Injectable prednisolone

FrancineE

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I have a 10 year old cat, who was always healthy. Last year, for a week or so, she didn't feel well, barely ate, stayed in her room, lost weight, but was still social when I'd go to her room. She started walking with a tilt, as if she was dizzy (I thought ear infection), and then she would tumble over and could barely walk, this happened over just a few days. I took her to a Feline Clinic, but all they could say was that she had a neurological problem, suggested putting her down or that I could take her to a specialty facility for a spinal tap and multiple tests etc, for $2,500 (to possibly come up with a diagnosis, maybe she had a brain tumor, would require surgery etc. This was last spring, I opted to take her home, asked if they could give her steroids so she'd feel better overnight and I could think.

She was "fine" the next day, I realize it was only the steroids. To get to the point of this post, she has been on Prednisolone for a year, and has done great. Now, it's almost impossible to get the pill in her. It has become a battle she manages to eat around whatever I put it in, I've resorted to crushing the pill, adding it to a morsel of food, and force her to eat it, holding her mouth closed until she swallows. It's horrible.

I've looked online to see about other options and there is an injectable version but the vet wants me to bring her in every 2-3 days for a shot, not possible. I've read that prednisolone is administered in an office, but why? Have any of you had any experience with the injectable version? Any other insight?

And I realize long term steroid use is not the best thing, but as the other option was to put her down, I'm okay with the possibility that it could affect her kidneys, she's still had an extra year, and has done really well.

My other cat is 20 (orange/white one) so this sort of problem made no sense to me, thoughts? Advice?
 

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neely

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I also have difficulty giving our cat a pill for a number or reasons. Therefore, I always ask the vet for a liquid form and use a syringe. I have much better luck giving our guy meds that way. He has been on prednisolone twice for flare-ups with Pancreatitis so I know it comes in a liquid form. He does not stay on it permanently and is weaned off but perhaps you can ask your vet for the syringe and liquid. Best of luck, please keep us posted on your progress. I'll keep my fingers crossed you find a solution. :crossfingers:
 

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Hi. Beautiful cats! Crushable pills or liquids can be administered in several ways. I have used all of the following with success when giving Feeby (16+yo) her meds. I just mix the meds with enough of any of them to ensure she ingests the entire dose.
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken, and then give her a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)

There is no rhyme or reason for why one cat does better or lives longer than another. Maybe genetics, whatever - it is what it is.
 
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FrancineE

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Hi. Beautiful cats! Crushable pills or liquids can be administered in several ways. I have used all of the following with success when giving Feeby (16+yo) her meds. I just mix the meds with enough of any of them to ensure she ingests the entire dose.
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken, and then give her a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)

There is no rhyme or reason for why one cat does better or lives longer than another. Maybe genetics, whatever - it is what it is.
Thank you, this little miss priss turns her nose up at #3 & #4, but I never tired baby food! I think the pill tastes so bad that she knows it as soon as she gets a tiny scent of it. Thank you!
 

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daftcat75

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I think I responded to you on another thread.

I had much success with transdermal pred. Wedgewood Pharmacy makes a Twist-a-Dose transdermal dosing pen. Use gloves or finger cots and twist out your dose onto your thumb or finger. Then give your cat a wet willy in the ear. Like this. But your cat will likely be a lot less blissed about it.
IMG_3043.JPG
Still much easier than pilling. Pair it with a treat or dinner and she'll learn to tolerate it.

Prednisolone Twist-a-Dose Transdermal Gel
 

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Another thing that worked far longer than it should have for us was these yeasty fishy bites I made for her every night. Empty out some s. boulardii (probiotic yeast) or brewers yeast onto a small plate. Using a pill cutter, cut your pill in half. Smear a half a pill in a small amount of wet food, roll that in the yeast, and wrap a bonito flake tightly around this ball. Repeat for the other half of the pill. You want just enough to food to make the yeast stick. The yeast will be tacky when moist like bread dough. The fish flake sticks to that. If you make them small and tight, the fishy yeasty pred bite is easier swallowed than picked apart.

Unfortunately for Krista, the fish flakes were a trigger food that kept her from reaching remission until we were forced to switch to the transdermal. I will always wonder how her last months might have been different had we started with transdermal. 😿
 
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FrancineE

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Another thing that worked far longer than it should have for us was these yeasty fishy bites I made for her every night. Empty out some s. boulardii (probiotic yeast) or brewers yeast onto a small plate. Using a pill cutter, cut your pill in half. Smear a half a pill in a small amount of wet food, roll that in the yeast, and wrap a bonito flake tightly around this ball. Repeat for the other half of the pill. You want just enough to food to make the yeast stick. The yeast will be tacky when moist like bread dough. The fish flake sticks to that. If you make them small and tight, the fishy yeasty pred bite is easier swallowed than picked apart.

Unfortunately for Krista, the fish flakes were a trigger food that kept her from reaching remission until we were forced to switch to the transdermal. I will always wonder how her last months might have been different had we started with transdermal. 😿
Is Bonito flake just a flake fish food? She is a chewer, doesn't swallow whole unfortunately!
From what I read on the "pens" the dosage is way too small. Looked like a whoole pen is 5mg & she gets that daily. I give her an appetite stimulant that way. Thanks!
 
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FrancineE

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I think I responded to you on another thread.

I had much success with transdermal pred. Wedgewood Pharmacy makes a Twist-a-Dose transdermal dosing pen. Use gloves or finger cots and twist out your dose onto your thumb or finger. Then give your cat a wet willy in the ear. Like this. But your cat will likely be a lot less blissed about it.
View attachment 379096
Still much easier than pilling. Pair it with a treat or dinner and she'll learn to tolerate it.

Prednisolone Twist-a-Dose Transdermal Gel
Thanks, I thought it only went up to 5mg for the whole pen, but I re-read the site & looks like it's per twist! That'd be great! Do you know (ballpark) what the cost was? I can't get the price until I have the script. Between 2 cats with issues and a dog with skin/food allergies, the paycheck keeps getting tighter!:-)
 

daftcat75

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Thanks, I thought it only went up to 5mg for the whole pen, but I re-read the site & looks like it's per twist! That'd be great! Do you know (ballpark) what the cost was? I can't get the price until I have the script. Between 2 cats with issues and a dog with skin/food allergies, the paycheck keeps getting tighter!:-)
You can get it prescribed out to whatever strength you need. But yes, the pen I used was two rotations for 5 mg. It came out to be less gel than the Mirtaz (transdermal mirtazapine) dose.

Bonito flakes are a type of dried tuna shaved paper thin. My Krista loved them much to her gut’s chagrin. 😿

I don’t really know how the pred bites would work with another cat. Krista was toothless after years ordeal with tooth resorption and a good dentist. She loved the flakes and she enjoyed the yeast. The yeast mixed with the food made a pill pocket like crust to the pill that she could not “chew” (gum) apart. She would gum, gum, gum and then swallow it. It’s why I cut the pills in half. It made the fish dough balls small enough for her to swallow it like a piece of kibble.
 
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FrancineE

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You can get it prescribed out to whatever strength you need. But yes, the pen I used was two rotations for 5 mg. It came out to be less gel than the Mirtaz (transdermal mirtazapine) dose.

Bonito flakes are a type of dried tuna shaved paper thin. My Krista loved them much to her gut’s chagrin. 😿

I don’t really know how the pred bites would work with another cat. Krista was toothless after years ordeal with tooth resorption and a good dentist. She loved the flakes and she enjoyed the yeast. The yeast mixed with the food made a pill pocket like crust to the pill that she could not “chew” (gum) apart. She would gum, gum, gum and then swallow it. It’s why I cut the pills in half. It made the fish dough balls small enough for her to swallow it like a piece of kibble.
Awesome, thank you. I'll pass this on to the vet & have her order it for me....I mean Belle!
 

daftcat75

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Awesome, thank you. I'll pass this on to the vet & have her order it for me....I mean Belle!
And as far as cost, I think two pens were $50-75. Somewhere in that ballpark. Not as cheap as the pills, obviously. But not very expensive either.

Edit: I found a receipt. 1 pen was $18 plus $8 shipping. Probably express. A pen contained 30 doses.
 
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FrancineE

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And as far as cost, I think two pens were $50-75. Somewhere in that ballpark. Not as cheap as the pills, obviously. But not very expensive either.

Edit: I found a receipt. 1 pen was $18 plus $8 shipping. Probably express. A pen contained 30 doses.
Is that 30, 5mg doses or 2.5mg (since you used 2 clicks) Thank you for the addl info!
 

daftcat75

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Is that 30, 5mg doses or 2.5mg (since you used 2 clicks) Thank you for the addl info!
30 x 5 mg doses. The pen dispenses 0.05 mL of gel in two full rotations. 2.5 mg per rotation. This way you could use the same pen if the dose goes up or down. There is 1.5 mL of gel in the pen.
1.5 mL/ 0.05 mL/dose =30 doses.
 
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FrancineE

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30 x 5 mg doses. The pen dispenses 0.05 mL of gel in two full rotations. 2.5 mg per rotation. This way you could use the same pen if the dose goes up or down. There is 1.5 mL of gel in the pen.
1.5 mL/ 0.05 mL/dose =30 doses.
That's fantastic! And only $18.00! The vet gave me prefilled syringes of Dexamethasone rather then the Prednisolone, as it lasts longer, ,1 inj every 3 days. But $40 for 8 syringes....I was hoping for a vial, I know tht would be much cheaper. She gets it tonight, I'll see how she reacts to the different med, and then either ask for a vial, or have it the click pen called in to Wedgewood. That's a tremendous saving. Even the pills were costing $1.00 each! You are a gem! THank you for taking the time!
 

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I think transdermal is definitely the way to go for you. I use transdermal for my older cats thyroid medication and it completely solved the issues you are having.
 

Peachiekitty

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The pred comes in a liquid and my girl doesn’t even notice it in her food. She is horrible about pills.
 

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I use liquid prednisolone for my girl too and she always eats it in her wet food! She refuses to eat with the tablets though.
 
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FrancineE

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The pred comes in a liquid and my girl doesn’t even notice it in her food. She is horrible about pills.
My little princess, has been awful about eating, it's something different every day. I'd hate to put meds in her food and then have to throw away not only food, but the medication.
 

Peachiekitty

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The last time I got the liquid pred, the pharmacy switched the manufacturer and the pred had a strong bitter smell and taste. Peachie would not get anywhere near it and fought the syringe. I had to throw away food and meds and neither of us were happy. I called the pharmacy and made them switch it back! Maybe switching manufacturers might help?
 
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