Am I weaning my cat off Prednisolone right?

Musiaka

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I cant access our old vet from abroad and the new one seem to not really know, so Im asking here. Musiaka has been on pred since september due to IBD. He has mostly been on 2,5 mg daily, then 2,5mg every second day and then 1,25 mg every second day. I went down now to 1,25 mg every third day. When can i stop giving him pills? Go down to 1,25 every fourth day?
 

di and bob

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You might call another vet just to be sure, or research it online. I had a cat with cancer that was on a low dose for two years. You know a vet that doesn't know how to stop what he prescribes is not good. Is there another vet at that facility?
 

abyeb

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I would definitely ask a vet before you start lowering/changing doses of any medication. Even if they aren’t the vet that prescribed it originally, they will know how to cut down the dosage safely and effectively. With prednisolone, withdrawal can lead to adrenal insufficiency (per wikipedia: Prednisolone - Wikipedia), so it’s important to wean him off with a vet’s instruction.
 
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Musiaka

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I managed to contact the old vet who preacribed it and he said to give the current dose (1,25mg every third day) 3 times, then half of that three times and then stop. Sounds right?
 

abyeb

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I managed to contact the old vet who preacribed it and he said to give the current dose (1,25mg every third day) 3 times, then half of that three times and then stop. Sounds right?
Sure! I would definitely trust your vet’s directions.:)
 

jen

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That sounds exactly right. Once you get down to every 3rd day, after a week or so you are pretty much done...
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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I cant access our old vet from abroad and the new one seem to not really know, so Im asking here. Musiaka has been on pred since september due to IBD. He has mostly been on 2,5 mg daily, then 2,5mg every second day and then 1,25 mg every second day. I went down now to 1,25 mg every third day. When can i stop giving him pills? Go down to 1,25 every fourth day?
I managed to contact the old vet who preacribed it and he said to give the current dose (1,25mg every third day) 3 times, then half of that three times and then stop. Sounds right?
If you are using pills, not liquid:

I give my cat about 2.5mg a day (from a 5mg pill cut in half). I know it's relatively easy to cut that same pill into an approximate 1.25mg dose, but to try cutting a tablet into an even smaller dosage than 1.25 mg, well, that's very hard!


It seems to me that you are tapering the Pred very well for your kitty -- always interact with a vet when doing so :), as your pet's vet and you should know your pet's health issues the best. :hugs:
 

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Musiaka Musiaka , where are you? Perhaps someone here can help you locate a vet.

I'm not a vet, but one my kitties had to be on "pred" for allergies to flea bites, which caused his hair to fall out.

What I do know is that if the dose is to be reduced, it's to be done very gradually, in a way similar to what you describe. I recall gradually REALLY GRADUALLY tapering off the dosages, getting further between and smaller, over time, too.

HOWEVER, for sure, get yourself a vet to help deal with this if you can.

Good luck and let us know what you find. It will contribute to the body of knowledge.

People sometimes have to take "pred" too, oh what fun what fun. Hope you don't . . . .
 

jen

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I'm not a vet, but one my kitties had to be on "pred" for allergies to flea bites, which caused his hair to fall out.
I have a cat who has a flea bite allergy too, she completely breaks out. I just use a monthly flea preventative and save the pred for if its a particularly bad season. Thankfully I haven't had to use it for her in a long time. Long term pred use is so bad for kitties.
 

doomsdave

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I have a cat who has a flea bite allergy too, she completely breaks out. I just use a monthly flea preventative and save the pred for if its a particularly bad season. Thankfully I haven't had to use it for her in a long time. Long term pred use is so bad for kitties.
It’s not great for people either!

But whe it’s needed it’s needed.
 
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Musiaka

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Just as I was about to wean him of prednisolone, he started vomiting again, after a long break of around 3 months... should i keep the small dose for maintenance?
 
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Musiaka

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All the symptoms are back....:( :( :(
 

Meowmee

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I have reduced Merlin off pred, dvm said to reduce dose to half every day for 3 days then do once every other day first, then less. I switched finally to once every three days and then stopped. I did the half dose for a few more days and then every two days then every 3 days for longer though. He seems ok. Fingers crosseed. Sorry Musiaka is having symptoms again. I would call dvm and ask about restarting it. How long was he on the steroid before symptoms stopped?
 
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Musiaka

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We're back to square 1 to the same frequency it was before Pred. :( im feeling defeated! Musiaka is with my mom at the moment and I will only be there in two weeks to take him to the vet. It's no emergency, cause of course Musiaka is acting totally fine, but the vomiting is back to every second night just like before. I asked mom to go back to 1,25 mg every second day, but I have a feeling that it wont do much now. In two weeks ill take him to another vet in my moms city
 
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Musiaka

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I have reduced Merlin off pred, dvm said to reduce dose to half every day for 3 days then do once every other day first, then less. I switched finally to once every three days and then stopped. I did the half dose for a few more days and then every two days then every 3 days for longer though. He seems ok. Fingers crosseed. Sorry Musiaka is having symptoms again. I would call dvm and ask about restarting it. How long was he on the steroid before symptoms stopped?
It took 4 months out of 6 for the symptoms to completely disappear. 1 week to reappear in their entirety :(
 

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He may have to be on the lowest possible dose long term if the symptoms have come back so quickly. Has your vet ever talked about changing out the type of food he eats? It can be difficult to determine, but your cat may be reacting to a specific protein or other ingredient in his food.
 

Meowmee

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It took 4 months out of 6 for the symptoms to completely disappear. 1 week to reappear in their entirety :(
Have you tried changing his diet at all?
I would try reducing it a lot more slowly. Like going to a half dose once per day for two weeks, and so on, that is what I did with Merlin to start, but maybe 7-9 days. He may just need to be on the next dose up from where his symptoms returned long term. I would just put him back to the full dose and then once he stabilizes again, reduce the dose very slowly, not eod right away, half it for a few days every day, then lower for a few days every day etc.
 
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Musiaka

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Meowmee - thanks, i will try upping the dose again. He vomits nearly every night again :( im so sad and disappointed by myself ;(
 

Meowmee

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Meowmee - thanks, i will try upping the dose again. He vomits nearly every night again :( im so sad and disappointed by myself ;(
Sorry he is vomiting again😿 Don’t blame yourself, you are doing the best you can. Just raise it back up and then try reducing very slowly. My Wizard had ibd with vomiting and I did not do steriods and other meds at first that much because he vomited a lot with meds. And I was scared of steroid damage etc. he had kidney disease but eventually we had to use steroids and chlorambucil because he developed lymphoma. He could not do a biopsy because he had a hard time with sedation. It is always a trade off. He lived to be 19-20, I took him in at 3 when he was dumped outside, he was fiv positive.he was an all black cat too, a siamese/ os mix, and the sweetest boy ever❤💕🐾
 
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