Steroids/muscle Loss (ibd)

[victry77]

Hello all, just looking for some opinions and if anyone has any experience of this.

My cat Minnie is 6yrs old and has been treated for IBD with 2mg medrone since Sep 2016 (half tablet every day for the first course then every other day/ 3 days subsequently). She has always been a very small, thin cat and terribly fussy eater.

Since being on the meds her weight averages 3.1-3.4kg. Sometimes she is bad taking her meds and I can't get them down her as prescribed. When periods like this happen, I notice she may get a little lighter and starts vomiting, but then when she takes them regularly, she gains the weight back and the vomiting subsides. The heaviest she got to on meds is 3.65kg last October.

In Jan she was 3.3, she has been taking the meds really well (every 2/3 days) and I weighed her just a few days ago and she was 3.64, a great weight for her, however, she looks pretty thin in the hind/hip area. I thought this was weird as her weight is good. Also, her belly pouch is more noticeable and hang down a bit more, something I noticed maybe a month or more ago and now I have noticed her looking thinner in the back quarters.

I took some pics and posted then in an FB group for IBD cats. A few people commented that she looks quite like their own cats who have muscle wastage due to the steroids. Or has anyone's started to look thin around this area while staying the same weight?

Does anyone have experience of this? I plan to phone the vet on Monday to discuss this. Does anyone know what action should most likely be taken?

 

[duckpond]

I dont know about the steroids. But i do know cats will have a problem with muscle wasting away if they are not getting enough high quality, animal based protein. what is she eating? maybe you can get a higher protein food that will work for her? Im not sure, the meds might interfere with protein absorption? That would be a vet question, for sure.
High protein foods i feed, for Dry i use Dr. Elseys chicken. Highest protein wet foods in my rotation are Tiki cat, and Most of the Weruva foods. Maybe ask your vet about these foods, or others when you go back in?

two places i like to look at for food reviews, you just want to watch and be sure the protein is from animal, not pea, or potato or corn.

http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

 

[kristenann]

Steroids cause muscle wasting and the redistribution of fat around the abdomen.

My own cat Tiberius has IBD and has also experienced significant muscle wasting with a pudgy belly. I joke that he is built like a goat now. It really is an inevitable part of steroid treatment.

 

[victry77]

Steroids cause muscle wasting and the redistribution of fat around the abdomen.

My own cat Tiberius has IBD and has also experienced significant muscle wasting with a pudgy belly. I joke that he is built like a goat now. It really is an inevitable part of steroid treatment.

Thank you for the info. I had no idea about this. How long was Tiberius taking steroids before your started noticing this? I thought because Minnie was only on a low dose that it would reduce her chances of developing such side effects, or at least delay them longer.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Steroids cause muscle wasting and the redistribution of fat around the abdomen.

My own cat Tiberius has IBD and has also experienced significant muscle wasting with a pudgy belly. I joke that he is built like a goat now. It really is an inevitable part of steroid treatment.

Same with our guy. His weight is holding steady at 4.7gk/10.3lbs. He has lost some muscle in the rear.

Another thing I've noticed is when IBD flares up, they doesn't seem to feel as good and when they don't feel as good, they don't do much, and if activity drops muscle wasting happens. =(

 

[kristenann]

V victry77 Your welcome! Steroid treatment is sort of like medicine induced Cushing's so if you research that a lot of the same concepts apply. Cats luckily do tend to tolerate steroids better than other species and with horrible diseases like IBD the benefits outweigh the side effects.

It's really hard to say when Tiberius's physical changes occurred. He was very under conditioned and poorly managed when I adopted him. He has been on steroids along with other meds essentially the entire time I had him so he never really built muscle just kind of a belly.

 

[victry77]

Same with our guy. His weight is holding steady at 4.7gk/10.3lbs. He has lost some muscle in the rear.

Another thing I've noticed is when IBD flares up, they doesn't seem to feel as good and when they don't feel as good, they don't do much, and if activity drops muscle wasting happens. =(

Than you Bruce. Does your cat's body shape look comparable to the photos I have posted? Same as yours, she is holding a decent weight (for her) and while she has always been thin, it looks as if she has lost weight in the rear, but her weight is fine. She is very active, though.

Also, had your cat been taking steroids for quite a while before it happened? Was it a gradual thing? This is something I have only noticed over the last couple of weeks.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Than you Bruce. Does your cat's body shape look comparable to the photos I have posted? Same as yours, she is holding a decent weight (for her) and while she has always been thin, it looks as if she has lost weight in the rear, but her weight is fine. She is very active, though.

Also, had your cat been taking steroids for quite a while before it happened? Was it a gradual thing? This is something I have only noticed over the last couple of weeks.

It's hard to say as our cat is super fluffy-haired, but judging on feel I can say very close; his rear legs seem less muscled and his hips and spine have less muscle than they used to but he's getting a bit of a belly.
He's only been on steroids since November, and the dosage has varied from 2 ML a day to 1/2 ML 2 or 3 times a week, depending. He starts getting better and acting really good, we taper stuff down, things go well then something happens and he's back at the vet.
He's not even on steroids for IBD technically, but asthma, so it's a difficult process.
It's been gradual over that time, but it does seem like it's done a lot in 6 months time.