Prednisolone not available??

[barbb]

Thanks BarbB!
I will try the water chaser. I do give her some stinky treats afterward so she isn't too mad at me and that seems to work. The allergies are actually manifested in her skin rather than being respiratory. I did food elimination trials,  different flea preventatives, changing bedding ect. She gets worse in the fall and spring, although it has extended a little farther this year. I am wondering if it is our apartment. We live in a ground level apartment in the Pacific Northwest. While I keep a mold under control with cleaning and a dehumidifier, being ground level can sometimes mean extra moisture in the air. Never had these issue in california! Apparently we have a mold addenendum to our lease and minor mold ins the tenant responsibility as long as it isn't the life threatening stuff that comes from major issues like leaks and such. It is an upscale apartment too, but everyone I talk to says you have to keep on top of that stuff especially in window frames and such. I just notice that her allergies are better at my parents, whos house is an a frame and above ground. Oh well, we will be moving next year as soon as the lease is up because they jack up rent every year to rediculous amounts and add on extra fees never fail.

 

I actually bought the allergy pills for one of my fiv fosters who had a bad skin allergy following his vaccinations. his allergies were so bad he scratched until he bled, and was getting steroid injections. It enabled him to not need as many shots and thankfully his allergies subsided over time. Then when this new foster kitty came to my house w rhinitis, I thought any homeopathic agent that is anti-inflammatory may help her too, i.e. swollen nasal passages and all, so I decided to sprinkle it on her food as well. It contains vitamin c which also helps overall. They are liver flavored capsules, you can look them up on two docs pet wellness if u are interested . I'm on an iPad so it is hard to cut and paste lol. We are also giving the rhinitis kitty doxycycline, poor baby has not responded to clavamox or clindamycin .

 

[jim peterford]

Well, I was able to get 30 pills from one vet specialist office in my area, not sure how long their supply is going to last but that should hold me for the next few months. Hopefully they will be available again by the time I need a refill... I called that place in Arizona and they can compound it into capsules which is also what a compounding pharmacy near my house can do but I'd really like to know what is up with the manufacturer. Maybe if people like us who rely on this medication somehow contact the manufacturer we can stop them from discontinuing if that is the case? If it is a matter of shortage then there is nothing we can do but wait. The pills I always got for her look different than the ones I just got. The new ones are circular and say "DAN DAN" on them, which I guess is who makes them? Any ideas on how to contact them??

 

[coatfetish]

This is so discouraging to me! My cat Taz, who is nearly 14, has chronic rodent ulcer. She's been getting Depo shots every two to four months for many years. Finally my Drs decided to try her on prednisolone (never having tried it for this reason before - they didn't know what to expect) and it is working well for her. She's a feral that hates to go to the vets - big stress for her and she has a heart murmur I don't want to aggravate. The ulcer reduced greatly in size and maintains at a pinpoint size (never fully going away yet) by giving her a 5mg pill every other day. She pills very easily too. I received 30 pills, a 60 day supply, on 11/16/12. I think I'll call and see if I can renew now & get a larger supply...

How is it possible that a widely used & needed med like this can so easily fall out of manufacture? 

 

[nekochan]

I would check if methylprednisolone is available and ask your vet if switching to that is an option? My cat has allergies-caused skin issues and /odent ulcers and my vet switched him to that.

 

[momto4kitties]

I've been having problems too, my vet has prednisolone right now, but they haven't been able to order more , so I have to get a prescription to see if I can get in online somewhere. Im worried.

 

[rnjen63]

Hi there, can you tell me what the other things that cats shouldn't have are to look for??? Thanks
 

 

[barbaraboehmer]

My vet says the prednisone and prednisolone tablets are on backorder until February due to manufacturing problems and I may try the liquid for my cat with allergies and IBD, who has been doing well on prednisolone every other day.  Various places are running out at various times depending on how much they had in stock before the manufacturing shortage and how much they have sold since then.  I did an internet search and found the following website:

http://www.ashp.org/DrugShortages/Current/bulletin.aspx?id=930

that lists the reasons for the shortage from various manufacturers as below.  I stumbled upon this thread as well and figured I would share the information.  The information is specifically for perdnisone tablets, but I believe the same issues apply to prednisolone tablets.

Reason for the Shortage

• Cadista states the shortage is due to a raw materials shortage.
• Perrigo, Roxane, Qualitest, and Watson could not provide a reason for the shortage.
• West-Ward has temporarily suspended manufacturing of oral solid pharmaceutical products.

 

[miedagirl]

so they say... but I have proof in behavior that it is not as effective.  My girl has had two exploratory abdominals (Oct. 2011/Mar. 2012) and was diagnosed with IBD and again diagnosed with the same after she had severe liver issues and the second surgery to biopsy only to determine it was all just her IBD.  She was doing very well on the Prednisolone and was back to her old self (she is almost 14).  We were going along like all was well and in Nov. I went to reorder her meds and they weren't available.  I did the same that many others have done and went to my vet, then gave me a different looking pill and I just thought it was a different manufacturer.  Well 3 weeks later we had to xray and do bloodwork as she wasn't moving her bowels again.  I told them that I thought maybe they had given me prednisone instead and they confirmed... they told me that they had another animal with similar issues that they were able to get the millipred from the pharmacy which "is the same thing".  I am here to tell you it is NOT.  They told me it would take 3-4 weeks for the new med (millipred) to really assimilate and for her to be back to normal... well it has been 4 weeks now and she is acting severely depressed and barely leaves the bedroom.  Her eyes tell me she is not feeling well, and I had to double the amount of Lactulose she was getting but the weird thing is that all of her eating, bowels and drinking are normal????  She only lays on her side and seems very very unhappy.  When the vet gave me the script for the millipred I also contacted the company who makes what I was giving her (PrediTab 5mg, from 1800petmeds).  They are based out of Canada and stated that they have it and plenty, they also stated that they have been getting calls about it regularly.  She suggested that I contact a vet in Canada and try to get them to write me a script (maybe with the help of my vet).  

I am taking her in Thur. am now, if I can wait that long, I may have to miss work or have her grandma take her sooner because she is very lethargic and definitely feeling horrible.  I am so very worried and just want PREDNISOLONE for her!  I would GLADLY pay too... sooooo frustrating!!!

Anyone have any new info?  

I will call around again to all of the vets in town and the vet school and neighboring offices, but I may be on the path of trying to get the canada thing to work.  

 

[lindao]

The prednisone wasn't working for my kitty like prednisolone but I am very happy with the liquid prednisolone I am getting from wedgewood pharmacy. My cat loves to take it because it is chicken flavored, she licks the tip of the syringe as I squirt it.

 

[finnlacey]

That's because prednisone doesn't work as well as prednisolone:

The last sentence, "These data indicate that oral prednisolone is the superior choice for cats."
Bioavailability and activity of prednisone and prednisolone in the feline patient
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3164.2004.00410_2-6.x/abstract

 

[misty8723]

My vet said there is no problem getting prednisolone.  I just got a 50 pill refill.  She did say there was something you couldn't get that was on "back order" or something, maybe the Prednisone itself.  It has been a while since I spoke with her and I can't remember exactly what she said unfortunately.

 

[coatfetish]

well, went to refill Taz's prednisolone, and the vet was out. She said it was on backorder, and she had been buying it up where ever she could, but ran out of options. She also said there has always been temporary out of stocks in various meds before, but she's never seen anything like this - the mass out of stocks AND the long duration of problems getting it. I'm on a list for when it comes in, in the meantime she gave me a liquid prednisolone to try. She said most cats and ferrets (apparently they use it too) hate the bitterness, but to buy the flavor I would add to it costs more than the medicine! When I opened the bottle tonight, it had a strong cherry scent. Taz took it well, but who knows how it will go the next time - she's onto me now!

 

[himself]

My buddy, Murphy, is asthmatic and coughs/chokes all the time. Prednisone does NOTHING for him but Prenisolone helps him. Being retired on a fixed income I usually use 1-800-petmeds. They have been out since Oct. I finally had to have my vet's phar. Compound it for me.

 

[coatfetish]

Much to my surprise, Taz takes the liquid very easily (the cat version of easily - lol). She doesn't seem to mind the cherry flavor - I can only assume it tastes like it smells - that's the most surprising part. 

 

[ericinla]

Actually, your article link concerned Prednisone, the med that needs to be converted into Prednisolone in the liver, not Prednisolone itself. Just wanted you to know.

 

[coatfetish]

Oddly enough, I don't think the liquid Prednisolone is working as nearly well as the pill form. I hope my vet can get some soon...

 

[cookielu1999]

My vet just recieved a shipment of generic prednisolone and is now filling Rx's so I imagine the backorder is nearing it's end.  I was told that the lack of generic prednisolone was due to a factory inspection problem and that it was taking SO LONG to get it back into production due to the FDA being VERY, VERY slow about performing the neccessary inspection that would allow this factory (don't know company name) to resume production.  During the backorder period I was able to get compounded prednisolone from a local compounding pharmacy but it came in capsules.  I was also able, at a monumentously higher price, to get brand name Millipred in place of the generic prednisolone.  Even though my vet now has the prednisolone in stock it is still far more expensive than at certified on-line pharmacies.  DrFostersandSmith.com, a certified on-line pet pharmacy, are now showing an availability date of 2/14/13 - of course we'll have to wait and see what happens w/ that.  I have 4 cats on prednisolone and am on a fixed income so I have been sweating this out the whole way.  If I must I will have to purchase from my vet because her prices are less than compounding/millipred even though they are 3x's higher than at certain on-line pet pharmacies.  I hope everyone finds their source of prednisolone soon.

 

[barbaraboehmer]

My vet ended up going through a compounding pharmacy to get Prednisolone in little tiny, supposedly good-tasting tablets called "mini melts".  Since they are tiny and good-tasting, they are easy to give.  They dissolve quickly, so you have to make sure that they don't touch anything wet before putting them in the cat's mouth.  At that time, they said the regular stuff seemed to be on endless back-order.  The "mini melts" were $10 for 20 tablets of 5 mg Prednisolone each.

 

[misty8723]

My vet ended up going through a compounding pharmacy to get Prednisolone in little tiny, supposedly good-tasting tablets called "mini melts".  Since they are tiny and good-tasting, they are easy to give.  They dissolve quickly, so you have to make sure that they don't touch anything wet before putting them in the cat's mouth.  At that time, they said the regular stuff seemed to be on endless back-order.  The "mini melts" were $10 for 20 tablets of 5 mg Prednisolone each.

This sounds interesting.  I wonder where I could get some? 

 

[barbaraboehmer]

I went through my vet, so I don't know which compounding pharmacy they used.  Your vet should be able to find one.  If you go directly through a compounding pharmacy you will still need a prescription from your vet.  They can compound whatever medication you want into mini-melts or ani-melts or chewable tablets.  The website below gives some information about compounding pharmacies.

http://www.felinecrf.org/medicating_your_cat.htm#compounded_medications