Ibd Kitty Just Starting Prednisolone

Good luck to you! Just wanted to mention you can get b12 that can be squirted in with a dopler. Ours was a prescription bacon flavour that we gave once a day. This was before he was on the steroid so it wasn't a 'must do' if budgets are tight, but something the vet said can help wirt vitality and appetite. This was something he did for cats older than yours though.

B-12 is needed to absorb B-12 from diet. If there is a deficiency, oral supplementation will not be effective. If there is a deficiency, the shots are a "must do." A bottle of B-12 will likely run you less than $100 and will last you probably the rest of her life*. It takes so little but it makes such a big difference.
The Importance of B12 – IBDKitties

*The syringes are another story. I don't know how much it costs to get more but after the first couple of months, it's only once a month.

Ok, I didn't know oral supplements aren't effective.

sarah c said:

Ok, I didn't know oral supplements aren't effective.

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It's complicated but basically B-12 is needed to absorb B-12 in the gut. Once deficient, that mechanism is broken until the cat's B-12 is restored via another route. Subcutaneous works well for this.

Thanks for the explanation!

daftcat75 said:

A bottle of B-12 will likely run you less than $100 and will last you probably the rest of her life*.

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What bottle of B12 are you using? My vet prescribed the 1 ml vials. A vial can only be used once, which stinks if the cat is on a teeny dose. The expiration date printed on the vial is for an unopened vial. Once the rubber stopper has been punctured and a single dose drawn out, the leftover B12 can no longer be used.

LTS3 said:

What bottle of B12 are you using? My vet prescribed the 1 ml vials. A vial can only be used once, which stinks if the cat is on a teeny dose. The expiration date printed on the vial is for an unopened vial. Once the rubber stopper has been punctured and a single dose drawn out, the leftover B12 can no longer be used.

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Something like this:
Vitamin B-12 for Animal Use Generic (brand may vary) - Safe.Pharmacy|Vitamins (Rx) | Equine Pharmacy

I don't know what my strength is (I think 1000 mcg per 100 ml?) Looking at that price, I'm guessing I was also charged for the syringes, needles, and Sharps disposal. I pull 0.25 ml into a syringe and change needles so I don't stick Krista with a needle that's already stuck the rubber stopper. So I need twice as many needles as syringes. The whole visit plus the demo, which I'm told I wasn't charged for, was $85. So if the B-12 was $10, then I'm guessing the syringes, needles, and disposal container made up the rest of the cost.

I didn't realize that B12 is available in larger vials. Cats typically use 1000 mcg / ml.

Hi all--I asked the vet about B-12 shots and he told me that he wants to hold off for now on those because if they help, then we won't know whether the prednisolone is effective. I understand that cautious philosophy, but I still want to try them. I'll see if I can find a specialist or a vet with lots of IBD knowledge. Sigh. I just want Mittenz to feel better.

Cupcaketrad said:

Hi all--I asked the vet about B-12 shots and he told me that he wants to hold off for now on those because if they help, then we won't know whether the prednisolone is effective. I understand that cautious philosophy, but I still want to try them. I'll see if I can find a specialist or a vet with lots of IBD knowledge. Sigh. I just want Mittenz to feel better.

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How about if the shots help, you try to adjust the pred dose accordingly? The B-12 will help and I don’t think you should withhold it for the pred’s sake. If the B-12 can get Mittenz off the pred faster, I don’t see the downside. If the B-12 doesn’t help, no harm done. Any excess B-12 will be excreted harmlessly in her urine.

But I’m not the vet here....

I wish you were the vet here! That approach sounds much better!

I don't know how smart this is, but I'm going to take Mittenz on a road trip tomorrow and try to get us home for winter break so she can see her regular vet. I'm away at graduate school and am getting fed up with the stubborn vets on this side of the state. Her regular vet has known her since she was a kitten and is great with cats. In fact, she's the head of the Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation, so she knows cats big and small! I am terrified to try traveling six hours with Mittenz, but we need to get out of here and get her to Dr. Sharon. Maybe she can help us with B-12 shots. She was so good with Paddington, my previous cat who had renal failure. The semester just ended today, so tomorrow we're going to stop at that holistic pet food store in Sioux Falls, look for novel proteins to try, and then head west.

Pred works on inflammation. B12 helps increase absorption of the vitamin which can help with weight gain. B12 won't affect how the pred works. Leroy started pred and B12 together. Can you ask your current vet to consult with your regular vet or with an internal medicine vet or a vet school?

We survived our road trip and have an appointment with our awesome regular vet next week. Mittenz did great in the car (she's always been a good rider) and we stopped for sips of water and snacks pretty frequently. We also made it to the holistic pet food store and found all kinds of good things, including canned kangaroo (no bison, but I'll order some). I also found some CBD oil for dogs and cats. Hmm! I wonder if that would help with inflammation, nausea, and pain, and if it'd be all right to take with pred.

That new vet was open to B-12 shots but didn't want to try them just yet. The more I think about it, the more I disagree with him. I will ask our regular vet if she will prescribe those.

Cupcaketrad said:

I also found some CBD oil for dogs and cats. Hmm! I wonder if that would help with inflammation, nausea, and pain, and if it'd be all right to take with pred.

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CBD by itself has a high degree of safety. However, it is competitively metabolized in the liver by a common enzyme pathway with a good number of other drugs including steroids. Consult your vet before giving CBD to Mittenz if she’s already on pred.
Drugs That May Interact with CBD Oil | Learn More | CBD Oil Review

daftcat75 said:

CBD by itself has a high degree of safety. However, it is competitively metabolized in the liver by a common enzyme pathway with a good number of other drugs including steroids. Consult your vet before giving CBD to Mittenz if she’s already on pred.
Drugs That May Interact with CBD Oil | Learn More | CBD Oil Review

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Good to know! I did buy it, just to have on hand, but I will ask our vet before trying it.

Heya! Just chiming in with Pred experience; it's really been very helpful for Business Cat. This is long, but IBD is complicated and I've found the detail in other posts helps!

My cat is on 2.5 mgs of Prednisolone every other day. This is her maintenance dose to prevent inflammation. She doesn't have any daily symptoms, but does have a flare-up every few months that leads to anorexia, bloody vomiting and diarrhea. It gets really bad. Since putting her on Pred, each flare up has has been less serious. Here's my timeline of flare-ups, cost, and what else I did to support her IBD. Hope it helps!

April 2018: 3 days of anorexia, bloody diarrhea, bloody vomiting, and a 3 day hospitalization. Normal blood work, Cerenia, Mirtazipine, Sulcrate, Appetite Stimulant; started Prednisolone. Diet change to raw/high protein, low-carb wet food after healing. Very strict about feeding less than 10% carbs in any food. Approx. $2000.00

August 2018: No diarrhea, 3 days of anorexia, bloody vomiting, stayed at home. Painkiller (can't remember which, probably morphine?), Cerenia, Appetite Stimulant, Sulcrate, Pred. Added probiotics. Approx. $600.00

October 2018: No diarrhea, only vomited once with no blood, 3 days of anorexia, stayed at home. Painkiller, Sulcrate, Appetite Stimulant, Cerenia, Pred. Approx. $450.00

So, what my vet and I are doing is trying to catch the first symptom and start the medication regime before it gets really terrible. And it always starts with a dwindling appetite; she starts to leave half her meal behind until she refuses food entirely. So from now on, as soon as she fails to finish two meals in short time period, she will get upped to 5 mgs a day for two weeks, 2.5 mgs a day for two weeks, and then back to her maintenance dose. Luckily, she's also getting very tolerant of syringe feeding, so we're also getting much better at minimizing the effects of the anorexia.

I'm could look at cutting out chicken, though my vet told me that while on Pred. cats can eat anything. I haven't seen any particular food/protein be the cause of a flare-up, but I can tell you that when on kibble or too much canned (vs. raw) she has much softer, stinkier stools and eye-melting gas. So I know diet matters, but in our case, I'm not sure it's a cause.

On the other hand, my sister has a kibble addict cat with IBD who vomited daily. She's on a dose of liquid pred which eliminates the vomiting completely, as long as doses are never missed. However, she's now having some poop issues, so she may need to have her dose increased. But with no other changes, pred was able to eliminate daily vomiting.

Best of luck! I'm still pretty new at this, but trial and error and a good vet have been key. I'm hopeful that one day, we can just use the pred to manage flare ups, but who knows? If she can't be comfortable without it, than that's what we have to do.

Thank you for sharing your routine! That is very helpful. It sounds like you have a really good vet, and I'm glad your kitty is doing much better.

Here's a (possibly) odd question: what time of day do you give your kitty the pred? My vet said to just give it at the same time every day and didn't specify what time, but I'm reading a lot about it and keep seeing that cats should take it at night since it works better with their natural rhythms/cortisol levels. Mittenz takes it at 9 am, because I took her to the vet right away in the morning (after a very rough night) during that flare and that's when we got it, and she has been on that schedule since (today is day 7 and she's supposed to take it every day for 10 days and then we go to every other day). I'd really like to get her on it in the evenings if it's more effective but I'm afraid to goof up her schedule.

I didn't do pred so I can't answer that specifically. But generally speaking, you would skip a morning dose and give it in the evening if you wanted to change her dosing schedule. But again, I have no experience with pred and don't know if this would have any adverse effects. I don't expect it would. I would ask your vet or maybe finish out the 10 days with morning doses and use the switch to every other day to change her to an evening dose.

Cupcaketrad said:

Here's a (possibly) odd question: what time of day do you give your kitty the pred? My vet said to just give it at the same time every day and didn't specify what time, but I'm reading a lot about it and keep seeing that cats should take it at night since it works better with their natural rhythms/cortisol levels. Mittenz takes it at 9 am, because I took her to the vet right away in the morning (after a very rough night) during that flare and that's when we got it, and she has been on that schedule since (today is day 7 and she's supposed to take it every day for 10 days and then we go to every other day). I'd really like to get her on it in the evenings if it's more effective but I'm afraid to goof up her schedule.

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I do pred. in the evening, with dinner. It's not always at a strict time. I don't know if it truly makes any difference, but if you wanted to switch to nighttime, I do it on your last day of every day. That kind of mimics the length of time between pill that she'll be getting after that.

Cupcaketrad said:

Here's a (possibly) odd question: what time of day do you give your kitty the pred? My vet said to just give it at the same time every day and didn't specify what time, but I'm reading a lot about it and keep seeing that cats should take it at night since it works better with their natural rhythms/cortisol levels.

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If the dose is twice a day, then you should give it about 12 hours apart. If the dose is once a day, just pick whatever time works best for you and try to stay consistent. When Leroy was changed to once a day, I skipped the usual morning dose and started once a day with the evening dose.