Should we go on prednisolone?

[dustydiamond1]

Poor baby, he missed his mommy. Nerves and stress can definitely cause physical problems in animals and humans.
So ferocious! That feather toy never stood a chance. Do you ever post his picture on the 'Black Cats Only' thread?

 

[Musiaka]

Poor baby, he missed his mommy. Nerves and stress can definitely cause physical problems in animals and humans.
So ferocious! That feather toy never stood a chance. Do you ever post his picture on the 'Black Cats Only' thread?

Yes! Musiaka does get nervous easily. Once I left him totally alone for more than 12 hours and he couldn't stop meowing after I got back
Also, it's the second time I try to completely switch to Hills z/d and the second time Musiaka gets an upset stomach from it. No more z/d. With Purina Pro Plan his tummy is much more stable.

Haha, the feather toy is completely done for, I'm waiting for a new one from Zooplus, it's something you can get for bonus points!

I rarely post pictures of Musiaka on here, but he has his own Instagram @musiaka_cat haha!

 

[Musiaka]

Otherwise Musiaka is doing quite good on pred, we're still on 2,5 mg daily. I will try to decrease the dosage when there's no vomiting incidents for 2 weeks straight.

His monstrous appetite has calmed down a bit which is probably a good thing. No increased urination and still doesn't touch water, canned food is enough. He has gained weight and is more active. Poop outside of the litter box is more rare now, but still happens sometimes. Diarrhea only twice and related to a food change. Less vomiting and more "legit" reasons when it happens - like eating a plastic decoration or a sudden food change.

I hope there will be no side effects and he can stay on a low dose for a long time.
I really regret taking him off pred when he was already down to 2,5 every second day and no vomiting at all. We could have stayed on it. The increased liver enzymes a year later were probably not related to prednisolone and more likely a result of a quite severe vomiting flareup.

 

[Musiaka]

It's been 10 days since I lowered Musiaka's dose to 1,75 mg daily. He hasn't vomited since that time on Christmas day but his appetite has gone down quite significantly ever since the reduced dose. On the higher dose he was constantly hungry. Now he mostly eats during the night and during the day only a little bit. Still in a good mood, very playful.

I wonder if it's something to be concerned about? Is it better to have lower appetite and be on a lower dose?

I also bought some new food for Musiaka, thinking maybe he's getting bored. James Wellbeloved Senior pouches, the ingredients looks great, much better than Purina Pro Plan. But I'm a bit scared to introduce it cause he might have a reaction. Also, it's not a paté, maybe his stomach won't do well with chunks. Will see how it goes

 

[t c c]

I'm at wits end with Musiaka's vomiting.
We've been seeing two vets and both say that gallbladder removal is the only way to go, because Musiaka has a couple of stones in there. They both say that it's what causes his nausea - the stones move and make him puke.

This just doesn't feel right and I can't wrap my head around Musiaka being cut open and one of his organs removed because of two stones. I just can't, it makes no sense to me. The stones are attached to the lining. They are too large to cause blockage. His gallbladder is of a normal size. How can it be the sole sollution and how can they be so sure it will solve the issue? For me it feels like a huge risk.

We recently took a course of antibiotics and Musiaka didn't vomit once while on it. The vomiting returned soon after we finished the course. We also had 4 courses of milk thistle this year, each course seems less and less effective for some reason. Or maybe because I am forced to use cream treat to mix it up with and Musiaka is sensitive to it.

He only eats canned food and I recently switched it to Purina Pro Plan Delicate, turkey being the sole protein. I give him b12 daily and s.boulardii. Egg yolk for hairballs. No effect. Good thing is that Musiaka maintains his weight and is overall active, playful and social.

He was on prednisolone for 6 months in 2019 with good results. I am thinking to go on it long term. One of the vet would be down for it, the other says it will damage his liver and won't prescribe.
What should we do?

You've had a lot of responses, so I don't know if this was already addressed: make sure they monitor your cat's heart. Prednisolone can cause heart murmurs/heart disease, which a lot of vets don't tell us. You have to weigh the pros & cons, if that happens, & it can be reversed by taking the cat off the drug, reducing the dosage, using budesinide instead, etc.

 

[Musiaka]

You've had a lot of responses, so I don't know if this was already addressed: make sure they monitor your cat's heart. Prednisolone can cause heart murmurs/heart disease, which a lot of vets don't tell us. You have to weigh the pros & cons, if that happens, & it can be reversed by taking the cat off the drug, reducing the dosage, using budesinide instead, etc.

Oh ok, thanks, will make sure to check his heart on our next visit! Hopefully this small dose he's on now, 1,75 mg daily is not that harmful to his heart and other organs

 

[Musiaka]

On the 12th of February it would have been a whole month without Musiaka vomiting, so today I was thinking - on the 12th I will reduce Musiaka's pred dose to 1,75 mg every second day, instead of every day. And what do you know - he just vomited a tiny bit! I can't freaking believe it, on the exact same day I had this thought!
It was not much, just a little bit of clear yellow liquid, but it immediately worries me. Musiaka got into a habit of licking our pans if we leave them out and not immediately wash them. There's usually nothing harmful there, but maybe it gave him a reaction. Although his last "trip" to the stove was yesterday. So I don't know, hope it's not pred effectiveness dimishing... I hope we won't need to up the dose again

 

[neely]

I was thinking - on the 12th I will reduce Musiaka's pred dose to 1,75 mg every second day, instead of every day. And what do you know - he just vomited a tiny bit! I can't freaking believe it, on the exact same day I had this thought!

You have to be very careful about changing the dosage of Prednisolone yourself. For this reason, please check with your vet. I hope Musiaka feels better soon.

 

[Musiaka]

Not a good night! Musiaka is very nauseaus and vomited again after I gave him som slippery elm paste. He's a bit restless, looking for grass which he always does when feeling ill. My poor boy. This came so out of the sudden, he was eating well and playing today as usual. I wonder if he maybe spit his pred out, but I didn't find any.

 

[Musiaka]

You have to be very careful about changing the dosage of Prednisolone yourself. For this reason, please check with your vet. I hope Musiaka feels better soon.

Last time I talked to our vet, she said if there is no vomiting for a longer time, I can try going for a every second day dose. Not sure how to lower the dose even more carefully than now? The change has to be slow and gradual and his body has to get some time to adapt to it, is there something more? He has been on 1,75mg since beginning of January and wasn't vomiting (until today) for almost a month, seemed like a perfect time to start going lower. But now that he had a vomiting episode we will stay on the same dose of course...

 

[Musiaka]

Vomiting again! What the heck (( what caused this reaction, I don't get it ((