Temporarily increasing pred

[Musiaka]

Musiaka's flareup started around mid-May, calmed down for a while and now came back again. It suddenly became hot in my country and he started shedding like crazy so he's throwing up hairballs, desperately wants to eat grass but otherwise good appetite, no weightloss. He's been on 1,25 mg pred since January and it seems to have stopped working. I'm also treating his gallstones (daily Ursodiol) and do liver support (daily silimarin + SAMe). I'd like to raise his pred to 2,5 mg to treat the flareup but our vet says to keep the small dose. I don't understand why, everyone with an IBD cat I talk to gets to temporarily raise pred for flareups. Our vet only has 2 years of experience so I don't know if I should listen to her... should I just do it by myself?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

We cannot advise you to go against what your Vet tells you. The only thing we can advise is if you aren't happy with your Vet, seek a second opinion with another Vet. BUT, is he just throwing up hairballs? If so, have you tried giving him something for hairballs? None of the things you mentioned are specifically for that issue. Of course, daily brushing will help, as should egg yolks, dried or raw (if raw, don't include any egg whites). I use Vet's Best Hairball Relief Digestive Aid for my guys. Not sure if it's available where you live, but I buy it on the internet. Some people use olive oil, butter, that type of thing. Do you feed wet food? That help with hairballs, and also with IBD.