Now that I’ve gotten the venting off my chest, I will say that he has responded well to Prednisolone and it feels like we finally have some stability back in our lives. It brings me so much joy to see my boy feeling well again. He turns 17 on Monday and if you would’ve asked me a couple months ago if I thought this birthday would come, I was worried he wouldn’t make it.
He has been on 5 mg a day for about 6 weeks. The vet has said I can try tapering to the lowest effective dose now. Last week, I tapered down to 2.5 mg for only three days and then bumped back up to 5 mg because I was afraid I was seeing a negative side effect. He was still eating enough, but a few nights in a row he seemed crabby and I would notice this little abdominal quiver, and it worried me he might be in pain. When I bumped back up to 5 mg, the quiver stopped. I don’t know if I didn’t give 2.5 mg enough of a chance because I am terrified to have him not feel well again or if it is truly possible to notice a negative difference in just a few days. In regard to the 5 mg dose, he has been doing super well on that and I haven’t noticed increase hunger, thirst, or urination, but I have noticed a slight curling of his ear tips, which I find worrisome because I’ve read that can be caused by steroid induced Cushing’s disease.
I’d like to have him on the lowest effective dose because I don’t want any negative side effects. Any advice or your experiences with this?